DreamHack Summer 2013 LAN Preview June 13th, 2013 23:59 GMT Text by TheEmulator Graphics by riptide

Table of Contents

Team Previews

By Kipsate



Shadow Demon Analysis

By Carbonyl



6.78 Meta Shifts

By Phantasmal



Follow DHS on

Liquipedia





Focus Mode

Turn off Focus Mode [x]



DreamHack Summer Preview

Coming up in the next few days the biggest LAN event pre TI3 will take place. A large majority of the teams in DHS are also going to TI3, so this will be a good indicator of how everyone is currently stacking up. This event will be held at the "Elmia Exhibition and Convention Centre" in Jönköping, Sweden. The prize pool is a staggering $46,000, so there is definitely a lot on the line.



We will start this preview off with



Gentlemen, see you in Sweden. We hope you enjoyed our coverage, make sure to check out the







Bracket Photos Courtesy of Liquipedia







Team Previews By Kipsate



One of the most prestigious LAN tournaments in Dota 2 is upon us once again, with 14 of the best teams in the scene being invited or qualifying on their own, and on top of this 2 BYOC teams will join them in the quest for fame, honor, and a prize pool of $46,000.



The Western International



The teams invited are some of the greatest around right now. Out of the 14 teams attending, 8 of those teams will be in Seattle to compete in The International 2013. These teams are Team Liquid, mousesports, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro, Fnatic.EU, Dignitas, Alliance, and Quantic Gaming(DD Dota). Joining them are the likes of Evil Geniuses, Lion's Pride (Link's team), 4FC, TCM Gaming, and Space (aL). One could call this some kind of Western International in terms of team attending. Western Dota 2's finest will duke it out over the course of 3 days for the title of Dreamhack Summer Champions.



Alliance

Little needs to be said about this team. This Swedish All-star team won the G-1 League, they won Starladder, and have been crushing faces left and right. They have been dropping some online games but there is no doubt that they are the strongest team currently in the West. They are one of the favourites to win the entire thing as one does not simply beat them on their own ground.





Natus vincere, who else? They are right on the heels of the Alliance and won the last online exchange with a convincing 2-0. They are the other favourite to win the entire thing. With a record of 9-2 in Starladder and 7-1 in The Defense they seem to have patched what little holes they had and filled it with impressive play. As long as XBOCT can be kept in check they have a very good chance at winning Dreamhack Summer.



mousesports

Winner of the Western qualifiers and still the undefeated champions of Dreamhack (SyndereN did not play at Dreamhack winter). SyndereN has a humorously 100% win rate at Dreamhacks and the International qualifiers that he has played in. Nevertheless, this time it won't be easy at all. mousesports have been wrecking left and right but seem to have trouble adjusting to the new patch, with some of their drafts seeming a bit off. They have about a week to repair the holes in their drafts, and with that their solid play will shine through.



Liquid

It has been a rough few weeks for Team Liquid, while they retain a nice record in ADL the rest of the competition in Europe have caught up or surpassed them since their run at the G-1 League. TC and Korok seem to have switched positions, TC is currently playing the 2 and Korok the 1 position, an interesting change as Korok historically is more of an aggressive player. At Dreamhack we will see if it is for the better. Since the new patch they seem to favour Treant Protector in combination with Crystal Maiden as well as Naga Siren mid if they can get their hands on it.



Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro have been looking strong, securing themselves a spot in Kiev for Starladder season 6 with a 13-1 record. They seem to have adapted well to the new patch, with Naga Siren, Disruptor, Vengeful Spirit, being all heroes that were changed in 6.78 but were also picked by Virtus.pro before this. As of late they seem to have a flair of the old days of Empire, a strong trilane with Naga Siren, a Templar Assasin middle, and a hero who can handle himself well in a 1v1 situation such as Nature's Prophet and if this fails, their Chaos Knight/Wisp is the strongest in the world. This is a team that can beat every team except Na`Vi and Alliance with ease, while maintaining a good chance to upset the latter.



