Dota 2 players are hooked on Pudge.
Pudge, the Butcher, has been in the game since DotA 1 days. He is one of the first heroes to have been ported to Dota 2 and he is by far the most popular hero in the game. He keeps being the most picked hero every month for several years now, so it’s no surprise to see him now becoming the first hero to surpass 1,000,000,000 picks in public matchmaking.
According to Dotabuff, right behind Pudge in the all-time most played heroes, there is Phantom Assassin, a carry hero that relies heavily on right click damage and that is extremely different in terms of play style.
Top 10 all-time most played Dota 2 heroes
What makes Pudge so popular
To begin with, Pudge has a fun skill set that translates to an unique play style. He has an iconic hook ability, which is also one of the most rewarding spells in the game. Regardless of whether they know how to play Pudge or not, the Dota 2 players will always give this hero a try. The ones who have mastered it by now are those who will make your games rather painful.
Pudge has been the most played hero in the game for years, but his popularity skyrocketed during The International 2013 when Dota 2 legend Danil "Dendi" Ishutin came up with the idea of combining Pudge’s skill set with Chen’s teleport and hook the enemy heroes into the Fountain.
His brilliant plan, executed to perfection alongside Clement "Puppey" Ivanov on Chen at TI3, allowed NAVI to make a comeback in a game that was pretty much lost and reach the grand finals.
The fountain hook is not possible anymore. Since TI3, when he was an iconic mid lane hero, Pudge has seen a lot of action in pretty much every role.
Nowadays he is played mostly in the support role, especially in position 4, but there are professional players who pushed in recent history for a carry Pudge type of play. Wang "Ame" Chunyu was one of the first to play carry Pudge in a competitive match back in 2021. Although Pudge has been touched by a few patches over the past couple of years, the hero has still been picked occasionally in the carry position in the pro scene.
