Dota 2 reporter 30 rustic tier

Pre-TI Pub Tier List

It’s been more than half a year since we did our last Tier List, and now is an excellent time to have a look at how meta has changed since then. During this period we’ve received numerous small patches, all aimed at making pub play and The International balanced as possible.

Despite a slightly increased amount of “Stomper” heroes, Valve introduced changes that have also made the “Repick” tier much smaller: the number of consistently underperforming heroes has halved from 14 to 7. Overall, the distribution across tiers has tightened significantly around the 50% mark. Interestingly, the patches have also increased the amount of heroes which have above 50% winrate: there are now 8 more heroes who win more than half of their games, compared to January statistics. Once again we will only be using the Very High Skill bracket data for the tier list.

Stompers (56%+)

Underlord is the only hero who managed to stay in this tier throughout the period. His pub dominance is especially impressive, given how he is the second most successful hero in the 5k+ bracket. The hero offers a lot of teamfight potential with his spells and remains relevant throughout the game because of his aura. Dota 2 reporter 30 rustic tier That said, he isn’t particularly flexible as offlane is the only position where the hero retains his impressive win rate. When played as a support, his win rate drops to below 50%, while mid Underlords remain only situationally viable with 51% win rate across a very small sample size.

Both Zeus and Spirit Breaker have received small buffs, which allowed them to get promoted from the “Winners” tier. The Zeus buffs are numerous and have been discussed in great detail in our previous blog post. Spirit Breaker hasn’t really changed much, but an overall improvement of Strength heroes coupled with meta changes allowed the Space Cow to truly shine. The hero is also quite flexible and capable of filling both support and offlane positions. Though the latter is a less popular option in high MMR games, where Spirit Breaker is primarily played as a position 4 support with some heavy roaming and early game bullying.

Winners (53-56%)

Sven has jumped three tier in the last 6 month, rising to the “Winners” tier from the “Avoid” one. Given the return of the jungle, positive changes to Strength heroes and multiple personal buffs it is unsurprising, yet still impressive. Despite the number tweaks and a slight rework of God’s Strength, the hero remains largely the same both in his itemization and playstyle, with the exception of Helm of the Dominator, which has been severely nerfed.

Another big winner is Clinkz, who rose 2 tiers. We’ve discussed the hero in great detail in one of our previous blog posts, outlining the biggest changes to the hero and their impact on his success. Returning to the HotD discussion — the item is definitely worth considering on a support if you have Clinkz on your team, as it will give him at least 36 extra damage and 360 HP at level 3 Death Pact.

Solid (50-53%)

A lot of heroes have transitioned from the “Situational” tier to the solid one, some of which we have previously covered: Venomancer, Night Stalker, Earthshaker and Clockwerk have been performing very well lately.

Phantom Lancer is probably the biggest winner in the whole tier, coming from the “Avoid” section. The hero has received some much needed buffs and is no longer completely terrible in high MMR games. His win rate remains positive even in the 5k+ bracket, where he wins 50.10% of his games. And he is definitely the hero to look out for as a surprise pick during the TI.

Situational (47-50%)

Windranger rose all the way from the “Repick” tier. She received nothing but buffs since 7.01 and the meta also favors her slightly more than it used to. If previously the hero felt out of place in pretty much any draft, currently she is strong enough to be a very strong midgame teamfight hero against heavy physical damage lineups. Her utility has also increased substantially, opening a way for a support position. Though, to be fair, the hero is slightly too inconsistent to be seriously considered for professional play, only appearing in very specific scenarios for specific teams.