Fnatic.EU

Fnatic has been looking pretty bad as of late, with the lack of practice and many games with standins has taken it's toll. Still, Fnatic have recently finally gotten back together and have started boot-camping. However, it is going to take quite a bit more than just practice, Fnatic needs to experiment and adept to the current patch as much as any other team. Expect Meepo from Fnatic if they are given the chance.



Evil Geniuses

They lost in the Western qualifier but are still a team that on a good day can take games off pretty much anyone apart from Alliance or Na`Vi. EG still showcases some very good drafts and vision but the EG throws are legendary and rightfully so; Fear seems to be the only one resilient to this as miss positioning and over-extension. For EG, their worst enemy is themselves.



Dignitas

The one least known from the three big teams of North America, they are a silent team but do produce some pretty good results. Recently the team has been making use of Treant Protector and one of Aui_2000's old signature heroes, the Morphling. In addition to this, Doom Bringer has also been played quite a bit by Sneyking. Do not underestimate this team.



Quantic Gaming

DD.Dota were recently picked up by Quantic Gaming. This team would be recognized by their drafts alone so it's clearly the same team. Goblak is their drafter and he seems to come up with new ideas every match. Expect pocket strategies and unorthodox heroes out of Quantic, like Razor, Pugna, Bloodseeker, everything is permitted. Even if they don't win the game the picks make it a joy to watch either way, or when they do win, it is amazing.



uebelst gamynG

The team of rmn- and Ex-Mousesports member Alex. At first they were unable to meet the funds required to go to Dreamhack, but after recieving community support from the German Dota 2 community they were able to go. The team itself is new and inexperienced; Dreamhack will be a good teaching experience for them.



4FC

This is the team that can cause an upset in their group, among their team is Matrim, ex-teammate of SyndereN. In recent times they beat EG 2-0 and are looking more solid, a ''B'' team that has potential to beat quite some A-teams. They won't win Dreamhack but they sure as hell will make it hard for others.



Lion's Pride

Link's team, also a team that hasn't really accomplished much of anything in Dota 2, so little can be said about this team as they haven't played too many matches yet. They did manage to beat the up and rising Peruvian team Artyk Gaming 2-0, but any conclusions you can take around that ping are somewhat meaningless.



Flipside

Previously known as Absolute Legends, they are now known as Flipside. This Danish team hasn't really changed that much, they always hover between mediocrity and being able to take games off top teams. They are one of the teams that can be expected to use Spectre.



TCM-Gaming

TCM has been around for a while now, but have a pretty medicore record, with only 4 wins and 8 losses in Starladder. Only recording wins against Z-rage, a very bad Empire, Power Rangers, and Oslik Gaming. For them it will be a learning experience, and they will be hard pressed to get out of their group.



Group Predictions



Group A



4FC

eL Pride

mousesports

Team Liquid



This group has the potential for an upset, while Liquid and mousesports are overall the strong favoruites, 4FC has shown that it can beat stronger teams such as EG. Still, the chance seems likely that mousesports and Team Liquid will make it out. Looking at their current form mousesports seem to be a lot stronger than Liquid.



Prediction:



#1 mousesports

#2 Team Liquid



Group B



Team Dignitas

TCM

uebelst gamynG

Virtus.pro



This group is fairly straightforward. Virtus.pro is currently one of the strongest teams in the West, while Dignitas trails them. Joining them are two fairly mediocre teams that neither Virtus.pro nor Dignitas should have trouble cleaning up. Between the two Virtus.pro on paper are the strongest team but Dignitas can upset them as well.



