With the final DPC Major of the 2022-2023 Dota 2 season done and dusted, we take a look at the meta through the lens of the Bali Major.
The Dota 2 season is racing towards the end, with The International 2023 (TI12) just over three months away. All the DPC Majors of the year are complete, and while it could have been boring from a viewer standpoint to see Gaimin Gladiators defeat Team Liquid in literally every Major grand final this season, credit needs to be given to Gaimin Gladiators for their feat, and also to Team Liquid for almost keeping up with the best in the business.
Dota 2 patch 7.33 is now well ingrained in everyone, with two different Majors being played on the patch (Berlin Major and Bali Major). There have been a few balance patches since 7.33 dropped which have stirred up the meta a bit, but there hasn’t been a massive shakeups as such.
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this game we love so much and brace ourselves for the $15 million Riyadh Masters, let’s take a deep dive into the current Dota 2 meta based on the stats from the 200 games played at the Bali Major. All data has been taken from datDota.
Most Picked Heroes at the Bali Major
Techies heads the list of most picked heroes, which is something that has never happened before 2023. Techies used to be one of the least picked heroes, but with the recent changes, Squee, Spleen and Spoon (those are the three Techies, in case you are confused) have blasted their way to the top of the picks! But the hero’s win rate is significantly below average.
Ember Spirit, Morphling, Undying, Storm Spirit, Enchantress and Medusa are some of the usual culprits, who have been in the high pick rate zone for a while now. The new entrant in this list is Broodmother, who became viable after the changes in the balance patch 7.33d. The only heroes that have an eye widening win rate are Brood and Medusa, while Pugna the healer sits at a respectable number as well. The others might have to be reconsidered as strong heroes; especially Techies and Enchantress.
Most Contested Heroes at the Bali Major
The most picked list often does not tell the complete story, and looking at contest rates provides a better picture of the meta. Many heroes get banned so often that they don’t make it to the most picked. In the case of the Bali Major though, the two lists are very similar, except for Timbersaw sneaking into the most contested list. Rizarak was the most banned hero of the tournament, with 132 bans in 200 games. The only hero to have a higher contest rate than Timbersaw was Morphling, who is at a staggering 97.50%, which is absolutely insane.
But the similarity between the most picked and most contested lists leads to a sad conclusion, which is the diversity in picks is extremely low. If certain heroes from the list get banned, teams venture to the others from the list who aren’t, and don’t really put their trust in too many different heroes.
Heroes with the Highest Win Rate at the Bali Major (picked in at least 20 games)
Certain heroes may escape scrutiny when looking at the heroes with a huge number of picks and bans, and those are the ones that only get picked in specific situations and have extremely high win rates. Clockwerk, in his 36 games at the Bali Major, accrued a win rate of nearly 70%! He may not have been picked too often, but in the correct lineup, the hero tends to do extremely well, mostly in the position 4 role, although position 3 and position 5 are not out of the question.
Making comebacks are Enigma and Lesharac, who were out of the meta for a while. Others like Medusa, Doom and Batrider have been dominant heroes for a long time now, and really need to be nerfed hard in the next balance patch.
Unpicked Heroes (picked in less than 5 games)
The neglected heroes from a tournament are always the best indicator of how narrow or diverse a meta is, and the long list for theBali Major paints a bleak picture. 54 heroes were picked in less than 5 games! That is 43.5% of the hero pool being totally neglected, and a lot of these names are all too common.
Here’s a comparison of the number of heroes picked less than 5 times in all premier tournaments since TI11-
TI11: 34
Lima Major: 49
DreamLeague Season 19: 33
Berlin Major: 44
DreamLeague Season 20: 53
Bali Major: 54
As compared to the end of Dota 2 patch 7.32 (after Lina was nerfed), the current numbers are abysmal. A lot of heroes are out of contention as compared to a few months ago, and it is partly understandable as a huge new patch was released, but something needs to be done to increase hero diversity in the days to come.
Distribution of Games Based on Time
Like most patches and tournaments, majority of the games from the Bali Major fell into the 30 minutes to 40 minutes bracket. Interestingly, only 18.5% of the total games finished before the half an hour mark (30 minutes), and two of them were from the grand final.
While most players appreciate Dota 2 patch 7.33 and all the changes it has brought with it, the meta can get stale quickly when 200 games show the same heroes being picked and banned over and over again. Balancing has gotten trickier yet with the advent of the Universal attribute, but hopefully, IceFrog and Valve will find a solution to making more heroes viable in the upcoming tournaments.
