With the group stages of the M3 World Champions now over, we take a look back at the last four days and see which heroes saw the most action in the Land of Dawn.
With 16 teams in the M3 World Championships, and four different regions featured in each group, the picks were bound to be a bit all over the place, without a real “meta” forming. With that said, a trend definitely formed within each group, and some parts followed on throughout the entire tournament so far. We take a look back at the group stages of M3, the top four heroes picked, and some honourable ban mentions.
Marksmen rule the picks
With a total of 26 games played throughout the group stages, one thing definitely was clear from the top picks, Markmen were leading the way.
Clint – 13
Although it may seem as though being picked in half of the total games is not extremely high, Clint was definitely one of the more prolific picks for some teams during the group stages. Some of the teams that utilised Clint well were definitely RSG SG, Natus Vincere, and Vivo Keyd, with the latter using the marksmen in their massive upset over Onic Esports in Group B.
On that note, Clint was also banned away a total of three times through the group stages, meaning teams definitely saw him as a threat in certain situations. All-in-all, we are likely to see much more of the hero when it comes to the playoffs, but now that we are moving away from the best-of-one format, there are definitely going to be much more interesting picks.
Paquito – 12
Paquito definitely saw a lot of action when it came to the group stages of M3, with a few games each day. The fighter’s ability to maneuver around his enemies, knocking them up and doing massive damage was used almost perfectly by many – and with a 75%-win rate, you can see why he was also banned away 11 times. One of the most amazing players with the Paquito during the group stage was Alberttt of RRQ Hoshi, who took him into the jungle and caused absolute chaos for Team SMG just yesterday. With not one, but two Maniac in a single game, Alberttt embodied the fighter spirit of the hero.
Mathilda – 12
For those that follow the likes of Blacklist International closely through their MPL PH runs, you’ll know about the power of Mathilda and the brilliance of OhMyV33nus on the hero. With that said, the famed player was only allowed to pick up the hero once in their three games, with it being banned away in one game and stolen away in another. While picked a lot, Mathilda did not see a high win rate during the group stages, with OhMyV33nus’ being one of only four wins for the hero, even with the Circling Eagle being such a powerful ultimate, along with the mobility of Guiding Wind.
Even so, Mathilda was still banned 12 times, meaning that teams were still afraid of the hero’s power and did not want to have to deal with it.
Beatrix – 12
The second marksmen in the top four is the gunslinging Beatrix, who also was picked each and every day in many of the matches. The hero’s multitude of weapons, as well as huge burst power, made her an obvious choice for certain teams, as they overpowered their opponents. Beatrix secured a 58%-win rate over the group stages but may not be a hero we see as much of when it comes to the playoffs – but anything can happen.
Assassins get the ban
From top picks, we move onto the top bans, something that we have to mention when it comes to the group stages. In a recent podcast, we spoke of the power of the assassin heroes, such as Ling and Hayabusa – and these are oddly the two heroes which teams wanted to face the least.
Hayabusa – 23
Banned away 23 times in the 26 games played, Hayabusa is clearly something that no team wants to deal with at the M3 World Championships. On the single occasion that the hero was picked up, it was Natus Vincere who went on to take down SeeYouSoon with the Assassin, pushing it back into the constant bans after this. With best-of-ones, heroes such as Hayabusa, or any assassins, have the ability to quickly take down a gold lane or mage player, leaving his enemies with a massive disadvantage in damage, almost entirely ending the fight in a swift Shadow Kill. With that said, it is possible that the banning of the hero becomes less prevalent as we move out of the best-of-one format and into Bo3’s and Bo5’s.
Ling – 18
While Ling was not banned away as much as Hayabusa, he also did not see any picks in the games where he was available. This could be due to teams having great crowd control or huge burst, that would render Ling useless, while not being able to have the impact of Hayabusa in general. Ling’s mobility is one of the biggest factors when picking the hero, but with teams often sticking together, it was clearly not needed as much. That said, 18 bans are nothing to be scoffed at, and it is likely that Ling may continue to get the ban-hammer come playoffs.
As we look forward toward the playoff stage of the M3 World Championships, which begin tomorrow, December 11, 2021, we have to wonder which heroes these 16 teams will focus on. From our side, we expect to see much more Paquito, as usual, with heroes such as Barats, Natan and Roger being either picked far more often. However, the meta as we move out of the best-of-one phase is destined to change and, as the saying goes, anything can happen.
Be sure to follow our MLBB tab and our social media accounts to keep up with all the upcoming M3 World Championships action.
