ESL One Hamburg 2019 Meta Recap
Image by @TNCPredator
The 7.22 patch is in its twilight moments as we await The Outlanders update. The game’s meta has been stable for quite some time now and teams know the ins and outs of what’s working and what’s not working. At ESL One Hamburg 2019, we saw more of the same variations of the same strategies and meta picks that we’ve been seeing at previous tournaments. Until the new patch comes out, expect more of the same.
Most contested heroes
Kunkka - 163
Faceless Void - 156
Gyrocopter - 147
Mirana - 142- [missing hero: outworld-devourer] - 132
The most contested heroes of the tournament feature 4 cores and 1 flex pick. During the MDL Chengdu Qualifiers, Kunkka and Gyrocopter were the most contested heroes and they remain in the top 5 for the ESL One Hamburg 2019 tournament. Both heroes lane well, scale well, and have great physical and magical damage which seems to be valued greatly for this patch.
Outworld Devourer was picked only 28 times during this tournament but was banned 104 times which suggests teams don’t want to play him, but mostly don’t want to play against him. Outworld Devourer is strong against Kunkka and Faceless Void who are among the most popular heroes to pick.
Of all of the heroes in this list, Mirana has the highest win rate at 63.49%. The only support on this list has the highest win rate but the other heroes have strong win rates. Gyrocopter has the lowest at 52.38%.
Most picked heroes
- Gyrocopter – 63
- Mirana – 63
Tiny – 60- Faceless Void – 57
Leshrac – 56
Ogre Magi – 56
Rubick – 56
Most picked heroes feature Mirana and Gyrocopter at the top, two heroes that have been very popular picks since TI9. Next, there are long-time popular heroes in Tiny and Ogre Magi. Some relatively new picks are Faceless Void, Leshrac, and Rubick.
Of all the heroes in this list, Mirana has the highest win rate with 63.49%. Tiny and Rubick have the lowest win rates with 46.67% and 44.64% respectively.
Faceless Void is a new hero to be picked so frequently in the recent meta. This may be because of the snowball potential of late-game kills. Faceless Void can secure kills easier than most heroes thanks to his ultimate which is one of the best team fight abilities.
If you can secure one or two kills in the mid to late game, then your team can just run down a lane and threaten high ground. This can either force buy backs or get you barracks. He’s also strong in lane and you need a high amount of lock-down and burst damage to kill him or he can time walk the damage away.
Most Banned Heroes
- Kunkka – 121
- [missing hero: outworld-devourer] – 104
- Faceless Void – 99
Night Stalker – 89- Gyrocopter – 84
Kunkka is extremely powerful in lane, scales well to the late game, has mixed damage, and great team fight abilities. He boasted a 59.52% win rate during the tournament, the second-highest win rate after Mirana for heroes picked over 40 times. All this adds up to him being a strong hero to play but not play against which is why he’s the number one most banned hero at the tournament.
Despite being played in only 28 games, Outworld Devourer was banned 104 times. This is because he’s strong against meta heroes like Kunkka, Faceless Void, and Gyrocopter. He scales very well into the late game and has the potential to go on a rampage if he can get enough stolen intelligence for his ultimate which is a large area of effect nuke.
The heroes on this list all have over 52% win rate and Nightstalker has the highest win rate with 62.96%. He was only picked 27 times though this tournament which is strange considering his history of dominance in the recent meta.
Highest win rate of heroes picked more than 20 times
- Mirana – 63.49%
- Night Stalker– 62.96%
Juggernaut – 62.50%
Undying – 62.16%
Abaddon – 62.07%
In an interesting turn of events, Mirana had the highest win rate at ESL One Hamburg 2019. This hero was played exclusively as a support during this tournament and was able to win at a higher rate than any other hero. Mirana combos well with other popular heroes such as Kunkka and Faceless Void. She’s also free to build any items as she doesn’t require some specific items to be effective which makes her team more versatile in terms of itemization.
Nightstalker is next up on this list and it’s no surprise. This hero has been notorious in the past few months for being a dominating force in Dota. He has high health, high armor, and gains a massive buff during the night. His ultimate also allows him to fly around for 30 seconds which provides great vision for team fights.
Lowest win rate of heroes picked more than 20 times
Ember Spirit – 26.47%
Wraith King – 30.43%
Earthshaker – 37.93%
Lina – 38.64%
Templar Assassin – 42.86%
There are a few surprise appearances on this list. Ember Spirit is a popular pick among many mid players yet has the worst win rate for heroes picked over 20 times. He was picked 34 times during this tournament yet managed to win only 26.47% of his games. This could be because he isn’t tanky and usually doesn’t build survival items and if caught, he can get killed quickly.
The most picked hero in this category is Lina and she has a 38.64% win rate. She’s a flexible pick with some teams playing her as mid and others as position 4. As a mid she can farm fast and dish out large amounts of damage but is quite squishy. As a 4 she mainly contributes damage from a distance and the occasional stun. Her itemization is very limited and she can’t really build items that help her team without harming her. For example she might buy a force staff but that hurts her ability to use spells or deal damage without an aether lens or eul’s scepter.
Final thoughts
This patch has been around for a long time and many heroes that were popular during TI9 are still popular today. Some heroes that were gaining popularity such as Mirana are now cemented as a top pick in the meta. Other heroes like Kunkka and Ogre Magi were popular a few months ago and continue to be popular today. Some new heroes are being discovered as a top pick like Nightstalker or Faceless Void but this is rare.
We’re hoping the new patch comes out soon so we can see some change in the meta, for the professional scene and our pubs!
1st.
So. I get the fact that the meta has become sort of boring. But it's funny, that final game, everybody is groaning about the alch pick.
Yet...Alch isn't in the highest win rate of a hero picked more than 20 times. In fact, he only had a 57.14% win rate on 21 picks.
That's not game-breaking.
Plus, at TI, Mirana only showed up in 47 games with a 51% win rate, and Gyro was the 16th highest hero picked.
I like how the most contested, most picked, and most banned heroes were separated as to highlight each part's talking points rather than it being lumped together, but some points and stats do overlap among sections.
Night Stalker and Mirana need serious nerfs, that much is clear from this event. You can't be a top 5 contested hero, or top 5 banned hero, and retain a >60% winrate with more than 20 games played.
Nc article, hope you can continue the good streak
What I hate most against Mirana is that she can turn the whole enemy team into Slark with shadowblade which if used correctly, it could become a free SOD.
Oh also the Arrow CD reduc talent also actually super good, now going against mirana means you need to watch out for arrow much more frequently instead of being able to relax after an arrow miss or hit
She also provides really good AOE burst damage with the agha and spell amplify talent
Mirana is a better CM early game since if she needs money or exp, she can just kill any big creep with just 100 mana
@ETdAWESOME I agree NS and Mirana need nerfs. I hope they don't hit NS too hard, as historically he's been either god tier or total trash. It would be nice to see him settle down for once. I love playing Mirana, but that bitch needs to cool down, way too impactful at the moment.