Dota 2: ESL One Hamburg 2019 Meta Analysis

After days of epic action, ESL One Hamburg 2019 has finally come to an end. Fans saw a lot of surprises, clutch moments and interesting tactics from all teams involved. Some of them exceeded our expectations, whereas others not so much.

In the end, TNC Predator was the one that lifted the trophy. What’s more, this tournament was even more special for Park “March” Tae-won because not only did his team win, but he got chosen as the MVP of the tournament and won a brand new Mercedes.

After the dust has settled, let’s take a look at which heroes got into the spotlight. Keep it in mind that we should see “The Outlanders” update very soon. It will feature a lot of changes, including two new heroes that got announced at TI 9. Many people thought that the update was going to be released earlier but Valve never sees to amaze us.

Top Heroes at ESL One Hamburg 2019

Alchemist

It’s safe to say that Alch is one of the strongest heroes right now. In fact, he has been in this state for some time now, even after a couple of small nerfs. Given a proper start, this hero seems to be a nearly unstoppable force to deal with. The results pretty much speak for themselves. He was picked a total of nine times and has a staggering 89% win rating, meaning he only lost a single game.

One of the teams that utilized him the most was TNC, the ESL One Hamburg champions. They’ve picked the hero whenever they needed to win, such as in Game 5 of the Grand Final.

We expect that Alch will be receiving additional nerfs once the Outlanders come out. His playstyle has changed compared to before and now players tend to rush tanky items in order to fight more. On the contrary, Alch was like a “buffed Naga” before, rushing Octarine into Manta.

However, the nerfs should be very precise because this hero can easily be “killed”. After all, his biggest strength is his ability to accumulate items faster than other heroes.

Abaddon

Another incredibly strong hero right now is Abaddon. He was picked a total of 21 times and has a 57% win rating, which is not bad at all. We can’t really say that we are surprised by this pick simply because Abaddon is currently one of the most popular offlane/support heroes in the meta.

There are many reasons for his success, ranging from being having one of the best dispels in the game to just being a naturally tanky support hero. On top of that, his passive skill is absolutely devastating against towers. This makes him a good hero if a team is going for a heavy-push based lineup.

Of course, let’s not forget about his first skill – Mist Coil. If he times it right, Abaddon is able to deny himself and if not, he can always heal and/or do damage to the enemy.

Some teams tried to utilize Abaddon as a carry. Even though this seems like a bad idea at first glance, sometimes he can be a good option for it. However, the hero does not possess any fast-farming capabilities, which should be taken into consideration.

Magnus

The third hero on our list is Magnus, a hero that was picked 18 times and has 61% win rating. We are not really surprised that this hero makes it here. He has been one of the top picks for over a year now, even though the days of Dendi’s midlane-Magnus are long gone, the hero is still a vital part of every strong melee carry lineup.

Some people think that his popularity is based on his ultimate – Reverse Polarity. While this can be true up to a point, the strongest spell of this hero has to be the Cleave. Given early on, this spell has an incredible effect on the farming potential of any melee core. That’s why Magnus is always combined with very strong right-clickers such as Juggernaut, Ember Spirit and more.

If you missed any of the action at ESL One Hamburg, fear not! Be sure to check our daily recaps if you want a more in-depth analysis of what happened.

Image VIA: GosuGamers