Prediction:



#1 Virtus.pro

#2 Dignitas



Group C



Evil Geniuses

Flip.Sid3 (ex-aL)

Natus Vincere

BYOC #1



Na`Vi outclasses anyone in this group and should be able to take a firm #1 spot. Evil Geniuses is stronger than Flipside especially considering their form on LAN, but upsets can happen, EG throws can happen, nothing is certain when EG is playing. As for the BYOC team, well at the very least they will have the honor of being destroyed by XBOCT's Blink Dagger Mirana, Dendi's mid Ancient Appiration or whatever Na`Vi decides to troll with.



Prediction:



#1 Natus Vincere

#2 Evil Geniuses



Group D



Alliance

Fnatic.EU

Quantic Gaming

BYOC #2



While Alliance out classes anyone in this the match between Fnatic.EU and Quantic can be interesting. Although Fnatic is currently not looking in any good shape at all they have started boot-camping recently, moreover they have some pretty good LAN experience and composure. Nevertheless, Quantic gaming is still the favourite here, Fnatic sometimes have very shaky drafts and Goblak's drafting is ingenious. As for the BYOC #2 team, well.. I can't really sugar coat it, you are doomed.



Prediction:



#1 Alliance

#2 Quantic Gaming.









Shadow Demon: Analysis and Hero Profile By Carbonyl



Shadow Demon





Picture Courtesy of PlayDota

http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/Shadow_Demon



Recommended Roles: Nuker, Disabler, Support

Str: 17+1.9

Agi: 18+2.2

Int: 23+2.7



Base Dmg: 27-31

Base Armor: 2.52

Base MS: 295



Intro



Shadow Demon bids you dark tidings, as he snatches that guaranteed kill away from you. You can only look on in frustration as the hero you just used three ultimates disappears into the void, leaving your team helpless as the rest of the enemy shows up. Shadow Demon has been a core of the scene for the past two months now, even coming up in the first ban and pick stage, and after his nerfs in 6.78, he's still likely to stay a top support contender for a while. His rise to fame wasn't glamorous; in fact if you read his lore, it’s a bit like that. He first made his way into the scene was as a combination with Leshrac. The Disruption into Split Earth potential was irresistible to teams and was picked up and abused many times before teams got wise and started banning it out. Shadow Demon then started to be paired with Lina, who offered more burst. Ever since, the dark presence of Shadow Demon has been felt in Dota 2. In recent weeks, he has been picked or banned in 70% of matches. However, his rampant participation has made him targeted by Icefrog for a nerf.



In 6.78, Shadow Demon’s base intelligence was reduced by 3. His Shadow Poison also received a large nerf, in that it no longer granted vision for the duration of the debuff. So our favorite demon now starts with a smaller mana pool, less base damage, and a vision nerf. This has, however, not taken away his potency. His Disrupt still gives him quite a unique ability to temporarily save an ally from danger. Soul Catcher was untouched by the patch and still is a substantial damage increase in ganks. He can scout ahead long range with low cooldown. And he has a crippling slow that goes through BKB, and more importantly, Rage.



Tools of Destruction



Disruption

One of the reasons that Shadow Demon is a popular support is his versatility that allows him to provide multiple support functions that you would otherwise need multiple other supports for. His Disrupt provides a nearly perfect setup for any area of effect based stuns, most notably Leshrac's Split Earth, Lina's Light Strike Array, and Kunkka's Torrent. It also acts as a 2.5 second disable on ALL levels, giving a ton of time for your team to follow up. It can save an ally from being focused, providing the functionality of items such as Ghost Scepter or Force Staff. Lastly, it can counter mana-burning heroes like Anti-Mage or Phantom-Lancer, as the illusions it spawns will instantly auto attack the target, burning their own mana.



Soul Catcher

While it isn't always a 100% land rate if you’re ganking on a lane, the effectiveness of this spell when catching another hero out of position can be huge. Extra pure damage applied makes ganks quicker, and allows Shadow Demon to have a form of damage output other supports wish for. The percentage scaling means that this spell scales great into the late game, although with chaotic teamfights it may be hard to land it on a particular hero.



