Disclaimer: We’ve assembled this list largely from win rates in public games. It may be different in many ways to professional play, but it offers insight on why certain heroes have a distinct impact in pubs.
We try to release a new Tier List a couple of weeks after each patch and 6.82b is not an exception. After a decent amount of turmoil associated with the new spree bounty system, 6.82 has finally got into a playable form which, while allowing for comebacks, did not emphasize them as much.
ESL One New York has been one of the most exciting series in the last several month, showing a decent amount of balance and potential in the new patch. The impact of big tournaments on the public matchmaking metagame is undeniable, however there is still a lot of differences in the preferences between pros and us, somewhat casual players, making Tier Lists for each type of Dota significantly different.
The order of the heroes in each Tier is based on their Win Rate, with highest first. Without further ado:
Tier 1: Pub Stompers (56%+)
Omniknight, Necrophos, Spectre, Abaddon, Wraith King, Zeus
Omniknight: No Tier List would be complete without the discussion on the recent phenomena – Omniknight‘s ridiculous 62.73% Win Rate. For a hero, which has a rather infrequent appearance in the professional matches, he certainly has a lot of potential in public matchmaking. To a large extent, it can be attributed to the fact, that it is rare for lower-tier games to properly itemize against this hero ( Diffusal Blade is almost always a must). However, in this particular case, the problem (and any hero with Win Rate of over 60% can be considered a problem) has arisen from the fact that the meta/gameplay has changed to a lot more late-game oriented and greedy supports are no longer a liability. Does the hero deserve a nerf? From the Win Rate alone it can look so, however, the patch is rather new and Omniknight has never been a popular support, hence there is a chance the majority of players will eventually learn to play around the strength of the hero, effectively lowering his Win Rate.
Spectre: From greedy supports to greedy carries. Spectre is arguably one of the hardest carries in the game who is also extremely item dependent. Unlike many other carries in game, however, she can effectively join any fight with a press of a single button from across the map. Given the rules of the new assist gold, the impact is clearly visible in the economy tab, with average GPM on the hero increasing by 27.
Zeus: To a large extent, yet again, the reason behind the surge in Win Rate on the hero is his global presence. While the hero does not necessarily scale well into the late-game, when the enemy team has managed to itemize properly to face the amount of magical nukes, he can snowball really hard in many situations, even if given a bad start. Any fight starting with 1-2 less support heroes on the enemy side is a very unfair fight.
Tier 2: Pub Winners (52%-56%)
Silencer, Ogre Magi, Centaur Warrunner, Vengeful Spirit, Witch Doctor, Lich, Earthshaker, Warlock, Tidehunter, Riki, Undying, Medusa, Brewmaster, Venomancer, Crystal Maiden, Elder Titan, Slardar, Sven, Juggernaut
Juggernaut: It was interesting to witness a gradual but persistent climb of the hero in our Tier lists. With the decent amount of buffs to the late-game potential of the hero and some minor amendments to the interaction of his Blade Fury with other skills, he has finally managed to get to the Pub Winners section. Given the fact that the average pub game is more of a deathmatch, rather than objective based strategy game, his strength are obvious – he is extremely strong at killing opponents at almost every stage of the game almost going toe-to-toe with the harder carries in the later stages, while having a significant advantage over them in the early stage.
Slardar: The hero‘s come back to the Tier of Pub Winners was to be expected, given sizable buffs to the early-game Slithereen Crush. We have previously stated that this buff should not have too much of an impact, given the fact that the skill is usually maxed out by level 7, however, it was just enough to increase the Win Rate by 1% needed to get into the higher tier.
Medusa: This patch is definitely the one to favor the carry heroes, especially the hardest ones out there. Not only that, but the Medusa has also received a decent amount of buffs to her early game, with an increase in speed to her nuke – Mystic Snake and damage absorption on Mana Shield. Her jump is among the most significant ones – 49.12% to 52.66%, and hopefully she will once again become a viable pick in the professional scene after people start noticing her public matchmaking performance.
