The International 10 has ended and it has shaped the meta of picks and bans for your next Dota matches. Take a look at the heroes that the top teams didn’t want to deal with and either ban them or pick them to save you on your next games.
1. Magnus, Horn Toss
The hero that skewered the defending TI champions and the fan favorites out of the tournament, Magnus will definitely get nerfed by IceFrog the next patch that comes out. So while he isn’t hit with the banhammer yet, abuse this hero now and gain free MMR and style points.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbTEKmogCrw
Magnus was the main hero to watch on the TI main stage as the dark horse of the tournament. Having only been banned in 31 games and picked in 44 games, he still takes our top spot with a 65.91%-win rate on the main stage and undoubtedly, the MVP of TI 10.
The meta shifted to going all-in in a single carry as we saw with the Tiny-Lycan combo and taking out this one specific carry meant victory as the carry will hold most of the net worth of a team. Magnus excels in this with his new shard ability, Horn Toss, and picks off the enemy carry and skewers him away from any backup and support and makes taking objectives easier.
Magnus would usually rely on Reverse Polarity (RP) to provide a long AOE stun and allow his team to deal damage and is considered a huge threat to team fights, but the insanely high cooldown makes it unreliable and easy to anticipate. Using only horn toss, on the other hand, adds an element of surprise with its low cooldown, and with Magnus RP still up, the enemy team becomes weary of counter initiating and can only watch as their teammate gets ripped apart.
Why Magnus is most banned:
- Broken shard skill, Horn toss
- Strong laner
- Fast farmer
- Strong teamfight presence with RP and skewer
- Really tanky hero and hits hard with damage items
- Can buff up the carry or himself with Empower
2. Tinker, Tinkering About
A nightmare to play against in pubs, and in the right hands, a mean machine that can single handedly carry the game. Tinker takes our number two spot despite only playing a total of 10 games and being banned in 29 games. Don’t let this small number fool you as Tinker boasts an 80%-win rate and played a pivotal role in helping PSG.LGD fight back against the champs, Team Spirit.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCJJgg4zi94
Tinker is usually played as a split pusher with his flash farming ability, March of the Machines. But the recent patch has turned him into a team fight beast by reworking his abilities and adding Defense Matrix, and Keen Convergence. This gives him a free Boots of Travel II at max level and an insanely stronger Sange, having essentially free 4550 gold worth of items at level 6. This allows him to rush a Blink Dagger, join early fights and start snowballing early instead of playing a long game to hold the high ground with March of the Machines.
Why Tinker is most banned:
- Has a spell that can instantly refresh all spells and abilities
- Very high map presence
- Strong mid game presence
- Strong snowball potential pre-bkb timings
- All his spells have good scaling and are hard to deal with without magic immunity
3. Monkey King, HOOOooooHoooOOOhoooOOO
Ever since his release, monkey king has been a broken melee hero (that can hit farther than TA without dragon lance) and one-shot any support that wants to deward. You cannot fight him in his ultimate, Wukong’s Command, and fighting him head-on will only be beneficial for him due to his Jingu mastery and Boundless Strike.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCJJgg4zi94
Monkey king is the most banned hero in TI 10 with a total of 140 bans and won 28 of the 48 matches where MK was picked. A highly versatile hero that can be played on any role, MK is a nuisance and an important factor to think about in team fights, taking objectives, and even the vision game of Dota. Each of his skills allows him to trade effectively in the lane, flash farm, move across the map with ease, and help the team stand their ground in a team fight. It is no wonder he is the top banned hero of the tournament and a very successful one when he does get through the draft.
Why Monkey King is most banned:
- Versatile and can be played at any role (2B Was right all along)
- Can easily overpower both enemy support and core when played in a support position
- Very strong late-game carry and near unkillable when under his ultimate spell
- 2 skills allow him to flash farm and catch up when beaten in lane
- Good base stats and scaling which makes it hard to burst down without using a considerable amount of resources
4. Tiny, Tree Grab with Aghanim’s Shard
Don’t let his name fool you as tiny is not a small force to reckon with when he starts one-shotting you to bits with his tree. PSG.LGD surely found a devastating carry in tiny especially when paired with a buffer hero like Lycan with Aghanim’s Scepter, Ogre, or the classic Tiny-Io combo.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH-6yuM2Rlw
Tiny is the second most banned hero in TI10 next to Monkey King with a total of 132 bans and winning 29 of the 55 games he has gone through to the draft, an exceptional 52.73%-win rate. Tiny is a burst hero with high magical damage and physical damage output due to his very slow attack speed leading to a lower overall DPS. This changed when he was given an Aghanim’s Shard that allows him to always have this third ability, Tree Grab.
Tree Grab allows tiny to make up for the lack of physical damage by grabbing a tree and dealing 100% area damage when he does physical attacks as well as 180% bonus damage to buildings. This was limited before by having only 5 charges and then losing the tree, but the new aghanim’s shard allows him to hit hard consistently. His slow attack speed is still a problem that is why he is usually paired with a Lycan, Ogre, Io, and even Invoker with the Alacrity buff.