Shadow Poison

While it can do quite a lot of damage when leveled up and given opportunity to stack, it is most commonly used for scouting. It provides critical information and gives temporary highground vision or Roshan pit vision, putting it on par with Venomancer's Plague Ward. The vision is also invaluable in the ever popular trilane, allowing for great defensive or offensive scouting purposes.



Demonic Purge

Shadow Demon’s ultimate, while almost always securing the kill in ganks, is most notable for going through magic immunity. It can make heroes like N'aix or BKB-dependent heroes like Chaos Knight, ineffective and kiteable. Of course, it also works perfectly well on heroes that simply need to get in close to do damage, like Ursa or Sven. It gives him a presence on the battlefield throughout the game and when properly used can heavily sway a fight in your favor.



The Demonic Downside



As much as I go on about his versatility and usefulness, the hero also has deficiencies that contribute to his rather lacking win percentage at the moment. Perhaps teams have failed to realize this, but in a recent pool of 191 matches, Shadow Demon has exhibited a 35% win ratio, while playing in 81 of these games (and being banned out in an additional 52 of them), giving a poorer showing than any other Tier 1 pick other than KotL (who actually had a 33% win ratio) by a fairly large margin.



First to state the obvious, he is a squishy, position 5 support, who will most likely have just over 1000HP at level 15. He has no innate escape mechanism, like many other squishy supports. And he will very often end the game severely underleveled and farmed, regardless of who’s side he’s on. But this is true of many support heroes, so it can’t be the sole reason for his seemingly ineffectiveness.



While he doesn’t need many levels to scale effectively, he doesn't necessarily offer a lot to the 5v5 Dota 2 scene that we currently see. After he Purges an enemy hero and gets off a Disrupt and Soul Catcher, he really has nothing to offer (if he’s even still alive). And the damage output from those three spells is pitiful in comparison to a Lina, Lion, or even Jakiro. Again he can be compared to Venomancer, who after giving off a Gale and using an ultimate is essentially walking gold. But Venomancer trumps the Demonic one in that his ultimate can deal large amounts of damage to the entire team, and whose slow can also hit multiple targets. While Shadow Demon’s skillset is certainly unique, and come in beyond handy in particular situations, we see that it might not necessarily lead to winning the game.



With the heavy fighting 5 man Dota that pervades the scene at the moment and the popularity of rowdy heroes like Clockwerk, Wisp, Batrider, and Nyx Assassin, Shadow Demon is a hero that just can’t keep up, literally and figuratively. He will never be able to control a game on his own, regardless of how many first bloods he gets (I’m looking at you, compendium owners). His skillset doesn't provide much in the way of damage, which really hurts when you’re fighting against 5 enemy heroes who DO do damage.



While I don’t expect the enticement of Shadow Demon to fade anytime soon, I am not so sure that the win rate will improve notably during Dreamhack Summer (unless some serious Kunkka+Shadow Demon smackdowns take place).









6.78 and the Shifts in Hero Usage By Phantasmal

By the time DreamHack Summer begins, Dota 2’s 6.78 patch will have only been out for eleven days. This could likely make for a very volatile group stage, as teams are still in the process of mapping uncharted territory. From our perspective, a week of data isn’t much to go on, but here are some of the surprising hero trends of the patch that might show up in this weekend’s matches.



First let’s start with the carries. It’s no surprise that Gyrocopter, Lifestealer, and Lone Druid have continued to have a presence in 6.78. All three heroes were toned down some in the patch, but none of them received crippling nerfs. That being said, their reduced prominence has allowed a couple other heroes to shine.



First and foremost is Dragon Knight. In the week since the patch, Dragon Knight has been picked 64 times. For comparison, during the entire month of May he only saw 46 selections. Over half of the DreamHack teams have used this hero this week. EG in particular stands out, as they have run Dragon Knight 12 times since the release of the patch.



