Drafting

BEWARE!!! THE TEXT WALL COMES!!!

Sure, that was just a quick example of a typical draft these days. <}3

The basiuc idea behind my Drafts is that I'll focus on 1 Strat at first (in this case Teamfight), then build around the rest of them. Having 1 Core for Teamfight/Ganking/Split-Pushing gives you the versatility to hadnle whatever's thrown at you, so if you go in with this ideal right from the start, it's hard to get countered, since you can just switch to a "Plan B". It's fairly straight-forward to replicate with a few simple steps. First of all...
This is pretty much how the 1st Ban/Pick Phase in my Draft works. I was planning on building a Teamfight lineup, so I knew I'd want to pick a Rat Carry (i.e. Weaver) to balance it out, so I worked out which Heroes at the top of the Meta suited my lineup best ( Invoker), and which ones could shut it down the hardest (Doom Bringer), that's right, 1st Round Ban for a Final Round Pick 8{D. Clockwerk may not be considered OP, but I like Picking him in the First Phase, simply because he's so useful against other Teamfight/Ganking/Split-Pushing Lineups.

As for the Ember Spirit Ban? I had more choices than that, but you can narrow it down. If there is a Hero that counters Nature's Prophet hard, it's Clockwerk. Surprise Hookshots will keep him in place, and Dust of Appearance + Battery Assault will keep him from TPing away. Lycanthrope isn't "Countered" by Clockwerk per say, but Hookshot into Cogs can slow him down, even in his Ult form, since he has to smash a Cog 3 times to get out. As for Slark, I'm planning to 4 or 5-man early on, and I'm confident that Weaver won't be too easy for him to catch out, so he's not that threatening this game. That just leaves Centaur Warrunner , against a Tri-Lane. While it's far from impossible for him to do anything in that Situation, I'm confident a strong Tri-Lane will be enough to secure a Kill on an Offlaner who lacks any Escape Mechanism whatsoever before lvl6.

Ember doesn't care too much about Cogs, due to Fire Remnant and I don't have any Reliable Stuns or Silences to lock him down yet, that makes him the obvious choice for the Ban Hammer.

Banning Doom Bringer is a wise choice, since he's Top Tier atm, but Bannin Rubick is like announcing "HEY!!! DON'T STEAL MY MASSIVE ULTIES PLEASE!!! I WANT TO WIN TEAMFIGHTS AGAINST YOU!!!". Wait until it's obvious that you're running a Teamfight oriented strategy, e.g. you've already got Invoker + Clockwerk, before you Ban the obvious Counter to your lineup, so 2nd Ban Phase is better. If they do pick a Rubick in the First Wave, they're announcing "BRING IT!!! WE'LL JUST USE YOUR TEAMFIGHT AGAINST YOU!!!" and don't pick Heroes with Abilities that are difficult to Steal, or just plain suck without a follow up skill.

As Peppo said, the trends have shifted in 1st Picks, nowadays, picking 2 strong Mid-Game Cores is the way to go in the 1st Pick Phase (it used to be 1 Mid Core + 1 Support if I remember correctly...or was that just me? ._.). If you don't feel comfortable dedicating yourself to 2 Cores that early on, pick up a Top Tier Support like Visage or Dazzle with a Top Tier Core.

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I didn't go as far as making up a 2nd Ban Phase, because...I'm too lazy to make a 2nd Draft to justify it ._. so I'll just give my 2p on it.

Start the 2nd Ban Phase off the same way you did with the 1st, i.e. "What OP/Top Tier Picks are left, and which ones are dangerous to me?" The difference being, you can see 2 of the other Teams Heroes, so you can see the gaps they need to fill. Do they lack Initiation and have no Pick off potential yet? Ban Batrider! Do they lack Teamfight and Split-Push? Ban Luna!

Dark Seer is a niche pick these days, he's great for Teamfight Lineups and only Teamfight lineups, other Offlaners like Clockwerk, Mirana, etc. bring more to the table Mid-Game. Also, it's unlikely that an Invoker will still be in the pool by the 2nd Ban Phase, or even the 1st Pick Phase, so snap him up as a 1st Pick, while you can. Magnus is an ok choice if the other Team got Invoker 1st though, Timbersaw can be good too.

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The 2nd Pick Phase is where everything comes out, by this point you'll gain an idea of who's Lineup is stronger at what and have an idea of how Lanes can be laid out. Just grab the best of what's left that will strengthen your Team. In my Draft, I picked up a Dazzle, on of the best Supports in the Meta, and a great Lane Partner for Weaver, there is also the possibility of Abaddon is Dazzle is Banned or I desperately need something to remove Stuns, e.g. Sacred Arrow, Fiend's Grip, etc. but Weave gives more Impact in the Late Game. I also pick up a Crystal Maiden because, in spite of the Nerfs, I feel she's still an excellent Support, not for her Aura, but for her ability to Gank effectively with a Root(?) and an AoE Slow + Nuke at lvl2. You can also pick up a Visage here, but it's quite likely he'll be Banned or Picked by the other Team at this point.

