One week into 7.22e, the last patch before TI9 is establishing the current meta that will take us to Shanghai and the biggest esports prize in history. It's unlikely we'll see any drastic shifts in ranked meta, but these Immortal-rank stats may well give us insights into popular strategies at The International.

Live Dota 2 matches: Latest schedules, streams, stats and odds

This report is based on data collected during the first week of patch 7.22e. Data includes not only ranked matches, but stats of all matches with average rank equal to Immortal. Excluded matches are the ones that have abandons, ended in less than 10 minutes or had an insignificantly low score.

The full and regularly-updated version of the report is available at Spectral.gg. You can find detailed data about Hero-vs-Hero performance, draft stages priorities, pairs and trios, positions stats and dire/radiant winrates, Meta Graph and region-specific data here.

FAQ

Why does REGION X have such a low number of matches? It’s common for higher ranks to queue in the closest popular region - EUW for RU players, USE for USW players.

It’s common for higher ranks to queue in the closest popular region - EUW for RU players, USE for USW players. Where did you get data? Match IDs are manually extracted from leaderboards players' recent matches using STRATZ API. I then fetch match data using OpenDota API.

Match IDs are manually extracted from leaderboards players' recent matches using STRATZ API. I then fetch match data using OpenDota API. Why are there only random draft matches played in China? Chinese players just love playing Random Draft!

Chinese players just love playing Random Draft! What is Hero Pairs Divergence? This is the difference between an expected pair's matches and the real number match number. Usually this difference is higher for better hero combos.

This is the difference between an expected pair's matches and the real number match number. Usually this difference is higher for better hero combos. What is Hero Rank? Think of it as a smart win-rate sorting method. It considers the popularity and win-rate of heroes to rank them.

Think of it as a smart win-rate sorting method. It considers the popularity and win-rate of heroes to rank them. Is it strictly Immortal Rank? Almost. I'm not checking all the matches by myself as it would be too time consuming (requesting every single match and checking its average rank). I'm using STRATZ API filters for that, minimum match rank is set to 80 (immortal). In some cases uncalibrated players or those who got to play with nine immortal players in game may get through.

Related: A time for heroes: Competitive trends of TI9 qualifiers

Summary

Total matches: 32,954

32,954 Individual players spotted in matches: 33,376 (includes Immortal players who lost their rank)

33,376 (includes Immortal players who lost their rank) Radiant winrate: 53.08%

53.08% Median match duration: 34:57

34:57 Median hero picks: 2,100

2,100 Median hero bans: 276

276 Median hero GPM/XPM: 429/552

429/552 Total buybacks: 84,736

I'm leaving these median hero stats because it's good to understand the average values and comparing heroes is much easier using these numbers. It also leads to some interesting insights.

Game Modes

Ranked All Pick: 25,339

25,339 Random Draft: 7,044

7,044 Captains Mode: 419

419 Single Draft: 144

144 All Pick: 188

Regions

Europe West: 10,162

10,162 China: 7,494

7,494 Southeast Asia: 7,149

7,149 US East: 3,190

3,190 Russia and CIS: 1,691

1,691 Europe East: 1,570

1,570 South America: 682

682 Australia: 571

571 Japan: 195

195 US West: 142

142 Peru: 104

104 India: 4

Heroes

Despite the 7.22e patch being relatively light, meta changes are still significant enough to identify. Firstly there was a significant win-rate drop for Ember Spirit. The hero still remains the most-picked, but his win-rate dropped almost 8% over the last two patches. The same thing, surprisingly, happened to Wraith King, Huskar, Io, Shadow Shaman and Sand King. All of those heroes lost significant portion of their pick and win-rates, which was enough to drop their rank and knock them out of the top 10.

Some interesting things happened to Lycan and Visage. These two heroes have been niche picks for almost a year now and haven't had much attention. After the most recent buff Visage is now almost 50% of median picks (which is valuable by itself, but the number of hero's picks was only 27% of the median and just 6% of Ember Spirit’s number) with a respectable 58% winrate. Considering the meta of tanky melee cores being one of the worst nightmares for the hero, it’s quite surprising to not only see Visage rising in popularity, but also being quite successful. Together with Meepo and Lycan it may be a “pocket pick” for TI9.

Another hero worth noting is Enchantress. After several buffs in a row the hero was trending in Immortal games and one of the best off-lane picks today. Enchantress is a great example of a niche pick becoming an overall threat: a strong offlane and mid core, great laner and versatile hero may become one of the most popular picks at TI9, similar to offlane Wraith King a year ago.

The last hero worth mentioning from the top 10 is Faceless Void. It’s not a surprise to see this hero rising in popularity before TI since it was always one of the go-to choices at the event. However, it’s surprising to see the hero being so successful. The reason for that may be popularity of elusive cores like Slark and Ember Spirit. Similarly, Naga Siren is in the top 10 for the same reasons.

Draft stats (sorted by rank)

Related content: The stats behind Team Secret's success

Hero Combos (sorted by deviation)

Position: Core Safelane

Juggernaut: 8,016 (50.25% win-rate)

8,016 (50.25% win-rate) Slark: 7,972 (51.14% win-rate)

7,972 (51.14% win-rate) Wraith King: 5,458 (51.04% win-rate)

5,458 (51.04% win-rate) Lifestealer: 4,528 (49.71% win-rate)

4,528 (49.71% win-rate) Sven: 3,941 (49.96% win-rate)

Juggernaut continues to dominate the carry scene, but Lifestealer was finally dropped from second place, being replaced by Slark.

