Skulz’s Dota Competitive Hero Tier List May 2018

The Dota 2 Competitive Hero Tier List for May 2018 includes data from 7.14 and 7.15, for a total of 253 games. All heroes are split in five groups.

• All heroes are arranged in five tiers based on their draft rate. The tiers are viewed as clusters of data, and each hero is placed in the one they are closer the most.

• The requisites for each tier never change. The goal is offering a neutral comparison that shows how the meta evolves over time.

• The win rate has no effect on the tiers, but is included for further info. The tiers depend only on drafts, and aren't affected either by the win rate of a hero, or by their performance in pub matches.

The tier list includes all matches from May 1st to 27th. I waited the end of ESL One Birmingham 2018 to collect all competitive data prior 7.16.

• All the Dota 2 Tier Lists.
  

“Every month, I strive to offer new info on the top heroes. Sometimes, it isn’t an easy task because the heroes leading the meta are often the same.

If you are looking for a particular hero, use the search function on the website as I featured several ones in previous articles, guides, and tier lists.”

Past Tier List: April 2018

All tables are responsive and sortable. If you are using a phone, turn it sideways for a full view. Otherwise, zoom in or click the grey area of each table to swipe and sort them.

Tier 1

Hero	Name	P+B	P+B%	Picks	Picks%	Bans	Bans%	Win%
	Night Stalker	220	87.0%	51	20.2%	169	66.8%	49.0%
	Io	215	85.0%	30	11.9%	185	73.1%	66.7%
	Leshrac	194	76.7%	86	34.0%	108	42.7%	46.5%
	Death Prophet	194	76.7%	87	34.4%	107	42.3%	52.9%
	Doom	169	66.8%	75	29.6%	94	37.2%	60.0%
	Gyrocopter	166	65.6%	86	34.0%	80	31.6%	59.3%
	Phantom Lancer	158	62.5%	43	17.0%	115	45.5%	55.8%
	Sand King	156	61.7%	80	31.6%	76	30.0%	48.8%
	Naga Siren	145	57.3%	47	18.6%	98	38.7%	42.6%

Leshrac - Slowly buffed to the top

We have a new face among the best performers of the month: Leshrac!

The success of the hero is not a surprise as IceFrog steadily buffed him during the past years. Leshrac received almost only positive changes since 7.00, when the talent system was introduced.

Movement Speed

Base

• 6.84: from 315 to 320.

• 6.88c: from 320 to 235.

• 7.12: from 325 to 330.

Talent

• 7.00: +15 at level 10.

• 7.06d: from +15 to +25.

• 7.07: level 10 talent replaced with +40 at level 15.

• 7.16: from +40 to +30

Movement speed is a crucial statistic for a hero like Leshrac. He is able to inflict a huge amount of magic damage, but practically all his spells have a low range, and the AoE ones only affect targets in a small radius around him (450 for Pulse Nova and 500 for Diabolic Edict).

He needs to reach the opponents quickly, keep them in his range, and of course stay alive.

Survivability is another big flaw of the hero that made him a not viable choice in a competitive environment. Fortunately, Valve improved it with another series of adjustments.

Strength

Base

• 7.06: increased strength gain from 1.5 to 1.8.

• 7.13b: increased base strength and gain from 16 + 1.8 to 18 + 2.1.

Talent

• 7.00: +12 at level 20.

• 7.02: from +12 to +15.

• 7.07: level 20 talent replaced with +15 strength at level 15.

With 524 health points and 3.68 armor at level 1, we can’t define Leshrac a very tanky hero, but he is in a better condition than in the past.

The only issue with the new talent distribution is that now you can’t take strength and movement speed as they are both available at level 15.

Oath of the Afflicted Soul loading screen for Leshrac - Valve

Leshrac is a core that requires farm

In pubs, Leshrac’s win rate is negative at most ranks. In my opinion, this is caused by the attitude of the players that often relegate him to a support role: even if you know how to play him, the team won’t give you the space and opportunities necessary to farm gold and build items.