On the other side of the spectrum we have Outworld Destroyer. He’s still a risky pick, but thanks to his movement speed buff in the patch, teams are a bit more willing to take that risk. Quantic in particular loves the hero, grabbing him 6 times this week alone. Outworld is also quite capable of making all those Dragon Knights very miserable in a mid matchup, as demonstrated in Quantic vs Alliance Game 1 at the Defense 4 earlier this week.



One forgotten carry that has seen a resurgence in 6.78 is Naga Siren. She fell out of favor after the nerfs she received in 6.75, but the small buff to Riptide’s cooldown in 6.78 has led to teams re-evaluating the hero. One particularly interesting trend is moving her to mid and using Riptide to shove the lane in a manner similar to what Magnus does with Shockwave. If you do see her this weekend, the most likely culprits are Virtus.Pro and Team Liquid.



Moving onto supports, 6.78 brought base stat nerfs to both Shadow Demon and Keeper of the Light. Let me emphasize that it is too early to tell how significant these nerfs will be . That being said, both heroes have struggled this week with Shadow Demon recording a 35% win rate and Keeper of the Light at 33%.



And just like with the carries, we’re seeing some shuffling in support preferences. The biggest recipient is Visage. This has nothing to do with the patch. Visage has just had a series of dominant performances in the Eastern International Qualifiers and the G1 League, and Western teams are now working to integrate him into their strategies.



But as for 6.78 benefactors, Vengeful Spirit has seen a modest increase in use thanks to her strength buffs in 6.78. She’ll likely still be a niche pickup, but her niche will be somewhat larger now. This will likely also be true for Crystal Maiden. Though she’s only been picked up 10 times in the last week, that’s a big increase from the 4 selections she saw during the entirety of April and May.



Another hero worth keeping an eye on is Disruptor. I don’t know that his 6.78 changes were particularly amazing, but he’s seen a small surge in use lately with teams like Alliance, Team Liquid, Virtus.Pro, EG, and mousesports experimenting with him in various lineups.



I’d be neglecting my duties if I did a support section without mentioning Treant Protector. He has a 60% win rate in 43 games this month, and more and more teams are starting to integrate him into their drafting process. Quantic is still likely the most practiced with him, but Dignitas, Alliance, Team Liquid, and NaVi have all gotten into the Living Armor racket recently.



Finally, let’s look at some of quirky hero picks of the last week that might either be a flash in the pan or the start of a much larger trend.



Bloodseeker has seen a small spurt of usage. The new dispel on Blood Rage is a huge x-factor and might make Bloodseeker much more effective as a situational counterpick.



Spiritbreaker has also seen a small surge, including a Team Liquid pickup where he was played as a support and served as a delivery mechanism for Lifestealer infest bombs.



Quantic has been experimenting with Pugna push lineups. They’ve also used him in conjunction with Undying to take advantage of the Decrepify + Tombstone interaction that was added in 6.78.



In other Quantic-driven trends, Razor received some reasonably significant buffs last week and could see increased play as a situational pick.



I still don’t like her late game potential (or lack thereof), but Broodmother is 4 for 4 in her 6.78 games, including two pickups by EG



Fnatic.EU has used Meepo twice this week after his magic resist buff in 6.78. Of the 7 recorded Meepo games, Fnatic’s NoTail is responsible for 6 of them.



After seeing no picks since January, Viper has seen four selections in the past 2 weeks, three of those by Fnatic.



And as a finale, Lich has actually seen a small surge of pickups in the last couple of days. It’s probably just a blip, but Quantic, Virtus.Pro, and Lion’s Pride have all experimented with the hero, so maybe he’ll make a guest appearance at DreamHack.



