Dota 2: WePlay! Tug of War: Mad Moon Meta Analysis

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular picks in this event.

Despite not being in the 2019-2020 DPC, WePlay!’s last tournament from the Tug of War series gathered some of the best teams in the world. We witnessed five amazing days of high-quality Dota 2 series, which ended yesterday.

Even though Nigma were the underdogs, they’ve managed to rise from the ashes and made a comeback against Team Secret. This was not expected at all, especially when you take into account their most recent performance in the DPC qualifiers.

Having said that now is the time to take a step back and look at the heroes in this event. This is the second big tournament that we saw on 7.24 after the qualifiers for the LA Major, so let’s take a look at some of the most popular heroes and how you can make the most out of them in your pub games.

Snapfire

Snapfire, Timbersaw and Earthshaker take the first place as the most picked heroes with 15 picks in total.

While Timber and ES are kind of new to the meta, Snapfire has already proven itself as one of the strongest Dota 2 heroes in patch 7.24. In case you forgot, this hero was also one of the most picked during the LA Major qualifiers. This isn’t really a surprise, considering the fact that the hero was introduced to the pro scene in this patch.

Despite being picked a lot, Snapfire only scored a 46% win rating. This is a lot less than the stats the hero had in the Major quals a few days ago.

Apart from the pro Dota, Snapfire is also very popular in pub games. Thanks to its decent survivability, escape mechanism, and damage output, this hero has quickly risen to the top. It works great both in aggro and defensive lanes, so it all depends on the situation you find yourself in.

Timbersaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B83g9NxtgnM

The second hero that also has the same amount of picks as Snapfire is Timbersaw. Once the go-to offlane and midlane pick, Timbersaw wasn’t that popular in the last couple of patches. Sure, he did great against Strength-based heroes but other than that, there were just other heroes that did his job better.

However, after the changes in patch 7.24, it seems like he's having a comeback. Judging by the jaw-dropping ~%73 win rating, it seems like he is here to stay. Many of the top teams in the WePlay! tournament tried him out and he was just awesome.

Generally speaking, Timbersaw is one of those heroes that is capable of absolutely demolishing the enemy lineup. As long as there are no severe counters and he has a decent start, this hero can snowball out of control. However, you should be very careful when you pick him because he can get easily countered. Sure, he has the potential to bounce back later on but in order for him to be effective, he has to be on the leading side.

Regardless of Timber is mid or safelane, just make sure you have a good lane and you will easily rip through your enemies like a knife through butter.

Earthshaker

Similar to the other two, ES also has fifteen picks in total at this tournament. In terms of his win rating, he has exactly 60%, which is not bad at all, considering the stats of the other heroes.

We're kind of surprised that Eartshaker is back in the meta, especially after the previous patch. As you may remember, the infamous Morghpling + ES combo used to cause havoc in pro and pub games until it got nerfed.

Nowadays, ES mainly takes the role of soft support due to his roaming capabilities. Thanks to his incredible skill set, Earthshaker is good both early and later on, especially when he gets some items.

One of the main reasons for ES’s popularity is the new patch. After removing the gold cost for some items, Dota 2 is now a game where greedy support heroes can thrive. As a result, heroes such as Earthshaker are the ones that benefit the most.

There are just not that many heroes in Dota 2 that are so strong with just a couple of items. Although some people will not recommend it, we advise you to definitely go for a Blink first, rather than Aghs. Sure, it might be a bit boring but hey, Blink is a lot cheaper and allows you to be more effective early on.