Skulz Competitive Hero Tier List November 2017

The Competitive Hero Tier List for November is the first one based on the new 7.07 patch. Let’s learn all the variations brought in by the Dueling Fates update.

QUICK LINKS Tier 1 • Tier 2 • Tier 3 • Tier 4 • Tier 5 Every month, the tier list distributes the Dota 2 heroes in five different groups according to their total pick and ban rate. The requisites for each tier never change - the goal is offering a neutral comparison that shows how the meta evolves over time. The tiers depend only on drafts, and aren’t influenced neither by the win rate of a hero, or by their performance in pub matches. FEATURED HEROES Nightstalker • Winter Wyvern • Vengeful Spirit

This article contains data from November 1st to 27th - all the tournaments that took place during the month are covered. We are only missing the latest matches of the NA and EU qualifiers for Galaxy Battles II, which are currently being played. A total of 538 games have been analyzed.

Techies, Pangolier, and Dark Willow aren’t available in Captains Mode, but the tool gathered data from all Pro tournaments, including Captains Draft 4.0 - which is a Valve Minor. I couldn’t automatically remove these drafts from the data. Fortunately, Midas Mode is considered a semi-pro event, so the tier list doesn’t have any statistic from that tournament.

I highly suggest to compare this month’s tiers with the past one to better understand which heroes benefited the most from the new Dota 2 version.