All the stats in this article were compiled using the





Writers: Kipsate, Carbonyl, Phantasmal

Gfx: riptide, TheEmulator

Editors: TheEmulator, ScintilliaSD

Coming up in the next few days the biggest LAN event pre TI3 will take place. A large majority of the teams in DHS are also going to TI3, so this will be a good indicator of how everyone is currently stacking up. This event will be held at the "Elmia Exhibition and Convention Centre" in Jönköping, Sweden. The prize pool is a staggering $46,000, so there is definitely a lot on the line.We will start this preview off with Team Previews from TL writer Kipsate, where he goes over in detail about all the teams attending DHS this time around. We also have a fantastic Hero Profile from Carbonyl, along with an analysis of 6.78 from our newest writer, Phantasmal.Gentlemen, see you in Sweden. We hope you enjoyed our coverage, make sure to check out the LR Thread , and stay tuned for our Recap after the event!One of the most prestigious LAN tournaments in Dota 2 is upon us once again, with 14 of the best teams in the scene being invited or qualifying on their own, and on top of this 2 BYOC teams will join them in the quest for fame, honor, and a prize pool of $46,000.The teams invited are some of the greatest around right now. Out of the 14 teams attending, 8 of those teams will be in Seattle to compete in The International 2013. These teams are Team Liquid, mousesports, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro, Fnatic.EU, Dignitas, Alliance, and Quantic Gaming(DD Dota). Joining them are the likes of Evil Geniuses, Lion's Pride (Link's team), 4FC, TCM Gaming, and Space (aL). One could call this some kind of Western International in terms of team attending. Western Dota 2's finest will duke it out over the course of 3 days for the title of Dreamhack Summer Champions.4FCeL PridemousesportsTeam LiquidThis group has the potential for an upset, while Liquid and mousesports are overall the strong favoruites, 4FC has shown that it can beat stronger teams such as EG. Still, the chance seems likely that mousesports and Team Liquid will make it out. Looking at their current form mousesports seem to be a lot stronger than Liquid.Prediction:#1mousesports#2Team LiquidTeam DignitasTCMuebelst gamynGVirtus.proThis group is fairly straightforward. Virtus.pro is currently one of the strongest teams in the West, while Dignitas trails them. Joining them are two fairly mediocre teams that neither Virtus.pro nor Dignitas should have trouble cleaning up. Between the two Virtus.pro on paper are the strongest team but Dignitas can upset them as well.Prediction:#1Virtus.pro#2DignitasEvil GeniusesFlip.Sid3 (ex-aL)Natus VincereBYOC #1Na`Vi outclasses anyone in this group and should be able to take a firm #1 spot. Evil Geniuses is stronger than Flipside especially considering their form on LAN, but upsets can happen, EG throws can happen, nothing is certain when EG is playing. As for the BYOC team, well at the very least they will have the honor of being destroyed by XBOCT's Blink Dagger Mirana, Dendi's mid Ancient Appiration or whatever Na`Vi decides to troll with.Prediction:#1Natus Vincere#2Evil GeniusesAllianceFnatic.EUQuantic GamingBYOC #2While Alliance out classes anyone in this the match between Fnatic.EU and Quantic can be interesting. Although Fnatic is currently not looking in any good shape at all they have started boot-camping recently, moreover they have some pretty good LAN experience and composure. Nevertheless, Quantic gaming is still the favourite here, Fnatic sometimes have very shaky drafts and Goblak's drafting is ingenious. As for the BYOC #2 team, well.. I can't really sugar coat it, you are doomed.Prediction:#1Alliance#2Quantic Gaming.Recommended Roles: Nuker, Disabler, SupportStr: 17+1.9Agi: 18+2.2Int: 23+2.7Base Dmg: 27-31Base Armor: 2.52Base MS: 295Shadow Demon bids you dark tidings, as he snatches that guaranteed kill away from you. You can only look on in frustration as the hero you just used three ultimates disappears into the void, leaving your team helpless as the rest of the enemy shows up. Shadow Demon has been a core of the scene for the past two months now, even coming up in the first ban and pick stage, and after his nerfs in 6.78, he's still likely to stay a top support contender for a while. His rise to fame wasn't glamorous; in fact if you read his lore, it’s a bit like that. He first made his way into the scene was as a combination with Leshrac. The Disruption into Split Earth potential was irresistible