If we take a look at the matches during ESL One Birmingham 2018, Leshrac is played mainly as a core, and sometimes as a roamer. The hero requires multiple items to do his job and use his spells: a huge amount of mana regeneration, extra mobility and movement speed, and ways to increase his toughness and survivability.

Below, the most bought items on Leshrac in pro Dota during May:

• Arcane Boots: 75

• Magic Wand: 72

• Infused Raindrops: 62

• Eul’s Scepter of Divinity: 50

• Bloodstone: 27

• Black King Bar: 27

• Urn of Shadows: 22

• Boots of Travel: 20

Arcane Boots and Magic Wand are both helpful for extra mana during the early and mid game.

The Eul’s Scepter of Divinity is the most used core item because it helps the hero with enhanced mobility and mana regeneration. The active ability “Cyclone” is awesome in ganks and teamfights: Diabolic Edict and Pulse Nova keep damaging all enemies in range while you are immune to any attack for 2.5 seconds.

The Bloodstone is a great choice for mana regeneration and survivability, particularly if you are snowballing and can gain multiple charges.

Your spells have a low casting range, and you need to stay next to the enemies to exploit the AoE ones, so any stun or slow will interfere and reduce your effectiveness in teamfight. Magic immunity is mandatory, and you should buy the Black King Bar as 3rd or 4th item.

The Urn of Shadows is an optimal choice for a roamer, and will boost even more the total magic damage you can inflict on a target. Overall, I suggest to always have one in the team, but avoid it if you are playing as one of the main cores.

Leshrac is a great pusher who can annihilate entire creep waves and destroy towers quickly. The Boots of Travel give you extra movement speed, and the Teleport ability is fundamental when split-pushing.

Do not underestimate the Infused Raindrops

I want to point out the amazing utility provided by the Infused Raindrops. For 225 gold they give +0.5 mana regeneration and 5 charges that can block up to 120 magic damage each.

We have already discussed about Leshrac’s survivability issues and how the problem persists even after the recent buffs. The Raindrops will save your life countless times from ganks during the early game - when facing magic nukers. Do not neglect them just to save some gold!

I believe they have an even greater value in pub games where you can’t count on proper wards and communication from the team.

How to counter Leshrac

Leshrac is one of the heroes I recently covered in my “How to counter” series, where I explain items, heroes, and tips to deal against a determinate opponent.

Night Stalker - Roaming and map control

Efficient roamers and gankers are of great help in the current meta, and Night Stalker is a boss among them, especially if you can exploit his first night. I featured him in the best strength heroes of 7.07.

IceFrog nerfed him several times, reducing his daytime vision, the attack speed bonus of Hunter in the Night in the early levels, the duration of Darkness, and more. Recently, he was also affected by more direct nerfs as 7.13b weakened his base armor from 3 to 2 and the movement speed from 295 to 290.

Despite everything, he still remains a top pick in the meta thanks to his mobility, gank prowess, and vision advantages he gives to his team.

7.16 changes

• Void no longer applies a ministun during the day. A notable nerf to ganks because now you can't block channeled abilities, so your preys may teleport away during the day.
  

• Darkness no longer sets enemy vision to a fixed amount - now reduces unit and ward vision by 25%. The mighty Frog decided to hurt Night Stalker crudely. This is a massive nerf that will certainly lower the pick rate of the hero in pub and pro games.
  
  All nights will be less dangerous because the ability doesn't affect buildings anymore (such as towers). Observer wards provide a 1600 ground vision radius, and Darkness used to diminish it to 800, instead now the 25% reduction brings it to 1200, which is plenty to maintain the control of the map.

Onyx Fume loading screen for Doom - Valve

Doom can adapt to any lane

I included Doom among the best offlaners in 7.11 because he is a solid offlaner who can counter several heroes.

During the lane phase, your role as Doom is to cause problems to the enemy core. The adversaries must be forced to waste multiple resources to keep you at bay, and that’s easily achievable thanks to the regeneration and AoE damage of Scorched Earth.

