ESL One Stockholm Meta Recap

Every Major brings new heroes and strategies into the spotlight and the ESL One Stockholm was no exception. Today we would like to take a look at the snapshot of the meta and see which heroes are doing exceptionally well and which are underperforming.

1d

Bad Habits You Need to Unlearn

With millions of dollars on the line for the most winning teams, it makes sense that the way that Dota is played would change as players strive to perfect their gameplay. Although the basic principles of Dota have stayed the same, some more advanced ideas have adjusted as new patches have come.

5d

Position Five Pugna: a Good Fit for Pubs?

Pugna is undeniably one of the strongest and most annoying position five supports in the professional scene right now. He boasts a 70%+ win rate in the Major and is in the top three most contested heroes. Does it mean the hero can be as successful in pubs, or is Pugna too coordination-reliant to work in a chaotic environment?

2w

Wraith Pact — underrated or overvalued?

Wraith Pact is a mid to late-game item which received multiple buffs recently. The cost was reduced to 4000 gold, thanks to the recipe cost reduction to Vladimir’s Offering. The aura’s radius was buffed along with its mana regen and lifesteal. Despite boasting an impressive 67% win rate in pubs for being so cheap, it's been almost unseen in pro matches....

2w

ESL One Stockholm Preview: EEU and NA

The Major is just around the corner, but we still have one more recap to go through. Today we are going to discuss teams from EEU and NA. Both regions had a long history of playing second fiddle to WEU in the Western Dota scene, but the former proved itself by winning the last TI and NA is on an upward trajectory as well, with teams like TSM and Quincy...

3w

ESL One Stockholm Preview: SEA and SA

We are continuing our team preview series for ESL One Stockholm, today concentrating on the SA and SEA regions. Both are often associated with very high peaks, but lack consistency, and this Major will be indicative of whether they improved in this regard.

3w

ESL One Stockholm Preview: Western Europe

Fingers crossed, of course, but it looks like we are finally getting a LAN Major with an audience. It might not be ideal and we are not going to see teams from China, but it is definitely a step towards some semblance of normalcy, which is severely lacking nowadays. Today we are going to have a quick look at the Western European representatives: the...

4w

The S-Tier: Position One

The final meta recap post. Today, we are going to concentrate on the first position, the importance of which was especially prominent in the previous patch. Does the new one hold carries in the same regard or has the game been balanced away from over-relying on carries is the question we would like to find an answer to.

4w

The S-Tier: Position Two

The last several patches did not feel particularly mid-centric. That doesn’t mean the role isn’t important, but there is definitely a shift from late-game oriented mids to more space-creating tempo ones. Or at least the ones that can come online fast and early.

5w

The S-Tier: Position Three

Once again, we are looking at the top tier heroes, this time concentrating on the offlaners: the backbone of any good lineup. This is the role that usually changes the most from patch to patch and the one that had the most heroes released for it in the recent past. Patch 7.31 is not an exception in either regard.

Apr 2022