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Hero P+B P+B% Picks Pick % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Night Stalker 385 71.6% 73 13.6% 312 58.0% 50.7% guides ↗ Winter Wyvern 369 68.6% 124 23.1% 245 45.5% 56.5% guides ↗ Puck 331 61.5% 150 27.9% 181 33.6% 53.3% guides ↗ Beastmaster 323 60.0% 73 13.6% 250 46.5% 46.6% guides ↗ UP: DOWN: Compared to October Tier list Why Night Stalker is still a top pick In October we talked about the importance of map vision. Night Stalker was using it, combined with his abilities as an early game ganker, to rank up in the tiers. Also in 7.07 he is one of the most drafted heroes of the month with a ban rate around 60%. I took a look at the data of the past two weeks, from November 12 onwards, and he was still in first position - his ban rate was even higher! IceFrog nerfed his daytime vision from 1200 to 800. It made his lane phase more difficult as now he has less vision of his surroundings, but it barely affected his roaming power. Night Stalker mostly hunts at night, but even when he has to do his job during the day, in a competitive environment people never act alone. He can always rely on the map vision provided by the entire team. 7.07 brought many changes, but the meta is still similar to the past one, and Night Stalker is a hero that perfectly fits in it. Night Stalker’s talents open two paths Overall the talents were buffed, but this is a common theme with almost all heroes of the patch. He can now choose them based on the path he wants to follow: ganker or damage dealer. -8s Crippling Fear Cooldown 25 +140 Hunter In The Night Attack Speed +50 Movement Speed 20 +50 Damage +15 Strength 15 +150 Cast Range +200 Mana 10 +200 Health The level 10 one is better (before it granted strength or cast range) as I believe that raw health points or mana are very valuable in the early game. You can get either depending on your needs in that specific match. The level 25 -8s Crippling Fear cooldown is particularly strong as now you can permanently silence two heroes in teamfight: 4s cooldown and 8s duration at night. The ability is useful also against physical carries as it gives a 50% miss chance to their attacks. You can improve your proficiency as a roamer and disabler, or transform the hero in a real dps threat with the extra strength, damage, and attack speed. Hunter in the Night already provides 90 attack speed, so with the talent you will have a total of 230. A Moon Shard gives +120 attack speed for 4k gold, so you have a value of almost 8k gold - at night. What makes Winter Wyvern a good support Winter Wyvern boasts the highest win rate in tier 1 and is also the most picked hero in the first phase - considering all tiers! Winter Wyvern is a solid position 5 support that can do her job even without items. Cold Embrace heals for a percentage of the max hero health per second, and generally healing skills scale rather well in the late game as your armor and resistances increase. Splinter Blast is a useful tool to push creep waves and defend towers. Arctic Burn grants you extra mobility with unobstructed movement, and is very efficient to harass and zone out almost any opponent in lane. Your abilities cover anything a team could need, and don’t forget that also your ultimate Winter's Curse can be a game-changer in teamfight if well used. Winter Wyvern’s talents - The Night Vision bonus +1.5s Winter's Curse Duration 25 Splinter Blast 2s Stun +15% Arctic Burn Slow 20 -5s Cold Embrace Cooldown +350 Health 15 +500 Night Vision 90 Gold/Min 10 +50 Damage In my opinion the new level 15 talent is one of the determining factors in her popularity. In 7.07 it granted +600 night vision, but Icefrog reduced it to +500 in 7.07c. The boosted night vision at level 15 means that you can have an advantage in teamfight starting from the mid game. Also, the talent stacks with the +400 night vision bonus provided by Arctic Burn. Some would think that her popularity is connected with Night Stalker, and that those heroes are usually played together, but this isn’t the case as they were picked in the same match only 14 times during the month. About the other talents, the +90 Gold/Min at level 10 helps with all the support duties, and the level 25 Splinter Blast 2s stun is extraordinarily helpful. The fact is that you will rarely reach the maximum level as a support, so I am not even considering it a factor. Winter Wyvern has an impact in any phase of the game - lane, teamfight, defense, push - and thanks to her skillset is helpful even when extremely poor. That is why you should pick her.