In pubs, especially low ranked ones, players tend to max Devour. With this ability you can earn gold in any situation - even when facing a strong offensive trilane - but it is mostly a wrong choice: you aren’t the main carry!

In the early game, the supports can just ignore you and harass the mid and safe laners. After the lane phase ends, you won’t have any offensive spell at your disposal, and you can’t just rely on the ultimate to make the difference in a battle.

Death Prophet’s pushing power

In the March Tier List, I explained how Death Prophet contributes to the victory with her shocking pushing power. Thanks to Exorcism, winning a single teamfight in the mid game may give you enough time to destroy two towers or even a barrack.

I warmly suggest DP also in your pub games, specially because 7.13b increased her base strength and gain from 17 + 2.6 to 19 + 2.9, which helps her survivability.

Valve also decreased the base health regeneration from 2 to 1.5, but that’s not a big deal, and honestly the extra strength is way more convenient.

Gyrocopter is always dangerous

Gyrocopter was the most drafted hero in March. Things are slightly different now, but he still maintains a high position in the ranks with an astonishing 59% win rate.

He is a hard carry able to defeat most opponents in the late game thanks to the AoE physical dps of Flak Cannon. Simultaneously, you can’t underestimate him in the early and mid game because the burst magic damage of Rocket Barrage can easily give him kills, especially in combo with a slow or stun.

The AoE damage and slow of Call Down are also useful in any gank and teamfight, so he brings damage and utility to the team even while still farming his core items. 7.16 slightly nerfed the ultimate reducing the damage of the first missile.

There is only one more nerf worth to mention that affected Gyrocopter in the past patches: 7.12 increased Flak Cannon cooldown from 30 to 40, which slightly reduces his chances to score early kills and snowball.

“I think the hero is blatantly too powerful because he has tools to farm, dominate the lane, and win teamfights.”

Sand King - Roaming nerfed

Sand King is a top meta hero by a long time, and Valve decided to balance him by nerfing his movement speed and Burrowstrike.

• 7.12 reduced the movement speed from 295 to 290, and 7.13b from 290 to 285.

A decisive change because the hero is played mostly as a roamer, so it hinders his presence on the map, and what he can do between ganks (for example, stack camps in the jungle or steal the enemy ones).

• 7.07d diminished the damage of Burrowstrike, and 7.12 its duration.

Burrowstrike is an ability with a high skill cap. Everyone can just hit an opponent, but few are capable of stunning and damaging multiple heroes at a time. Affecting two or more opponents can be game-changing, and that makes it also one of the best abilities to contest the runes as all heroes are assembled in a limited area.

Note that Sand King, when played against the right heroes, can be also a successful laner.

Tier 2

Hero	Name	P+B	P+B%	Picks	Picks%	Bans	Bans%	Win%
	Lycan	128	50.6%	42	16.6%	86	34.0%	59.5%
	Clockwerk	126	49.8%	66	26.1%	60	23.7%	54.6%
	Kunkka	124	49.0%	52	20.6%	72	28.5%	53.9%
	Bane	118	46.6%	62	24.5%	56	22.1%	64.5%
	Slark	117	46.3%	47	18.6%	70	27.7%	57.5%
	Dragon Knight	116	45.9%	62	24.5%	54	21.3%	58.1%
	Nature's Prophet	113	44.7%	26	10.3%	87	34.4%	53.9%
	Nyx Assassin	111	43.9%	29	11.5%	82	32.4%	65.5%
	Lifestealer	111	43.9%	30	11.9%	81	32.0%	36.7%
	Beastmaster	105	41.5%	52	20.6%	53	21.0%	40.4%
	Morphling	103	40.7%	33	13.0%	70	27.7%	45.5%
	Luna	102	40.3%	47	18.6%	55	21.7%	57.5%
	Bounty Hunter	101	39.9%	21	8.3%	80	31.6%	38.1%

