I’m pretty sure a lot of people are glad that DotA Pit League Season 5 is finally over. Congratulations to Evil Geniuses!(Arteezy, Suma1l, Universe, zai, Cr1t) It’s been a while since we had a tournament this bad in production quality. But something like this was obviously inevitable considering the quality events that we’ve been witnessing recently.

Despite the terrible production, the quality of the games was anything but. With TI winners and Major winners alike participating in the tournament, we got to see a lot of good quality DotA.

In the end, EG came out victorious in a hard fought 3-2 victory over OG in a finals that could be considered more of an endurance battle than anything. Still, the victory was definitely well deserved.

Roster Stability Continues to Thrive:

Roster stability was a major reason for the success of a lot of teams in ESL One Genting. But it continues to be the reason for the success of a lot of teams. A situation like that lies with Team Faceless. Remember when they struggled to beat anyone outside of SEA? But this time, they managed to go on a dream run, upsetting ESL One Genting winners DC, the CIS squad VP and the unstoppable iG. That’s honestly a gigantic achievement for a team that failed to take a single game off any team beforehand.

This Patch Has Great Potential:

6.88 was previously regarded as the most balanced patch ever. Except that, when you really think about it, it wasn’t the most balanced patch. Remember batrider? That’s not even a hero anymore. OD? 0% winrate this tournament. Offlane Morphling would have been a joke pick. Lone Druid would have been an insta-loss. Meanwhile, every game had the same heroes being picked over and over again. While the same can be said for heroes like Ember Spirit and Rubick this patch, the same isn’t really true for other heroes. We saw great variety in the offlane and the safelane with lots of teams picking a variety of roaming 4s to help them out. With a few tweaks to the more overpowered heroes, some future patch could surpass 6.88.

OSfrog’s Finest Creations:

As they like to say, balance in all things. But some things this patch are borderline broken. First of all, Ember Spirit. At level 25 with Octarine Core and the right talents, this guy can permanently root 2 heroes. That is insane especially because that means you’re basically a sitting duck after your BKB runs out. He definitely needs a nerf. He had a winrate of 87% in Dota Pit. And we also have the new ranged druid. While he popped out of nowhere and gave teams little time to react, there’s the fact that he was literally unstoppable in the hands of both Arteezy and n0tail. That’s probably because of his insane talents but there’s also the fact that he can move insanely fast with phase boots. At the moment, he’s too much of a low-risk, high reward hero and definitely a better Sniper than Sniper ever will be. Lone Druid didn’t lose a single game at DotaPit and had a 100% winrate.

Overnerfed Dumpster? Not!:

There’s a very weird situation with OD. He gets nerfed, people realize that he’s shit, someone picks him and dominates with him and he’s suddenly first-pick, first-ban material. There’s a similar situation with him right now. He’s being ignored in favor of the flavor-of-the-patch heroes. But that doesn’t mean teams have forgotten about him. He’s been on the minds of a lot of captains since he’s been banned 7 times in this tournament. But a 0% winrate does suggest that the hero isn’t that much of a force to be reckoned with anymore. In fact, he can be considered more of a situational pick these days.

A Tale of Two Titans:

Both iG and Team Secret have been dominating teams in olden times. But the rate at which they’ve fallen has been sad to see. Secret, in particular has fallen both as an org and as a team. Once a beacon of hope for all esports, now only a source of dank memes. But they came back. Both teams came back in a truly spectacular fashion. Both teams gave their opponents a run for their money and both teams far exceeded our expectations. In fact, both teams gave us spectacular performances which are telltale signs of a great run in the near future.

Rubick is The Ideal Support:

Well, imagine picking Enigma for the black hole. You think you’re going to win teamfights by using it, right? WRONG! You get countered by Rubick, he steals black hole and you lose. A lot of teams have been taking advantage of the hero against Shadow Demon, Enigma and Invoker. The ability to cast the spells of your enemy is a great threat in teamfights. Meanwhile, with magic damage being a thing again, Rubick also counters that with his null field. That alone has made Rubick first-pick, first-ban material.

Virtus Throw is Back:

I actually hate to use the term but it was all I could think of after watching their Bo1 against Faceless. It was such a CIS thing to do that it gave me flashbacks to the past. And with Solo on the team, it felt like they did it for the memes. While it would be foolish to disregard Virtus Pro on this performance alone, it does put a ‘?’ on their ability to close out games.

The Bane of DC:

Here’s a fun fact: Phantom Assassin had the highest KDA in the entire tournament. Both of the times, it was played against DC. Secret played it against DC in their upper-bracket game. Then it was used against DC by Faceless to knock them out of the tournament. MiSeRy has to hate the hero by now, but the insane KDA and the 100% winrate does suggest that the hero might be a great pick against certain lineups.

The Dark Moon Falls:

Luna’s had a great run this patch and the last. The illusion spam has worked out pretty well for her. But I guess it’s now time to say goodbye to her reign of terror. She just doesn’t provide the same utility anymore. With the nerfs to illusions, Luna’s shortcomings have been brought to light. She’s had a great pickrate but her winrate of 25% says otherwise. Maybe it’s time for other carries in the safelane?

Back With a Vengeance:

It’s been way too long but carry Vengeful Spirit is back in the pro scene. (RIP Pubs) With her talents, she can definitely scale into the lategame with a good minus-armor strat. Arteezy showed us exactly how devastating the hero can be. While it’s definitely a very situational pick, pro teams should definitely be wary of possible venge picks in the safelane.