Tier 3: Average Pubbers (49%-52%)
Jakiro, Spirit Breaker, Faceless Void, Death Prophet, Dazzle, Treant Protector, Viper, Mirana, Slark, Phantom Assassin, Ancient Apparition, Disruptor, Luna, Sniper, Enigma, Drow Ranger, Troll Warlord, Ursa, Shadow Shaman, Axe, Clockwerk, Pudge, Phantom Lancer
Faceless Void: Despite the aforementioned buffs to hard carries, Faceless Void‘s Win Rate has actually decreased by almost 1.5%. To a large extent it can be attributed to the fact that he did receive some nerfs in the latest patch, with the radius decrease and aura lingering bug fixed (+0.5s) on Chronosphere. On top of that, he did not necessarily gain as much in terms of assist/teamfight gold, since he is usually better at focusing a single target, rather than dealing AoE damage. Most importantly, however, we believe it is the fact that players have learned to both position themselves properly and pick accordingly against this hero.
Phantom Assassin: Another case of an extreme increase in the viability of the hero – 47.49% -> 51.06%. To be perfectly honest, we don’t know why this massive increase in the Win Rate took place – after all, Phantom Assassin is generally associated with single-target burst damage and mid-, mid-late game dominance, rather than being a full-on hard carry, hence does not necessarily fit into the category of heroes that benefited the most from the patch. She did not receive any major buffs either, and her recent performance in the last tournaments can be characterized as average, hence it might be the case that people have not been ready for her appearance in their matches and are not necessarily aware of how to deal with the hero quite yet.
Death Prophet: Once the hero that topped our Tier Lists, Death Prophet has finally received a decent amount of nerfs to make her both viable and not broken. While she is still one of the most prioritized picks in the professional scene, her pub game Win Rate has finally got really close to the 50%, well-balanced hero threshold. Additionally, people have finally learned to play around her in public matchmaking, especially in the higher tiers, and she no longer poses the same amount of threat. Finally, the long-awaited overall switch from pushing meta is making hero less popular, which is never a bad sign for an ever-developing game.
Tier 4: Pub Losers (46%-49%)
Phoenix, Bloodseeker, Chaos Knight, Razor, Night Stalker, Sand King, Keeper of the Light, Terrorblade, Bristleback, Lion, Meepo, Shadow Fiend, Weaver, Tiny, Beastmaster, Leshrac, Dark Seer, Kunkka, Lycan, Dragon Knight, Skywrath Mage
Razor: It is rather interesting to see this hero fall off so hard in the Tier List. Not that it couldn’t be predicted, given that it is now harder to execute a pushing strategy and there were some minor overall nerfs to the hero, but an almost 5% decrease in Win Rate is certainly not what we expected. Given that in many 1 on 1 scenarios, Razor wins against most carries, it is even more peculiar. And these changes did not only hit the public matchmaking – the hero had an abysmal Win Rate of 39% in ESL One , while being picked in 90% of the games. It seems even the pros take some time to adjust to the new meta.
Lycan: To be perfectly honest, the hero deserved some form of a nerf. His early game global presence coupled with great pushing and carry potential did make him rather overpowered. While it was not necessarily obvious in the average pub game, where decent microing and proper decision making is only present in the top games, professionals used to abuse the hero too much. Current Win Rate of 46.91% can be named rather balanced, however. There is no denying the hero has a rather high skill ceiling and should not be piloted by a new player – despite his skillset being straightforward, it is the team communication as well as power level understanding that can truly make him devastating. Otherwise he is a rather sub-par hero that can quickly become a liability, rather than an asset to his team.
Skywrath Mage: Another top-tier pick that received several small nerfs that combined actually make the hero decently weaker. With a metagame that favors late-game supports which are not countered with a single item, it is unsurprising, especially given the fact that getting to that Black King Bar is now easier for many heroes, other supports included. Should the hero still be picked? We believe that while he might have lost his standing as one of the best supports out there, he still has a lot to offer, including, but not limited to high burst damage and a 0.1s cast point on all skills, including crucial silence – Ancient Seal.
