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I'm going to try to do a Monthly guide about the metagame in Dota2. This will consist of prevailing strategies and popular picks. I can go into individual game analysis by request if people would find that interesting.
For now I will focus on popular picks and bans, but at some point I would also like to go through the reasons why certain heroes aren't picked in high level play even though they seem to dominate in public games. A lot of people don't understand why Huskar isn't picked very often in tournaments.
Antimage
Antimage has become a top tier pick due to his fast attack animation, his two great survivability skills and his ability to farm exceptionally quickly. Usually played in the safe lane with one or two support heroes, antimage will rush a battlefury and then farm back and forth between the lane and the jungle, using his tremendous mobility with blink dagger to farm up items exceptionally quickly. While he's not the hardest carry, he definitely peaks very fast if he isn't kept down in the early stages of the game.
Furion
Adaptability is what has made Furion great. He's seen both starting in lane and in the jungle, and as both a farming carry and as a ganker or pusher. Furion's exceptional versatility is what makes him such a strong pick, providing teams with a great way to flip the balance of early ganks and teamfights.
Tidehunter
Tidehunter has become exceptionally popular with teams, even in a few different situations. When he's played in solo mid, it's to get him to level 6 quickly to try and dominate team fights. Otherwise, he's played as a roaming support in one of the side lanes where he can grab some exp from creep pulls or from early ganks. Regardless of where he's laned, Tidehunter's ability to control teamfights is his main strength, and his ability to control lanes makes him even stronger.
Lich
The ability to deny experience is one of the tactics in Dota that makes trilanes so strong; the support heroes can push the enemies back to their tower and then the carry can have freefarm and free exp. Lich, however, brings that tactic to any lane. His ability to sacrifice a creep each wave makes sure that the enemy team is underleveled, something that is exceptionally important in the early game. It should be noted, however, that Lich is declining in popularity as a soloer because he tends to give up a tier 1 tower exceptionally quickly, especially against heroes like Chen and Enchantress and even Enigma. He is still very strong in a dual lane or in a trilane.
Night Stalker
Balanar is a very strong pick. With one of the best nukes in the game, and the ability to chase down heroes at night, he's very tough to deal with if he has a strong or even mediocre start to the game. Needing very few items, Night Stalker can spend the first night time picking of week support heroes by himself or even teaming and ganking down carries.
Beastmaster
Beastmaster is all about map control. His hawk provides map vision and his ganking presence provides map control. Roar is one of the best stuns in the game, especially at early levels, and with his axes, he can kill a lot of heroes in the early stages of the game. Coupled with the slowing power of his boar, he is also an excellent chaser. If he can overcome his early mana problems, he is a big force to be reckoned with in the midgame.
Broodmother
Ancient Apparition
Earthshaker
Clockwerk
Omniknight
Mirana
Vengeful Spirit
Crystal Maiden
Vengeful Spirit
Windrunner
Enchantress
Chen
Pudge
Sand King
Venomancer
Faceless Void
Viper
Weaver
Spectre
Enigma
Sven
Tiny
Dragon Knight
Drow Ranger
Morphling
Puck
Storm Spirit
Shadow Shaman
Tinker
Slardar
Skeleton King
Lifestealer
Doom Bringer
Razor
Lion
Witch Doctor
Necrolyte
Queen of Pain
Pugna
Dazzle
Dark Seer
Batrider
Kunkka
Huskar
Alchemist
Juggernaut
Riki
Sniper
Zeus
Lina
Jakiro
Axe
Bloodseeker
Shadow Fiend
Warlock
Death Prophet
Leshrac
If you agree or disagree with any of these classifications, feel free to let me know why. I'll try and finish a writeup for each of the heroes when I have time to do so, but if there are any specific heroes that you want me to writeup, let me know and I'll concentrate on those heroes first.
Remember that this isn't necessarily an indication of the strength of any given hero, it's just what's currently popular in the Dota2 metagame and why.
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