The fight for the Aegis has reached the top 8 at TI13. With the games in the Royal Arena set to begin, we look at the heroes that could have a telling impact.
The International 2024 (TI13) is only three days away from crowning a new champion. The defending champions, Team Spirit, were knocked out by Xtreme Gaming, meaning we won’t be seeing an organization lifting the Aegis three times. At least not this year.
The final three days will be played in the Royal Arena in Copenhagen and will feature the top 8 teams that remain in the competition. Two teams will be eliminated on the first day in the arena, three on the second, and then two again on the third and final day of TI13. The competition has been close, with no particular team looking like the favorites.
Till this point, 101 games have been played behind closed doors and an interesting tournament meta has developed. As is often the case in long tournaments, the meta has evolved as the tournament has progressed. Heading into the final three days of the event, we look at five heroes who may not have been touted to do extremely well at the start of the tournament but have definitely taken TI13 by storm. These heroes are bound to have a major impact in the final three days as well.
All data has been taken from datDota.
Mirana (Picks: 36, Win rate: 63.89%)
Mirana was not a hero that found her place in the meta in the middle of the tournament and was expected to be a popular pick before the start of TI13. The recent buffs to her Solar Flare facet meant the Princess of the Moon was back as a core! But even though that may be the case, it hasn’t stopped her from being played as a support. As a support, she can still buff her allies with the damage and attack speed from Solar Flare and she can transition into a damage dealer herself as the game goes on. It also makes her a great flex pick.
Kunkka (Picks: 35, Win rate: 60%)
Kunnka has become a completely different hero due to the changes from the last two Dota 2 patches. He now functions better as an offlane aura builder who can keep his team alive for longer with Pipe of Insight, Crimson Guard and Mekansm, as well as the Rum buff from Ghostship. With the level 20 talent, he can increase the delayed damage because of the Rum buff from 35% to 50%.
Kunkka’s new Aghanim’s Sceper upgrade is also a big factor in his popularity. According to Dotabuff, it is one of the most popular Aghanim’s Scepter in the game. The item used on Kunkka had a win rate of over 59% in pub games in the last week. The additional Ghostship and the damage on either side of the ship is great during clustered team fights.
Luna (Picks: 25, Win rate: 68%)
Luna is a hero that wasn’t predicted to be one of the heroes of TI13, and gained popularity as the tournament progressed. She first came into the spotlight in nouns’ 2-0 win against Team Spirit in their seeding decider game, in which the North American team picked Luna in both games. Since then, she has become a highly contested hero and has the highest win rate amongst heroes picked in more than 15 games.
Previously, Luna was always a time-based hero, where she would need to have a decent early game, push in the mid game with an Aegis, and try to finish the game between 25 and 35 minutes. But with Lunar Blessing being repurposed as her innate ability and Lunar Orbit being made a basic ability, the hero can now go toe to toe with opposition carries even in the late game. The best example at TI13 was Tundra Esports managing to hold against Team Falcons against all odds with their Luna and Elder Titan.
Luna will be a hotly contested carry in the final three days of TI13. In terms of facets, players seem to favor Moonstorm, which gives her attack damage on using Lucent Beam, and it works for the Lucent Beams emanating from Eclipse as well! Both, Mirana and Luna are amongst the top heroes of TI13. Selemene must be proud. Wicked, as portrayed in Dragon’s Blood, but proud.
Tusk (Picks: 34, Win rate: 61.76%)
Tusk is picked mainly for Drinking Buddies. The facet is by far the better of his two (the other one being Tag Team) at least in professional game play. The skill provides offensive and defensive uses. Players tend to max out Drinking Buddies at level 7, at which it provides 120 damage. That is a lot of damage in the early game! For early rotations, the facet increases the chances of a kill significantly.
Drinking Buddies has a range of 900, which is insane to begin with. Because it pulls Tusk and the ally the skill is cast on towards each other, it can be used to get either hero out of a murky situation, and the 25% added movement speed helps in making an escape. This is one facet that will definitely be nerfed in the balance patch after TI13.
Shadow Demon (Picks: 21, Win rate: 66.67%)
Shadow Demon is currently one of the best save heroes in Dota 2 because of Disruption, which also serves as a setup for some spells like Mirana’s Sacred Arrow or Leshrac’s Split Earth. Besides that, Disseminate is a great team fight ability bolstered by his popular facet Promulgate. Disseminate can also be used defensively to increase an ally’s max HP with Promulgate.
Honorable Mentions
Storm Spirit (Picks: 23, Win rate: 60.87%)
Mars (Picks: 23, Win rate: 60.87%)
Invoker (Picks: 15, Win rate: 66.67%)
Omniknight (Picks: 16, Win rate: 62.50%)
The top 8 teams have had two days to prepare before they play in front of a live crowd at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen. While the heroes mentioned here will be highly contested, we are also sure to see a few heroes that haven’t been picked till now at TI13.
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