Tier 5: Pub Throwers (41%-46%)
Nyx Assassin, Timbersaw, Doom, Lifestealer, Huskar, Pugna, Lina, Naga Siren, Templar Assassin, Storm Spirit, Techies, Batrider, Magnus, Gyrocopter, Ember Spirit, Windranger, Anti-Mage, Bounty Hunter, [missing hero: outworld-devourer], Legion Commander, Bane, Rubick, Visage, Invoker, Broodmother, Morphling, Clinkz, Queen of Pain, Tusk, Nature’s Prophet, Puck, Tinker, Shadow Demon
Doom: Doom being a “pub thrower” is something we really did not expect. Granted, he received nerfs and people have learned to play against him, but it does not take away the fact that he has the potential to turn any fight into a 4v5 in favor of your team. While proper positioning is now a lot more crucial for the hero and a timely Doom is harder to pull off, we believe that he should still be picked, especially given his above-the-average performance in each and every big tournament. Be patient and mindful with your targets and try to rush this Aghanim’s Scepter.
Broodmother: Probably the hero with the highest disparity between her Win Rate in higher and lower brackets of the public matchmaking. I have personally been crushed by the hero more than once in the course of the last week, slowly learning to play against her. And it is not necessarily the case, that you can always stop her from being a nuisance – even if you get your Sentry Wards she will still be able to get her levels from a lane and will require attention at all stages of the game, while gradually becoming a decent semi-carry. There is an interesting discussion on our forums regarding the build for the hero I strongly suggest people read. And never underestimate the power of the hero in capable hands – once she hits CM, we shall see how high the pros will value the hero – during the TI2 she was a very popular pick and she only got stronger since then.
Legion Commander: Nerfs all around the place to hero have made her quite weak. Several heroes, that she was usually good at countering are no longer useless against her ( Phantom Assassin and Faceless Void) and these are the heroes that have been gradually getting more popular. Even her professional appearances have not been that impressive and it really seems like she was nerfed a bit too much. It is one of the heroes that we strongly suggest people stay away from for now – even her player rankings show that she needs some form of a buff to be as devastating as other heroes, when piloted by a player, who is extremely good at the hero.
Tier 6: Repick Heroes (<41%)
Enchantress, Alchemist, Chen, Lone Druid, Io, Earth Spirit
Chen: I was really hoping to see this hero more often – rushing Aghanim’s Scepter yields similar healing potential to a now nerfed Mekansm with a 30s cooldown on Hand of God, while allowing for some heavy pushing with magic immune ancient creeps. Despite all that, the Win Rate on the hero has actually decreased by almost 3% – something that is probably attributed to the metagame of late-game carries and the complexity of execution of a decent push strategy. On top of that, in most tournaments he was not picked at all after the patch.
Alchemist: Alchemist is now a repick hero – something that really doesn’t fit into my head. Granted, he was receiving nerf after nerf and his ability to stay ahead of the gold curve is less relevant than ever, but he is still a very versatile hero with high amount of potential as both support and a mid-game carry. Moreover, the recent buffs to Acid Spray should have made him better at counter-pushing, yet, he now sits at a shameful 40.85% Win Rate.
Lone Druid: The last hero discussed today definitely stands out – his Win Rate has dropped from 44.17% (understandable for a micro-heavy hero) to 40.71%. And that is something that really doesn’t fit in my head – being a hero that effectively has 12 inventory slots in a farming metagame should have propelled him to a higher position – not the top positions, due to a higher skill ceiling, but a higher one nonetheless, especially given that the Summon Spirit Bear now has mana and can use items such as Abyssal Blade. Is he too greedy even for this metagame, or is general public matchmaking population playing him wrong? The answer to this question will remain a mystery, it seems.