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Pick % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Bane 299 55.6% 93 17.3% 206 38.3% 51.6% guides ↗ Queen of Pain 281 52.2% 148 27.5% 133 24.7% 44.6% guides ↗ Earth Spirit 272 50.6% 128 23.8% 144 26.8% 54.7% guides ↗ Omniknight 253 47.0% 87 16.2% 166 30.9% 65.5% guides ↗ Brewmaster 244 45.4% 90 16.7% 154 28.6% 41.1% guides ↗ Clockwerk 243 45.2% 110 20.5% 133 24.7% 59.1% guides ↗" UP: DOWN: Compared to October Tier list A quick note on Bane and Vengeful Spirit placement. In the past two weeks, Bane draft rate decreased to 50.9%, strengthening my initial decision to put him in tier 2. Instead, Vengeful Spirit remained in the same range during all the month. Even if I genuinely think v7.07 greatly enhanced her qualities as a support, the actual statistics aren't sufficient for a better placement. Right now she is a top tier 3 hero.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Pick % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Vengeful Spirit 223 41.5% 107 19.9% 116 21.6% 48.6% guides ↗ Death Prophet 211 39.2% 93 17.3% 118 21.9% 55.9% guides ↗ Undying 209 38.9% 88 16.4% 121 22.5% 48.9% guides ↗ Sand King 192 35.7% 147 27.3% 45 8.4% 46.9% guides ↗ Nyx Assassin 189 35.1% 60 11.2% 129 24.0% 48.3% guides ↗ Ogre Magi 187 34.8% 119 22.1% 68 12.6% 53.8% guides ↗ Mirana 186 34.6% 95 17.7% 91 16.9% 48.4% guides ↗ Lifestealer 181 33.6% 88 16.4% 93 17.3% 43.2% guides ↗ Anti-Mage 174 32.3% 49 9.1% 125 23.2% 51.0% guides ↗ Viper 167 31.0% 56 10.4% 111 20.6% 42.9% guides ↗ Batrider 166 30.9% 61 11.3% 105 19.5% 42.6% guides ↗ Rubick 163 30.3% 111 20.6% 52 9.7% 45.1% guides ↗ Razor 155 28.8% 74 13.8% 81 15.1% 44.6% guides ↗ Nature's Prophet 151 28.1% 56 10.4% 95 17.7% 44.6% guides ↗ Tiny 146 27.1% 74 13.8% 72 13.4% 52.7% guides ↗ Slardar 145 27.0% 109 20.3% 36 6.7% 48.6% guides ↗ Medusa 144 26.8% 64 11.9% 80 14.9% 53.1% guides ↗ Storm Spirit 133 24.7% 67 12.5% 66 12.3% 52.2% guides ↗ Weaver 133 24.7% 49 9.1% 84 15.6% 42.9% guides ↗ Lich 132 24.5% 41 7.6% 91 16.9% 53.7% guides ↗ Ancient Apparition 132 24.5% 83 15.4% 49 9.1% 54.2% guides ↗ Tidehunter 130 24.2% 74 13.8% 56 10.4% 56.8% guides ↗ Doom 122 22.7% 66 12.3% 56 10.4% 59.1% guides ↗ Earthshaker 119 22.1% 82 15.2% 37 6.9% 52.4% guides ↗ Bounty Hunter 117 21.8% 45 8.4% 72 13.4% 51.1% guides ↗ Phantom Lancer 113 21.0% 49 9.1% 64 11.9% 46.9% guides ↗ Spirit Breaker 113 21.0% 55 10.2% 58 10.8% 50.9% guides ↗ Terrorblade 112 20.8% 50 9.3% 62 11.5% 48.0% guides ↗ Gyrocopter 111 20.6% 71 13.2% 40 7.4% 56.3% guides ↗ Jakiro 110 20.5% 75 13.9% 35 6.5% 41.3% guides ↗ Disruptor 108 20.1% 87 16.2% 21 3.9% 49.4% guides ↗ Wave of Terror is a multi-purpose effective skill Vengeful Spirit jumped in tier 2 from the tier 5 in October. Honestly, Valve over-buffed her in 7.07 - they immediately dealt with it applying some nerfs in 7.07b and further adjustments in 7.07c. +400 Magic Missile Damage 25 Magic Missile Pierces Spell Immunity -5s Magic Missile Cooldown 20 +15% Vengeance Aura Damage +15 Agility 15 -6s Wave of Terror Cooldown +15% Magic Resistance 10 -1 Wave of Terror Armor You can harass and push more efficiently. Wave of Terror lasts less time than before, but now it has only a 10 seconds cooldown - at all levels - so you can spam it a lot. The damage and the armor reduction are great to melt waves of creeps and increase the damage of your team in a teamfight. More sustainable vision through Wave of Terror. It gives a 500 radius flying vision that lasts for 3 seconds. With the reduced cooldown you can use it more as a tool to scout the surroundings. Use it to detect enemies while performing a gank or defending from one. You can have all the benefits explained above every 4 seconds. Did I tell you already how much I love Wave of Terror? With the level 15 talent you can reduce its cooldown to only 4 seconds! Optionally, you can also take the level 10 talent -1 Wave of Terror armor, but the +15% magic resistance option is also pretty good as it boosts your survivability - it depends on the opponents you are facing. The level 20 and 25 talents are great as well In the late game you can get a 725 magic damage Magic Missile with 5 seconds cooldown, or the same nuke with 10 seconds cooldown and a +15% Vengeance Aura damage. The passive ability grants +30% damage to all friendly units - 34% prior to 7.07c - reaching a total of 45% with the level 20 talent. Finally, whenever an allied hero dies under your aura, an illusion of that hero will be created. The illusion deals 100% damage and lasts 6 seconds - 7s prior to 7.07b. I have not included it as one of the hero’s main points because I believe that is very situational. It can be a strong ability only in the late game and with certain heroes, mostly agility damage dealers.