TI3 stats analysis: The American home teams



We are two days away from The International 3 and we still think it is good for the folks to know the competing teams a little better, merely not your love and feelings for the team but purely quantitative data. We pulled the drafts from their games from the 4th of June, the first day of 6.78 patch, until today and from there, we analyzed team patterns and their tendency to run certain heroes. This article is the third part of a five-series article highlighting teams' playstyle.

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In this article, we present the two competitors from North America, Team Liquid and Team Dignitas. The two teams were invited straight to The International 3, while their compatriots Evil Geniuses were disqualified after their defeat against Mousesports during the playoffs of the Western Qualifiers. We also took enemy ban % against X team ban % to really highlight the sort of respect ban these teams were facing. The higher the % difference, the higher the % these heroes got respect banned. High numbers also mean how scared the opponents are against these heroes when facing a particular team. The International 3 Coverage Hub It's the holy grail of The International 3 coverage!

Team Liquid



Team Liquid after their victory against iG in G-1 League. Photo by GosuGamers

Picks Heroes Picks % Treant Treant 34.8 Gyrocopter Gyrocopter 33.3 Crystal Maiden Crystal Maiden 23.2 Naga Siren Naga Siren 21.7 Rubick Rubick 21.7 Dark Seer Dark Seer 20.3 Dragon Knight Dragon Knight 17.4 Queen of Pain Queen of Pain 15.9 Puck Puck 14.5 Visage Visage 14.5 Bans Heroes Enemy ban % Liquid's ban % Difference in % Treant 39.5 4.3 34.9 Lifestealer 30.5 7.2 23.3 Gyrocopter 27.5 11.6 15.9 Ezalor 16 1.4 14.6 Clockwerk 17.4 4.3 13.1 Queen of Pain 18.9 7.2 11.7 Storm Spirit 14.5 7.2 7.3 Dragon Knight 8.7 1.4 7.3 Weaver 13.1 7.2 5,9 Antimage 11.6 7.2 4.4 The easiest observation from the tables is Treant Protector topping both lists. Liquid base most of their strategies and early game plans on their supports - with ixmike88 and FLUFF protecting TC and Korok as much as needed - one of their favorite combinations is the Crystal Maiden/Treant Protector duo, a pair that has a big global influence, providing kill potential for their lane as well. Queen of Pain, Puck, Dragon Knight and Dark Seer are also regular picks, helping Bulba, TC and Korok win their assigned solo lanes. The frequency of the Treant Protector is an easily spotted characteristic of Liquid, selected both with Crystal Maiden and Nerubian Weaver - forcing the enemies to get rid of Rooftrellen and Weaver in order to disrupt Liquid's intentions. Shadow Demon, Visage and Ezalor are also regular picks for TL, with Keeper of the Light being probably the scariest support and one of the most usual bans against Liquid. The list of Liquid's fearsome heroes is completed with certain strong solo mid heroes and snowball carries. Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit and Dragon Knight, with 11.7%, 7.3% and 7.3% consecutively, can be active during the early game and also have high late game potential - hence TC and Korok select them quite often. Lifestealer and Gyrocopter can shine both in trilane and solo lane scenarions, earning 23.3% and 15.9% respectively, fitting quite well in Liquid's playstyle. Antimage needs more protection early, but Korok has performed exceptionally well with the hero, making him undesirable to battle against. Last but not least, Clockwerk is quite high in the list with a percentage of 13.1%, thanks to Bulba's capabilities with the hero.

Team Dignitas



Team Dignitas posing. Image by Creative Sverige.



Picks Heroes Picks % Jakiro Jakiro 47.4 Dark Seer 41.0 Lifestealer 26.9 Leshrac 24.4 Visage 21.8 Nyx Assassin 19.2 Furion Furion 17.9 Rubick 17.9 Morphling 17.9 Gyrocopter 16.7 Bans Heroes Enemy ban % Dignitas's ban % Difference in % Dark Seer 35.9 6.4 29.5 Gyrocopter 32.1 11.5 20.6 Wisp 52.6 39.7 12.9 Doom 11.5 0 11.5 Lanaya 14.1 2.6 11.5 Lone Druid 26.9 16.7 10.2 Enchantress 11.6 3.8 7.8 Jakiro 17.9 10.3 7.6 Visage 11.6 5.1 6.5 Naga Siren 16.6 10.3 6.3 Dignitas is a team that favors AOE teamfight combinations, and sometimes uses greedy line-ups. On the other hand, Jakiro being the top pick for the team was mostly unexpected , with a percentage of 47.4%. Following in second place is Dark Seer (41.0%) where coupled with several other AOE heroes can wreak havoc on careless enemies. Though it is understandable that Dignitas are picking such line-ups to make sure they survive until late game, Lifestealer (26.9%) is not the most reliable hero for longer encounters. Therefore, Morphling (17.9%) and Gyrocopter (16.7%) also make the list. Looking over to the ban table, one realises that Dark Seer is the opponents' top ban when they face Dignitas and this can be attributed to Universe's and Fogged's play on the versatile hero. Unlike other teams, the frequent bans against Dignitas do not incude many solo-mid heroes. The bans of Doom and Templar Assassin with 11.5% each indicate that Sneyking has had some minor success with the heroes but they do not usually opt to shut down the middle lane during the drafting phase. Dignitas' opponents also do not seem to have much hate on the carry heroes apart from the Gyrocopter which is really a general ban.