Why Tiny is most banned
- Strong early game stats so rarely bullied out of lane
- Can flash farm with all his skills if he ever gets behind
- High early game burst and strong late-game scaling
- Tree grab with Aghanim’s Shard is completely broken physical damage
- High strength gain, so a very tanky hero and hard to kill
- Capable of one-shotting soft heroes (Supports beware)
- Avalanche-Toss combo provides a good setup for follow up damage
5. Io, The Wisp, The Holy Locket
Currently the most banned hero across all The International tournaments with a total of 538 bans all time, Io is a force to be reckoned with. Io has never had a high win rate and never really surpassed the 50%-win rate mark, but it makes it scary when put in the hands of teams who know how to use this hero to its full potential.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUxU1fe2XQk
Io was banned a total of 115 times, the third overall, in TI 10. Teams in the pro scene who have specialized in this hero have shown why it must be a pick or ban in the draft. With the new reworks to the item Holy Locket, Io will be able to fully heal a low ally for the cost of 2400 gold. Good positioning and recognition of the state of the team fight will allow Io to sustain his Carry and let him deal the most DPS without the fear of getting burst down. Support layers such as NoTail, y’, XinQ, and even the legends JeRax and GH have pushed this hero’s capabilities to the limits.
What Io lacks in damage, Io makes up for in sustain and healing. The pick-off potential with Relocate is also huge as enemies not careful of it will get caught off guard and die pushing out a lane. Io forces the enemy team to play a burst line up or with a backline dive which makes their play predictable, with this advantage, an Io in a good position will be able to save a key hero and win drawn-out fights when the enemy is unable to burst Io and his tethered target down.
Why Io is most banned:
- Strong lane sustain
- High healing burst
- Relocate saves
- Buffs an ally with a very small downtime
- Vision enabler with spirits skill
6. Invoker, Cataclysm
Overwhelm the enemy and show off your spell casting with a total of 10 possible spell combinations. Invoker is a great tempo hero and his presence in team fights is something to always look out for.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcohz9DhpFQ
Invoker is great at setting the pace of the game and sets up his team for a good snowball. Teams prioritize this ban to allow their own mid hero and team fight to not be disrupted. Invoker’s spells can easily create enough space to allow his team to disengage from a bad fight. He can also solo kill carries who don’t have magic immunity items looking out to push lanes or are just unprotected in their jungle.
His other spells provide so much crowd control that once fights start it’s hard to disengage without magic immunity items. Picking the wrong fight with an Invoker makes it easy to turn things around. Close to Io, Invoker was banned in 111 games, and the last hero to reach 3 digit bans in TI. His main threat is not only in spell usage but also in the versatility of his item builds. Invoker can also dish out huge damage in team fights with his new Aghanim’s Shard spell Cataclysm. One good setup with others like Dark Seer, Magnus, or Faceless Void could easily lead to at least one kill and then objective taking becomes much easier.
Why Invoker is most banned:
- Very versatile hero which can build damage or team fight items
- Controls the tempo of the game and can make a lot of moves around the map
- High number of AOE spells and has a global presence with sunstrike
- Works well with almost any other hero especially those with a form of crowd control spell
- Strong solo carry potential
7. Morphling, Shotgun
Morphling has always been one of the most slippery heroes to deal with as he can escape with waveform. Killing him without burst also becomes difficult if he gets to shift up his strength and gain hp before you kill him.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vr47uRdv64
Morphling is the 5th most banned hero in TI 10, banned a total of 85 games. However, he has won 60% of the 30 games he was picked and it proves how scary this hero is as a carry. Often teamed up with Dark Willow or Earthshaker, this broken combo relies only on Morphling buying an Aghanim’s Scepter and morphing into his teammates. He gets skills that amp up his damage output significantly and easily burst down enemies.
On his own, Morphling will still be able to solo carry a game especially if the enemy team has no way of locking him down and bursting him before he can shift up or worse, bursting the enemy team down one by one. His skill set and how the hero is made is just so broken that he can regen his own hp just by fully morphing to agility and then morphing up very slightly. This increases his farm potential as he does not need to go to the base. Just pop a clarity and you’re good to go.
The most notable skill Morphling has is the Adaptive strike which he can pair with Ethereal Blade. This is called the shotgun combo that can kill any support in the later stages of the game and even carries who refuse to buy bkb. OSFrog seems to also like this hero a lot by giving this already broken hero the ability to shift up in hp even when stunned. This makes it even harder to kill Morphling in the later stages of the game even though you chain your team stuns perfectly. Everything about this hero is broken except its bland-looking hero model that badly needs an update.