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Pick % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Bloodseeker 102 19.0% 33 6.1% 69 12.8% 42.4% guides ↗ Sniper 101 18.8% 44 8.2% 57 10.6% 52.3% guides ↗ Sven 97 18.0% 50 9.3% 47 8.7% 38.0% guides ↗ Dragon Knight 95 17.7% 51 9.5% 44 8.2% 51.0% guides ↗ Io 95 17.7% 21 3.9% 74 13.8% 61.9% guides ↗ Chaos Knight 93 17.3% 44 8.2% 49 9.1% 63.6% guides ↗ Enchantress 92 17.1% 39 7.3% 53 9.9% 51.3% guides ↗ Venomancer 89 16.5% 43 8.0% 46 8.6% 60.5% guides ↗ Silencer 88 16.4% 53 9.9% 35 6.5% 32.1% guides ↗ Magnus 87 16.2% 39 7.3% 48 8.9% 53.9% guides ↗ Tinker 83 15.4% 43 8.0% 40 7.4% 46.5% guides ↗ Monkey King 82 15.2% 44 8.2% 38 7.1% 45.5% guides ↗ Lone Druid 81 15.1% 30 5.6% 51 9.5% 33.3% guides ↗ Faceless Void 80 14.9% 47 8.7% 33 6.1% 46.8% guides ↗ Shadow Demon 80 14.9% 48 8.9% 32 6.0% 56.3% guides ↗ Timbersaw 79 14.7% 35 6.5% 44 8.2% 45.7% guides ↗ Witch Doctor 78 14.5% 63 11.7% 15 2.8% 50.8% guides ↗ Phantom Assassin 77 14.3% 50 9.3% 27 5.0% 54.0% guides ↗ Broodmother 77 14.3% 20 3.7% 57 10.6% 65.0% guides ↗ Drow Ranger 70 13.0% 24 4.5% 46 8.6% 50.0% guides ↗ Tusk 69 12.8% 56 10.4% 13 2.4% 39.3% guides ↗ Outworld Devourer 67 12.5% 34 6.3% 33 6.1% 61.8% guides ↗ Templar Assassin 63 11.7% 34 6.3% 29 5.4% 61.8% guides ↗ Dazzle 62 11.5% 47 8.7% 15 2.8% 31.9% guides ↗ Juggernaut 57 10.6% 40 7.4% 17 3.2% 67.5% guides ↗ Visage 55 10.2% 30 5.6% 25 4.7% 63.3% guides ↗ Legion Commander 55 10.2% 29 5.4% 26 4.8% 48.3% guides ↗ Necrophos 53 9.9% 33 6.1% 20 3.7% 42.4% guides ↗ Luna 53 9.9% 31 5.8% 22 4.1% 61.3% guides ↗ Shadow Shaman 52 9.7% 40 7.4% 12 2.2% 45.0% guides ↗ Ember Spirit 51 9.5% 24 4.5% 27 5.0% 41.7% guides ↗ Dark Seer 50 9.3% 29 5.4% 21 3.9% 41.4% guides ↗ Lion 48 8.9% 45 8.4% 3 0.6% 51.1% guides ↗ Ursa 48 8.9% 25 4.7% 23 4.3% 40.0% guides ↗ Pugna 47 8.7% 20 3.7% 27 5.0% 45.0% guides ↗ Invoker 46 8.6% 25 4.7% 21 3.9% 40.0% guides ↗ Kunkka 45 8.4% 35 6.5% 10 1.9% 42.9% guides ↗ Slark 43 8.0% 26 4.8% 17 3.2% 53.9% guides ↗ Lycan 40 7.4% 19 3.5% 21 3.9% 52.6% guides ↗ Centaur Warrunner 38 7.1% 32 6.0% 6 1.1% 59.4% guides ↗ Underlord 38 7.1% 25 4.7% 13 2.4% 52.0% guides ↗ Elder Titan 35 6.5% 22 4.1% 13 2.4% 63.6% guides ↗ Abaddon 34 6.3% 22 4.1% 12 2.2% 63.6% guides ↗ Leshrac 32 6.0% 30 5.6% 2 0.4% 50.0% guides ↗ Naga Siren 31 5.8% 18 3.4% 13 2.4% 50.0% guides ↗ Chen 30 5.6% 12 2.2% 18 3.4% 33.3% guides ↗ Treant Protector 29 5.4% 23 4.3% 6 1.1% 47.8% guides ↗ Morphling 28 5.2% 16 3.0% 12 2.2% 56.3% guides ↗ Warlock 28 5.2% 22 4.1% 6 1.1% 68.2% guides ↗ Keeper of the Light 27 5.0% 15 2.8% 12 2.2% 40.0% guides ↗ In tier 4 and 5 we find all the situational heroes. They are strong when paired with others, or against specific lineups. These heroes aren’t bad, they just don’t work in every game, so the pick and ban rates aren’t stellar.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Pick % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Axe 26 4.8% 21 3.9% 5 0.9% 57.1% guides ↗ Shadow Fiend 26 4.8% 19 3.5% 7 1.3% 36.8% guides ↗ Lina 26 4.8% 22 4.1% 4 0.7% 45.5% guides ↗ Enigma 26 4.8% 11 2.0% 15 2.8% 63.6% guides ↗ Pudge 25 4.7% 18 3.4% 7 1.3% 55.6% guides ↗ Skywrath Mage 24 4.5% 23 4.3% 1 0.2% 43.5% guides ↗ Phoenix 24 4.5% 16 3.0% 8 1.5% 50.0% guides ↗ Spectre 23 4.3% 18 3.4% 5 0.9% 61.1% guides ↗ Arc Warden 23 4.3% 8 1.5% 15 2.8% 75.0% guides ↗ Zeus 22 4.1% 18 3.4% 4 0.7% 50.0% guides ↗ Wraith King 20 3.7% 16 3.0% 4 0.7% 62.5% guides ↗ Troll Warlord 20 3.7% 13 2.4% 7 1.3% 7.7% guides ↗ Dark Willow 19 3.5% 5 0.9% 14 2.6% 60.0% guides ↗ Riki 18 3.4% 10 1.9% 8 1.5% 10.0% guides ↗ Windranger 16 3.0% 15 2.8% 1 0.2% 33.3% guides ↗ Alchemist 16 3.0% 7 1.3% 9 1.7% 14.3% guides ↗ Oracle 16 3.0% 12 2.2% 4 0.7% 58.3% guides ↗ Crystal Maiden 14 2.6% 8 1.5% 6 1.1% 37.5% guides ↗ Clinkz 12 2.2% 8 1.5% 4 0.7% 50.0% guides ↗ Meepo 12 2.2% 3 0.6% 9 1.7% 0.0% guides ↗ Pangolier 11 2.0% 2 0.4% 9 1.7% 50.0% guides ↗ Techies 9 1.7% 0 0.0% 9 1.7% - guides ↗ Huskar 8 1.5% 4 0.7% 4 0.7% 25.0% guides ↗ Bristleback 2 0.4% 2 0.4% 0 0.0% 0.0% guides ↗

All heroes were picked or banned. Bristleback was never banned - Techies never picked.

Note that Valve already released the 7.07b and 7.07c updates.

The competitive scene still needs time to experiment with all the changes and find out the best heroes and tactics of the new patch. During the month we have already witnessed many new trends, and the draft rate of some heroes skyrocketed, but in the end this is still a “work in progress”. We will be able to have more definitive data only in a couple of months.


Credit: Statistics gathered from DatDota, thank you for your wonderful DotA 2 stats!

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Winter Wyvern looks really strong this patch, I gotta play her some more again.

Great writing Skulz!