Tier 3

Hero	Name	P+B	P+B%	Picks	Picks%	Bans	Bans%	Win%
	Axe	91	36.0%	44	17.4%	47	18.6%	50.0%
	Omniknight	89	35.2%	28	11.1%	61	24.1%	50.0%
	Tusk	88	34.8%	53	21.0%	35	13.8%	45.3%
	Jakiro	86	34.0%	69	27.3%	17	6.7%	46.4%
	Razor	83	32.8%	36	14.2%	47	18.6%	36.1%
	Ember Spirit	81	32.0%	41	16.2%	40	15.8%	61.0%
	Disruptor	77	30.4%	58	22.9%	19	7.5%	58.6%
	Lone Druid	73	28.9%	17	6.7%	56	22.1%	64.7%
	Lina	73	28.9%	36	14.2%	37	14.6%	30.6%
	Warlock	68	26.9%	38	15.0%	30	11.9%	60.5%
	Faceless Void	66	26.1%	23	9.1%	43	17.0%	43.5%
	Viper	65	25.7%	24	9.5%	41	16.2%	45.8%
	Witch Doctor	59	23.3%	52	20.6%	7	2.8%	38.5%
	Skywrath Mage	58	22.9%	43	17.0%	15	5.9%	46.5%
	Outworld Devourer	57	22.5%	20	7.9%	37	14.6%	55.0%

Tier 4

Hero	Name	P+B	P+B%	Picks	Picks%	Bans	Bans%	Win%
	Rubick	50	19.8%	38	15.0%	12	4.7%	44.7%
	Chen	50	19.8%	14	5.5%	36	14.2%	57.1%
	Brewmaster	48	19.0%	35	13.8%	13	5.1%	57.1%
	Storm Spirit	46	18.2%	25	9.9%	21	8.3%	48.0%
	Underlord	44	17.4%	24	9.5%	20	7.9%	45.8%
	Visage	43	17.0%	12	4.7%	31	12.3%	66.7%
	Pangolier	41	16.2%	14	5.5%	27	10.7%	64.3%
	Tidehunter	40	15.8%	21	8.3%	19	7.5%	42.9%
	Windranger	39	15.4%	27	10.7%	12	4.7%	44.4%
	Troll Warlord	37	14.6%	22	8.7%	15	5.9%	36.4%
	Ancient Apparition	37	14.6%	26	10.3%	11	4.4%	23.1%
	Lion	37	14.6%	33	13.0%	4	1.6%	51.5%
	Elder Titan	36	14.2%	29	11.5%	7	2.8%	58.6%
	Templar Assassin	36	14.2%	18	7.1%	18	7.1%	72.2%
	Abaddon	35	13.8%	15	5.9%	20	7.9%	46.7%
	Medusa	35	13.8%	20	7.9%	15	5.9%	50.0%
	Dark Seer	35	13.8%	21	8.3%	14	5.5%	61.9%
	Puck	34	13.4%	17	6.7%	17	6.7%	41.2%
	Batrider	30	11.9%	12	4.7%	18	7.1%	25.0%
	Broodmother	29	11.5%	4	1.6%	25	9.9%	50.0%
	Queen of Pain	28	11.1%	21	8.3%	7	2.8%	52.4%
	Tinker	28	11.1%	11	4.4%	17	6.7%	36.4%
	Venomancer	27	10.7%	16	6.3%	11	4.4%	56.3%
	Shadow Demon	25	9.9%	18	7.1%	7	2.8%	33.3%
	Vengeful Spirit	23	9.1%	11	4.4%	12	4.7%	63.6%
	Legion Commander	21	8.3%	15	5.9%	6	2.4%	66.7%
	Keeper of the Light	21	8.3%	10	4.0%	11	4.4%	70.0%
	Slardar	21	8.3%	15	5.9%	6	2.4%	33.3%
	Oracle	20	7.9%	11	4.4%	9	3.6%	45.5%
	Spectre	20	7.9%	14	5.5%	6	2.4%	42.9%
	Shadow Fiend	20	7.9%	9	3.6%	11	4.4%	11.1%
	Spirit Breaker	19	7.5%	14	5.5%	5	2.0%	35.7%
	Juggernaut	19	7.5%	13	5.1%	6	2.4%	15.4%
	Shadow Shaman	18	7.1%	16	6.3%	2	0.8%	62.5%
	Timbersaw	17	6.7%	9	3.6%	8	3.2%	44.4%
	Monkey King	15	5.9%	8	3.2%	7	2.8%	37.5%
	Undying	15	5.9%	8	3.2%	7	2.8%	75.0%
	Pugna	15	5.9%	8	3.2%	7	2.8%	62.5%
	Terrorblade	14	5.5%	7	2.8%	7	2.8%	71.4%