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As for Final Bans and Picks, try to Ban out the "obvious" choice that would complete the other Team's Lineup. Pick the Hero that fills what you need the best.

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Also...

You make it sound like a Silencer counters Teamfight lineups hard, but a Silencer can only Teamfight, meaning it will be a case of Teamfight vs Teamfight, so get a Black King Bar you'll need to build it on 2 or 3 of your Cores anyway since they have a Teamfight lineup, so let them pick Silencer and Counter him with Items. 8{D

Alternatively, get something that can pick him off, like a Batrider or Mirana, they're great in Teamfight lineups, since you can neutralise the biggest threat before they can act. The same theory works with getting a well-placed Clockwerk against a Naga Siren to stop Song Initiations/Disengages with Hookshot.

Can't really critique a draft without knowing enemy picks and bans...post match ID's.

Main issue I see with your draft strategy is the first round. Doom's a situational ban in my book (he's only great against singlecore lineups), Rubick is never a first ban, and probably doesn't need to be banned at all unless you're going heavy teamfight.

Crystal Maiden/ Venomancer seems to be a really popular firstpick pairing in pubs but I don't really understand why. Two squishy supports with no reliable stun ( Frostbite won't stop Ball Lightning, Leap, etc.) makes them food for gankers like Storm Spirit, Clockwerk, Slark, Nyx Assassin, etc. They're a strong roaming duo (and that's it) but roaming seems to never happen in pubs. If you're going to pick them you need a carry that can survive without babysitting, and you need the rest of your lineup to cover the lack of reliable disable.

Later rounds depend heavily on what you're going against, but I'll say that Silencer is rarely worth a ban, he only does well against heavy teamfight and even then it's not hard to bait his ult or pick him off.

About CM and Veno, I remember hearing from a co-caster (can't remember which one, probably SyndereN, 1437, Demon or Luminous) that picking them both isn't a good idea: While they both are strong babysitters and good gankers in the mid game, they don't scale well at all. CM does almost nothing in late teamfights besides disabling a single Hero, and Veno's ulti gets unnoticed unless paired with another good teamfight Hero like Disruptor or Ancient Apparition; so, I'm with Jakwbreaker. They're also overkill as a ganking duo, you could easily substitute one of them with a different support.

You should also obviously draft towards the heroes that your team is really good on.
For example, yes centaur or nyx offlane might be good, but i kick *** on clockwerk so consider that.

The matchmaking level that you play in is also something you should consider.
For example i play at ~3400 MMR and rising and im not afraid of ember spirit at all.
Becouse lycan is hard to deal with in pubs and punishes mistakes, invoker is stronger IMO, AA makes agressive tri's strong. Ember is a skill intensive hero that not that pubbers play, so if you aren't that high in matchmaking i wouldnt be afraid of him at all. Its not like he is that OP. He is strong yes, but so is puck, and he wont get picked a lot too in low pubs.

Agreed, if you want a really insane combo with venomancer you should pick Ancient Apparition.

Maiden is better paired with a scaling support like visage.

i like to pick Lion and Dazzle a lot,because of the versatility of these heroes,who, when in combination,can wreck the enemy team.I always prefer to have a hard carry in my team (only when im playing stacks).

As requested, another Draft, this one much more Xyrusian than the last. 8{D

I'll be Dire for this one but Radiant will Pick 1st...

For the most part a very solid draft. Only thing I would disagree with is the Centaur ban.

I pick Dark Seer regularly against greedy solo safelanes (usually converted mids like Invoker) all the time, you can easily start creep cutting at level 3 and forcing TP support or early tower(s), which would basically ruin your early game strategy.

Hmm...true, it would be annoying, but if you picked a Dark Seer, I would probably put Invoker Mid and break out...something...that can Solo against a Dark Seer. I know I've seen a Solo Lifestealer against a Dark Seer doing what you describe, but can't remember if that actually countered it...it's been too long since I've seen DS in Competetive matches. ._.

If it does work, then switching my Carry from a DK to a Lifestealer isn't so bad. <}3

@xyrus draft.

I actually like their draft better on first glance.

Your strategey is good and if your trilane works you have a good chance of winning, but running razor is VERY all in becouse your lineup cant farm itself back into the game.
Their lineup is also pretty damn hard to push into.

I dont like the invoker pickup, yes he is strong but i feel that he is not what your lineup needs.
You dont have good pickoff heroes at all, becouse DK needs a BKB desperately, so you are going for a deathball lineup that continues to take towers. Reinforcing that by having a scary teamfight ult ready would be better then picking a VERY level hungry hero who provides some forge spirts to the push.
Getting a Tidehunter or Enigma who can do very well solo top and farm a quick mek. Invoker can also do that, but it is not ideal.

The biggest thing that either of these heroes provide is a very SCARY ultimate, the power of it is not just that it good in fights, it is that it deters your opponent from jumping you becouse there is a big ult waiting for them.

The last thing is that the lycan ban wasnt really needed for this strategy, you should slow down his farm for you to get a big advantage becouse of the agressive tri, and you will most likely lose anyway if the tri doesnt work.