to teams and was picked up and abused many times before teams got wise and started banning it out. Shadow Demon then started to be paired with Lina, who offered more burst. Ever since, the dark presence of Shadow Demon has been felt in Dota 2. In recent weeks, he has been picked or banned in 70% of matches. However, his rampant participation has made him targeted by Icefrog for a nerf.In 6.78, Shadow Demon’s base intelligence was reduced by 3. His Shadow Poison also received a large nerf, in that it no longer granted vision for the duration of the debuff. So our favorite demon now starts with a smaller mana pool, less base damage, and a vision nerf. This has, however, not taken away his potency. His Disrupt still gives him quite a unique ability to temporarily save an ally from danger. Soul Catcher was untouched by the patch and still is a substantial damage increase in ganks. He can scout ahead long range with low cooldown. And he has a crippling slow that goes through BKB, and more importantly, Rage.One of the reasons that Shadow Demon is a popular support is his versatility that allows him to provide multiple support functions that you would otherwise need multiple other supports for. His Disrupt provides a nearly perfect setup for any area of effect based stuns, most notably Leshrac's Split Earth, Lina's Light Strike Array, and Kunkka's Torrent. It also acts as a 2.5 second disable on ALL levels, giving a ton of time for your team to follow up. It can save an ally from being focused, providing the functionality of items such as Ghost Scepter or Force Staff. Lastly, it can counter mana-burning heroes like Anti-Mage or Phantom-Lancer, as the illusions it spawns will instantly auto attack the target, burning their own mana.While it isn't always a 100% land rate if you’re ganking on a lane, the effectiveness of this spell when catching another hero out of position can be huge. Extra pure damage applied makes ganks quicker, and allows Shadow Demon to have a form of damage output other supports wish for. The percentage scaling means that this spell scales great into the late game, although with chaotic teamfights it may be hard to land it on a particular hero.While it can do quite a lot of damage when leveled up and given opportunity to stack, it is most commonly used for scouting. It provides critical information and gives temporary highground vision or Roshan pit vision, putting it on par with Venomancer's Plague Ward. The vision is also invaluable in the ever popular trilane, allowing for great defensive or offensive scouting purposes.Shadow Demon’s ultimate, while almost always securing the kill in ganks, is most notable for going through magic immunity. It can make heroes like N'aix or BKB-dependent heroes like Chaos Knight, ineffective and kiteable. Of course, it also works perfectly well on heroes that simply need to get in close to do damage, like Ursa or Sven. It gives him a presence on the battlefield throughout the game and when properly used can heavily sway a fight in your favor.As much as I go on about his versatility and usefulness, the hero also has deficiencies that contribute to his rather lacking win percentage at the moment. Perhaps teams have failed to realize this, but in a recent pool of 191 matches, Shadow Demon has exhibited a 35% win ratio, while playing in 81 of these games (and being banned out in an additional 52 of them), giving a poorer showing than any other Tier 1 pick other than KotL (who actually had a 33% win ratio) by a fairly large margin.First to state the obvious, he is a squishy, position 5 support, who will most likely have just over 1000HP at level 15. He has no innate escape mechanism, like many other squishy supports. And he will very often end the game severely underleveled and farmed, regardless of who’s side he’s on. But this is true of many support heroes, so it can’t be the sole reason for his seemingly ineffectiveness.While he doesn’t need many levels to scale effectively, he doesn't necessarily offer a lot to the 5v5 Dota 2 scene that we currently see. After he Purges an enemy hero and gets off a Disrupt and Soul Catcher, he really has nothing to offer (if he’s even still alive). And the damage output from those three spells is pitiful in comparison to a Lina, Lion, or even Jakiro. Again he can be compared to Venomancer, who after giving off a Gale and using an ultimate is essentially walking gold. But Venomancer trumps the Demonic one in that his ultimate can deal large amounts of damage to the entire team, and whose slow can