Player Performances:

Best Overall Performance:

Winner: EG.Arteezy

2EZ4RTZ. Arteezy had a great time showcasing his talents on a variety of heroes. He gave us great performances on Lone Druid, Vengeful Spirit, Weaver and Clinkz. After going GODLIKE in multiple games, there’s no doubt that Arteezy was the star of the safelane in DotaPit. He finished a lot of games with 0 deaths and often made some of the most insane plays. There’s really no stopping Arteezy if he finds the space to farm. Until you sprout him, that is. That’s when the BabyRage begins.

Most Consistent Player:

Winner: OG.s4

Does he remember the Million Dollar Dream Coil? Regardless of that, he’s definitely the star of the offlane. s4 goes for some of the most flashiest plays, but at the same time, he’s also one of the most stable offlaners. That balance makes him the perfect fit for a team like OG that lacks a good playmaker on the mid position. He’s shown great performance on greedier offlaners like Axe and Underlord while also being great at some of the more traditional offlane heroes. His hero pool is actually pretty good despite all the s4 hero pool memes. That also makes it easier for Fly to draft around him.

Best Offlaner:

Winner: Faceless.iceiceice

Iceiceice has given us great performances in the past regardless of the position he’s played. One of the most versatile players in the pro scene, his offlane play has been severely underrated. But it looks like the pros really do fear him. OG tried to completely ban him out in one game. In the end, this man plays an offlane Morphling and still performs really well despite losing. His magnus is also worth mentioning with all the kills he sets up. Iceiceice is definitely one of the main reasons for Faceless’s unprecedented top 3 finish in DotaPit.

Best Support Player:

Winner: EG.zai

When zai finally retires, his career highlight reel is going to be longer than Purge’s patch analysis videos. He is, without a doubt, the most flashiest support player in the history of DotA. One minute he’s feeding, the next he’s landing dream 4-man crushes. Chased by the entire time, he jukes out about a thousand abilities and gets away with some insane micro. And that’s not even the end of it. Some of his best plays often end up being unnoticed by casters. Playing alongside Sumail and Arteezy has to be the reason.

Best Captain:

Winner: PuppeyFace

Silencer is hard. Fight me if you disagree.

Real Winner: iG.BurNIng

Even after their undefeated run at DAC Qualifiers, people still doubted BurNIng’s squad. Well, they were proved wrong when the team took out just about everyone in the lower bracket, finally losing to Faceless. There’s a lot to be said about BurNIng’s captaining. iG were immaculate in their teamfights, absolutely relentless in their agression. At this point, with a few adjustments, iG could definitely be back to being the powerhouse they once were.

Best Mid Player:

Winner: EG.Suma1l

Of course, we can’t not talk about Sumail. He’s one of the biggest reasons for EG’s victories. At this point, he might as well be the best mid player around. He consistently wins his lane, even against terrible matchups. He gets solo kills on the other mid. He even solo kills the mid while his entire team is around and manages to run away with a haste rune. Sumail has been flawless this tournament. While also really flashy, he can get a bit carried away and super-aggressive but that’s just a part of his playstyle.

Best Games:

EG vs Faceless, Upper Bracket, Game 3:

Let the Arteezy show begin. This game is all Arteezy sukuchi-ing around and killing everyone. Almost unstoppable on his weaver, he buys Suma1l enough time to get his lvl 25 talent and an octarine core and permanently control the Faceless heroes for the entire game.

DC vs Secret, Upper Bracket, Game 3:

Want to see DC get absolutely crushed by MP’s PA? Well, this is the game for you. Wanna see the disgusting combo of Naga and KotL fall apart? This is the one. Apart from the disgusting combo being slain at last, this was also a grudge match which MiSeRy lost. We can definitely see him coming back with a vengeance the next time he meets Puppey. But MP has definitely proved that PA is a must-ban hero against Secret at the moment.

VP vs Faceless, Lower Bracket, Bo1:

The return of Virtus Throw. VP are crushing Faceless with their signature early game aggression. Both No[o]ne and Ramzes are unstoppable. Then they decide to push high ground while all shrines are up. No[o]ne gets caught out and it all goes horribly wrong. What follows is some great play from Faceless as they turn the game around and pull off a gigantic upset. That’s got to hurt for VP.

OG vs EG, Upper Bracket, Game 1:

This game marks the debut of Arteezy’s Lone Druid which gets picked again in the Grand Finals by OG as well as EG. However, it catches OG completely by surprise while Arteezy just goes ham on the OG heroes and towers. Also, Universe doesn’t use black hole for 20 minutes until he lands a pretty big one. Classic Universe.

OG vs EG, Grand Finals, Game 5:

Sniper vs LD. Who’s better? Well, the decision wasn’t easy. The game goes on for a pretty long time as expected. Also the final game of the series which would decide the winner. It definitely says something about how equally matched the two teams are. It also marks one of the few games where Ember Spirit actually lost.

OG vs Faceless, Lower Bracket, Bo1:

Anti-Mage gets unpicked until this very moment where it gets picked by the very last team you would expect. You wouldn’t expect n0tail to play a hero as greedy as AM but he pulls it off pretty convincingly as no one is able to stop him. Excellent play from n0tail in this game especially since OG lost the other lanes pretty hard.