In tier 4 and 5 we find all the situational heroes. They are strong when paired with others, or against specific lineups. These heroes aren't bad, they just don't work in every game, so the pick and ban rates aren't outstanding.

Tier 5

Hero	Name	P+B	P+B%	Picks	Picks%	Bans	Bans%	Win%
	Enigma	13	5.1%	8	3.2%	5	2.0%	37.5%
	Winter Wyvern	12	4.7%	7	2.8%	5	2.0%	42.9%
	Chaos Knight	12	4.7%	6	2.4%	6	2.4%	33.3%
	Techies	11	4.4%	2	0.8%	9	3.6%	0.0%
	Earth Spirit	10	4.0%	8	3.2%	2	0.8%	0.0%
	Magnus	10	4.0%	9	3.6%	1	0.4%	44.4%
	Anti-Mage	10	4.0%	6	2.4%	4	1.6%	33.3%
	Centaur Warrunner	9	3.6%	8	3.2%	1	0.4%	25.0%
	Earthshaker	9	3.6%	8	3.2%	1	0.4%	25.0%
	Invoker	7	2.8%	6	2.4%	1	0.4%	83.3%
	Dazzle	7	2.8%	4	1.6%	3	1.2%	25.0%
	Sven	7	2.8%	6	2.4%	1	0.4%	50.0%
	Bloodseeker	7	2.8%	4	1.6%	3	1.2%	50.0%
	Meepo	6	2.4%	3	1.2%	3	1.2%	33.3%
	Weaver	5	2.0%	5	2.0%	0	0.0%	60.0%
	Sniper	5	2.0%	3	1.2%	2	0.8%	33.3%
	Ogre Magi	4	1.6%	4	1.6%	0	0.0%	50.0%
	Treant Protector	4	1.6%	4	1.6%	0	0.0%	50.0%
	Alchemist	4	1.6%	3	1.2%	1	0.4%	33.3%
	Phantom Assassin	4	1.6%	1	0.4%	3	1.2%	0.0%
	Wraith King	4	1.6%	3	1.2%	1	0.4%	0.0%
	Drow Ranger	4	1.6%	2	0.8%	2	0.8%	50.0%
	Dark Willow	3	1.2%	3	1.2%	0	0.0%	33.3%
	Bristleback	3	1.2%	3	1.2%	0	0.0%	33.3%
	Huskar	3	1.2%	1	0.4%	2	0.8%	0.0%
	Zeus	3	1.2%	3	1.2%	0	0.0%	0.0%
	Crystal Maiden	3	1.2%	3	1.2%	0	0.0%	66.7%
	Ursa	2	0.8%	1	0.4%	1	0.4%	0.0%
	Lich	2	0.8%	2	0.8%	0	0.0%	50.0%
	Tiny	2	0.8%	1	0.4%	1	0.4%	0.0%
	Pudge	2	0.8%	2	0.8%	0	0.0%	0.0%
	Phoenix	1	0.4%	1	0.4%	0	0.0%	100.0%
	Silencer	1	0.4%	1	0.4%	0	0.0%	100.0%
	Enchantress	1	0.4%	1	0.4%	0	0.0%	0.0%
	Riki	1	0.4%	1	0.4%	0	0.0%	0.0%

Heroes not picked

Arc Warden

Clinkz

Mirana

Necrophos

Next Tier List: June 2018

Header image (Unfettered Malevolence loading screen for Night Stalker) and hero icons: Valve  - Statistics: DatDota.