also hit multiple targets. While Shadow Demon’s skillset is certainly unique, and come in beyond handy in particular situations, we see that it might not necessarily lead to winning the game.With the heavy fighting 5 man Dota that pervades the scene at the moment and the popularity of rowdy heroes like Clockwerk, Wisp, Batrider, and Nyx Assassin, Shadow Demon is a hero that just can’t keep up, literally and figuratively. He will never be able to control a game on his own, regardless of how many first bloods he gets (I’m looking at you, compendium owners). His skillset doesn't provide much in the way of damage, which really hurts when you’re fighting against 5 enemy heroes who DO do damage.While I don’t expect the enticement of Shadow Demon to fade anytime soon, I am not so sure that the win rate will improve notably during Dreamhack Summer (unless some serious Kunkka+Shadow Demon smackdowns take place).By the time DreamHack Summer begins, Dota 2’s 6.78 patch will have only been out for eleven days. This could likely make for a very volatile group stage, as teams are still in the process of mapping uncharted territory. From our perspective, a week of data isn’t much to go on, but here are some of the surprising hero trends of the patch that might show up in this weekend’s matches.First let’s start with the carries. It’s no surprise thathave continued to have a presence in 6.78. All three heroes were toned down some in the patch, but none of them received crippling nerfs. That being said, their reduced prominence has allowed a couple other heroes to shine.First and foremost is. In the week since the patch, Dragon Knight has been picked 64 times. For comparison, during the entire month of May he only saw 46 selections. Over half of the DreamHack teams have used this hero this week. EG in particular stands out, as they have run Dragon Knight 12 times since the release of the patch.On the other side of the spectrum we have. He’s still a risky pick, but thanks to his movement speed buff in the patch, teams are a bit more willing to take that risk. Quantic in particular loves the hero, grabbing him 6 times this week alone. Outworld is also quite capable of making all those Dragon Knights very miserable in a mid matchup, as demonstrated in Quantic vs Alliance Game 1 at the Defense 4 earlier this week.One forgotten carry that has seen a resurgence in 6.78 is. She fell out of favor after the nerfs she received in 6.75, but the small buff to Riptide’s cooldown in 6.78 has led to teams re-evaluating the hero. One particularly interesting trend is moving her to mid and using Riptide to shove the lane in a manner similar to what Magnus does with Shockwave. If you do see her this weekend, the most likely culprits are Virtus.Pro and Team Liquid.Moving onto supports, 6.78 brought base stat nerfs to bothand. Let me emphasize that. That being said, both heroes have struggled this week with Shadow Demon recording a 35% win rate and Keeper of the Light at 33%.And just like with the carries, we’re seeing some shuffling in support preferences. The biggest recipient is. This has nothing to do with the patch. Visage has just had a series of dominant performances in the Eastern International Qualifiers and the G1 League, and Western teams are now working to integrate him into their strategies.But as for 6.78 benefactors,has seen a modest increase in use thanks to her strength buffs in 6.78. She’ll likely still be a niche pickup, but her niche will be somewhat larger now. This will likely also be true for. Though she’s only been picked up 10 times in the last week, that’s a big increase from the 4 selections she saw during the entirety of April and May.Another hero worth keeping an eye on is. I don’t know that his 6.78 changes were particularly amazing, but he’s seen a small surge in use lately with teams like Alliance, Team Liquid, Virtus.Pro, EG, and mousesports experimenting with him in various lineups.I’d be neglecting my duties if I did a support section without mentioning. He has a 60% win rate in 43 games this month, and more and more teams are starting to integrate him into their drafting process. Quantic is still likely the most practiced with him, but Dignitas, Alliance, Team Liquid, and NaVi have all gotten into the Living Armor racket recently.Finally, let’s look at some of quirky hero picks of the last week that might either be a flash in the pan or the start of a much larger trend.All the stats in this article were compiled using the Dota Academy database on June 11th.







Administrator