There are also some new and rising heroes worth mentioning: Naga Siren (1,578, 57.16% win-rate), Faceless Void (2,209, 55.91% win-rate) and... Pudge. Even though the butcher’s popularity isn’t really mirrored in hisstats, some of the top tier carry players recently started spamming safe-lane Pudge and being fairly successful with it. It may be one of the upcoming trends for pubs and TI.

Aside from safe-lane meta shifts, the statistics don't highlight many changes in the other lanes.

Position: Core Midlane

Ember Spirit: 6,696 (50.49% win-rate)

6,696 (50.49% win-rate) Outworld Devourer: 5,568 (51.96% win-rate)

5,568 (51.96% win-rate) Storm Spirit: 3,953 (46.34% win-rate)

3,953 (46.34% win-rate) Invoker: 3,495 (49.53% win-rate)

3,495 (49.53% win-rate) Queen of Pain: 3,280 (50.15% win-rate)

Position: Core Offlane

Sand King: 4,976 (51.61% win-rate)

4,976 (51.61% win-rate) Mars: 4,476 (49.64% win-rate)

4,476 (49.64% win-rate) Pangolier: 4,251 (49.21% win-rate)

4,251 (49.21% win-rate) Axe: 3,400 (49.53% win-rate)

3,400 (49.53% win-rate) Legion Commander: 3,180 (50.44% win-rate)

Position: Support

Spirit Breaker: 7,361 (51.01% win-rate)

7,361 (51.01% win-rate) Rubick: 7,360 (49.48% win-rate)

7,360 (49.48% win-rate) Grimstroke: 6,272 (47.37% win-rate)

6,272 (47.37% win-rate) Lion: 5,847 (49.29% win-rate)

5,847 (49.29% win-rate) Warlock: 5,710 (51.31% win-rate)

5,710 (51.31% win-rate) Shadow Shaman: 5,490 (51.57% win-rate)

5,490 (51.57% win-rate) Crystal Maiden: 4,431 (53.71% win-rate)

4,431 (53.71% win-rate) Earthshaker: 4,355 (50.15% win-rate)

4,355 (50.15% win-rate) Ancient Apparition: 3,197 (51.45% win-rate)

3,197 (51.45% win-rate) Jakiro: 3,110 (49.74% win-rate)

Legends of 7.22d

Concluding the 7.22e patch first week review, I’d like to close the book on 7.22d with some interesting global records noticed.

Highest GPM: 1,506 by Bookssssss as Alchemist in a match 4893154003

1,506 by Bookssssss as Alchemist in a match 4893154003 Highest XPM: 1,269 by cky as Broodmother in a match 4896001001

1,269 by cky as Broodmother in a match 4896001001 Most kills: 42 by rato de bic as Ember Spirit in a match 4886313811

42 by rato de bic as Ember Spirit in a match 4886313811 Most deaths: 36 by how to win dota2? as Shadow FIend in a match 4899601330

36 by how to win dota2? as Shadow FIend in a match 4899601330 Most assists: 62 by Sel as Pudge in a match 4890133322

62 by Sel as Pudge in a match 4890133322 Highest KDA with 0 deaths: 48 by GGwpLanaya as Ember Spirit in a match 4887175559

48 by GGwpLanaya as Ember Spirit in a match 4887175559 Highest KDA with 1+ deaths: 54 by YOLOMEISTER as Puck in a match 4885384773

54 by YOLOMEISTER as Puck in a match 4885384773 Total Gold Earned: 86,756 by Madara as Medusa in a match 4881945019

86,756 by Madara as Medusa in a match 4881945019 Last Hits: 1,349 by Madara as Medusa in a match 4881945019

1,349 by Madara as Medusa in a match 4881945019 Damage to Heroes: 186,616 by Isolation as Zeus in a match 4878211842

186,616 by Isolation as Zeus in a match 4878211842 Damage to Buildings: 29,909 by LXVER as Lone Druid in a match 4884290203

29,909 by LXVER as Lone Druid in a match 4884290203 Hero healing: 108,630 by DøubleEspressø as Dazzle in a match 4889867152

108,630 by DøubleEspressø as Dazzle in a match 4889867152 Damage taken from heroes: 189,830 by zxc as Meepo in a match 4882389361

189,830 by zxc as Meepo in a match 4882389361 Observer wards placed: 39 by AlcantarA as Dazzle in a match 4888017876

39 by AlcantarA as Dazzle in a match 4888017876 Sentries placed: 77 by Wings.Innocence as Oracle in a match 898481037

77 by Wings.Innocence as Oracle in a match 898481037 Observer wards destroyed: 18 by DOTAHORSE as Nyx Assassin in a match 4888245776

18 by DOTAHORSE as Nyx Assassin in a match 4888245776 Map pings: 1,423 by zero motivation as Tusk in a match 4889574660

1,423 by zero motivation as Tusk in a match 4889574660 Stuns: 608.6 by Goth Angel Sinner as Techies in a match 4890721863

608.6 by Goth Angel Sinner as Techies in a match 4890721863 Most courier kills by a player: 5 by 搏一搏单车变摩托 as Bounty Hunter in a match 4884445653

5 by 搏一搏单车变摩托 as Bounty Hunter in a match 4884445653 Biggest networth stomp by a team (82,040) in a match 4892886800

(82,040) in a match 4892886800 Biggest networth comeback by a team (40,411) in a match 4882751128

(40,411) in a match 4882751128 Most Roshan kills in a match (7) in a match 4888152217

(7) in a match 4888152217 Longest match (1:37:32) was 4894464002

(1:37:32) was 4894464002 Bloodbath with most kills combined (161) was 4878715926

The complete report for patch 7.22d is available at Spectral.gg as well.

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