The Dota 2 heroes you can expect to see a lot more of in your pubs — thanks to Stockholm.
Dota 2 is one of the games where every big tournament usually has an effect on the current meta. Since thousands of people watch some of the best teams globally, some of them try to copy the professional players by picking the same heroes.
Unsurprisingly, ESL One Stockholm 2022 is among the tournament that falls into this category. Since it is one of the most important events of this DPC, it gathered almost every top team in the world. The Chinese powerhouses were the only teams that did not make it because of COVID.
After a couple of days of the highest level Dota 2 action, we know the name of the champions. OG ripped through their competitors in the Lower Bracket and had the chance to face TSM for the second time. Despite the heavy loss in game one, the European powerhouse stepped up their game. As a result, it won three maps in a row and secured itself the first Major of the season.
Now that the event is over, it is time to take a step back and check its effect on the current meta. As you can probably guess, some heroes became a lot more popular than others.
Nyx Assassin shines as support
There were a couple of heroes that stood out during the Major. The first name that comes to mind is Storm Spirit because the hero became the go-to option for almost every professional team. Players like Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov used the hero throughout the event and helped their team succeed.
While it is true that SS is a dangerous mid laner, there are a couple of heroes that can make his life a living hell. One of them is Nyx Assassin, an underrated position four that can easily disrupt the enemy team’s draft.
Even though Nyx used to be played as a carry or an offlaner, nowadays, the hero is mainly in the support role. The thing that makes him so good against Storm and any INT mid laner is his Mana Burn. This ability deals tons of damage and, as its name suggests, removes a lot of mana. Needless to say, this makes Nyx one of the best counters in the game, especially versus certain heroes.
Since heroes like Invoker and Storm Spirit dominate the current meta, Nyx’s popularity is also increasing. Just a few days after the end of the Major, the hero already has a +3.74% win rating, which makes him one of the best in its position.
Treant Protector and Brewmaster gaining popularity
Aside from Nyx and his ability to control the game’s tempo, a few other heroes became more successful. The first one is BRewmaster, one of the offlaners that makes a difference when it matters.
Brewmaster is a fantastic hero in every bracket because he has the power to control almost any team fight. Unfortunately, the hero is really hard to master. That’s why you can rarely see him among lower MMR games. Most people pick Brewmaster when they are confident in their micro-skills because they need to know how to use his ultimate.
Even though Brewmaster was not the most popular offlaner at ESL One Stockholm 2022, we saw the hero in a couple of matches. The people who played it did very well because the hero became a lot more successful in pubs. In fact, Brewmaster’s win rating increased by 1.98% last week.
Speaking of higher win ratings, we also have to mention Treant Protector. This was one of the go-to support heroes for many teams because Treant provides a lot of damage, healing and one of the best ults for teamfights. Unsurprisingly, all of those things make Treant one of the most successful supports in the game.
Currently, the hero has an impressive 53.29% win rating, which is impressive for any support.
Puck is slowly becoming one of the leading mid laners
Although Storm Spirit is the leading mid laner in the current meta, a few other names stand out. If we take a look at BZM’s hero pool at ESL One Stockholm 2022, we can see that he picked Puck multiple times. Unsurprisingly, this is also one of the hottest heroes in the meta.
Similar to other mid laners, Puck can snowball out of control. Depending on the heroes he has to face, he can deal a lot of damage even in the early game. Of course, Puck becomes even more dangerous in the mid game. Let’s not forget that his ultimate can change the course of every team fight.
Although the hero has around a 50.64% win rating, which is impressive because Puck is not the easiest hero in the game. In fact, only a handful of people can utilize him to his full potential.
Enigma is more successful now than ever before
The last hero we’d like to point out in this article is Enigma, one of the strongest supports in the current meta. Unlike other names on this list, Enigma has always been a popular pick in Pubs. Of course, the hero also has the chance to shine in professional games, but it only works in certain lineups. After all, no one wants to waste his Black Hole.
There were a couple of players that shined with Enigma during the event. One of them is OG’s position 4 Tommy “Taiga” Le because he helped his team numerous times. In fact, he is one of the main reasons why his team was not eliminated from the event, especially in the match against Fnatic. Everyone expected OG to lose, but Taiga’s Enigma that appeared in all three games made a difference.
Today, Enigma’s win rating sits at 52.56%, making it one of the strongest heroes in the patch. Despite that, playing Enigma is never easy because the hero requires you to have a specific skill set. You need to know when to use your ultimate and how to survive. That’s the reason why many Enigma players often make a lot of mistakes and can’t make use if their hero.
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