Why Morphling is most banned:
- Strong late-game carry
- Broken combination with Dark willow and Earthshaker
- Morph up mechanic is hard to deal with without proper items or team comp
- Can one-shot supports and can fight into any other carry
- Thinks like a shark
8. Storm Spirit, Electric Vortex
Zip-zap across the entire map and dodge all the enemy spells with the elusive and daring hero. If you want to gain MMR, learn and spam this hero and pray that it never gets banned in your games.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f88BPmBhFU
Storm is a classic pick for mid laners and has always been a staple pick for any tournaments. His ability to pick off the backline, deal high aoe magic damage, ability to flash farm all make him a good pick to start snowballing an early lead, or make it happen. During his ultimate, he is also invulnerable to damage and spells thus controlling him becomes hard and takes a very skilled player to counter it.
Storm was banned in 82 games and was mostly banned to prevent a counter pick for his other spirit brothers. Although his win rate in the tournament is lower than 50%, his presence on the map is surely felt when the team that picks him plays a snowballing lineup. With his new Aghanim’s scepter skill, he can also create a mini black hole and pull enemies in for his allies to follow up and clean up the kills.
Storm is undoubtedly a strong laner and hard to contest as he can just come back from being behind by hitting the jungle. A storm spirit in the lead will always be able to catch your supports and is a threat anywhere you may be on the map. This leads to expending a lot of resources to catch him and makes the team invest heavily in map and vision control.
Why Storm is most banned:
- Strong mid game presence
- High pick off potential
- High magic damage burst
- Works well with any lineup
- Can play aggressively with any other mid match up aside from a select few like Lina
- Can dodge spells in team fights so counterplay potential is always there
9. Tidehunter, Ravage
Fish heroes are always a bait to play except when you’re playing the biggest fish of them all, Tidehunter. This beast of a fish is so tanky that it takes ages to kill him in team fights, and when you’ve expended everything and haven’t even killed him, beware the ravager of tides.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn38UxWyGQo
Tide is the second most picked hero of TI10 with 63 picks and banned in a total of 77 games. He won 52.38% of the games he has played and this is mostly due to the way this hero is made. The raw stats allow him to have high hp coupled with his passive Kraken Shell, which blocks physical damage and applies a strong dispel when the damage he has taken reaches a certain threshold. He also has a way to flash farm and nullify the damage of melee cores with his anchor smash that deals AOE physical damage and reduces the damage done by those hit by 60% at max level.
The most notable skill of Tidehunter, however, is Ravage. It is an AOE stun that has a large radius and stuns those hit by almost 3 secs. Tide can cast this as a way to counter initiate after being gone on or from the fog of war, surprising the enemy with a blink-ravage. This is highly useful in team fights as it usually also reaches supports that are out of position and the enemy team becomes helpless as their core heroes become burst down with Tide’s team to back him up.
Tidehunter’s upgraded Gush with the Aghanim’s Scepter is also a huge team fight skill that does high AOE damage and decreases movement speed as well as armor reduction. Tide is all about that team fight and high physical burst. Success with this hero has been seen with Physical cores like the classic Tide – Templar assassin combo of Team Nigma, and now with the emergence of high physical damage carries like Tiny, it’s understandable why teams are afraid to fight into Tidehunter.
Why Tidehunter is most banned:
- Very tanky hero that can soak up skills and hits and stand in the front line of battle
- Strong team fight initiator and counter initiator
- An arsenal of AOE spells
- Strong laner against melee carries
- Can be versatile and played in any position
10. Lina, Fighting fire with fire
Lina, the fiery hot Slayer, is a hero not to be messed with and left alone. She can nuke you down with overwhelming magic damage or beat you down with continuous hits of physical damage.
See this hero in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQHwiYvIM-E
Lina is a highly banned hero, banned in 73 games in TI10. It is understandable why she is banned a lot since she was able to win 57.5% of the 40 games that she was able to get through. This win rate comes from her being played mid and start snowballing the game. When she starts getting hot, it’s hard to cool her down.
Lina’s strengths come from her range and her high damage. The only other hero that can outrange her is Sniper. She can bully anyone out of the lane and guarantees the early snowball with this hero in the team. Her passive also helps in increasing her DPS as the more spells you cast, the faster Lina’s attacks will be. Left unchecked, she will beat down any other hero from after and will leave safety from the distance she plays with.
She comes with a stun, although it is hard to land for those not used to it, and two nukes that can easily take out the health of any hero in seconds. These spells also have a considerable range so Lina canfight safely from a distance. In the later stages of the game, she can start building into physical damage items and becomes another source of physical damage to take on objects, win fights, and easily pick off enemy heroes.
Why Lina is most banned:
- Fights safely from a far distance and is hard to catch out of position
- Strong early game presence with two strong nukes and a stun available at level 6
- Can easily solo kill enemy mid opponent and stomp them in lane
- Strong late-game presence by building physical items that go well with her insane attack speed
- High move speed and mobility
- Has a cute sister, Rylai, the Crystal Maiden
