Skulz Competitive Hero Tier List December 2017

The Competitive Hero Tier List for December includes all the patches up to the recent 7.07d. Pro teams kept altering their drafts according to IceFrog's will.

QUICK LINKS Tier 1 • Tier 2 • Tier 3 • Tier 4 • Tier 5 Every month, the tier list distributes the Dota 2 heroes in five different groups according to their total pick and ban rate. The requisites for each tier never change - the goal is offering a neutral comparison that shows how the meta evolves over time. The tiers depend only on drafts, and aren't influenced either by the win rate of a hero, or by their performance in pub matches. FEATURED HEROES Omniknight • Nyx Assassin • Ancient Apparition

The new Dota 2 meta started stabilizing in the past weeks. The teams had plenty of time to test all the changes introduced on November 17 by version 7.07c. More heroes arise to the top of the charts, and some old glories - persisting since this Summer - left their place to the new generation.

On December 19, Valve decided to modify the equilibrium as some picks were undoubtedly too powerful. 7.07d brought a handful of buffs, but also nerfed a vast number of heroes and their skills. Please, while reviewing the tiers consider these words: some heroes recently nerfed probably aren't in the right place.

Due to technical issues, this month I used OpenDota to gather the data. It considers a slightly higher number of games if compared to DatDota - for example, in November it had about 20 games more in the same period. For this tier list, a total of 647 matches played in the past 30 days have been analyzed.

We are still in a young patch so there are many differences with the November Tier List. Check it out to study all the fluctuations in detail.

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Hero P+B P+B% Picks Picks % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Omniknight 515 79.5% 113 17.4% 402 62% 59.3% guides ↗ Night Stalker 501 77.3% 106 16.4% 395 61% 48.1% guides ↗ Bane 458 70.7% 151 23.3% 307 47.4% 55% guides ↗ Razor 440 67.9% 150 23.1% 290 44.8% 46% guides ↗ Clockwerk 413 63.7% 150 23.1% 263 40.6% 52.7% guides ↗ Medusa 405 62.5% 120 18.5% 285 44% 55.8% guides ↗ Brewmaster 404 62.3% 130 20.1% 274 42.3% 56.2% guides ↗ UP: DOWN: Compared to November Tier list Omniknight is useful in lane and teamfight Omniknight is a well-rounded hero who can help the team in multiple situations. He belongs to a subcategory of defensive supports that have also a good fighting potential. He swings a big hammer! The bane of melee heroes. Omniknight is your best friend when dealing with a melee hero, physically based and not. He is tough enough to take multiple hits, can heal himself while harming the opponent, and the movement/attack speed slow of Degen Aura makes him a great harasser. Weak versus ranged magic users. Not all ranged heroes can effectively counter Omniknight, but those with magic spammable nukes will certainly do it. Beware, in pub games many casters don't buy extra clarities during the lane phase, and without mana they can't shut him down, but this isn't an issue in pro games. Keep in your mind the points above, notably when fighting against one of the popular offlane Omniknights. If you choose the wrong support, your carry will have a terrible time in lane. In pub games I love Lich: he can deny exp and regenerate mana with Sacrifice, and keep harassing Omniknight with his long attack range combined with Frost Blast's damage and slow. Heals are great at any stage of the game Heroes that help to prevent deaths are handy in any meta as they deny potential gold to the adversaries during the entire match. Also, healing abilities “scale” even in the late game. Of course, the damage inflicted by physical carries increases over time, but the same happens to your damage reduction. Heals are more effective on a hero with lots of armor as they receive less damage as well. Teamfight potential nerfed Omniknight is one of the heroes hit by the latest 7.07d nerfs. His lane phase is unaffected, and all the nerfs are intended to make him less effective in teamfight. Guardian Angel cooldown at lower levels. Rescaling his ultimate from 160 to 180/170/160, he has less chances to use it during early and mid game battles. The ability is exceptional against physical damage and having it ready during a teamfight can make the difference between life and death. Teamfight positioning is more difficult. The cast range of Purification has been reduced from 575 to 450. At first glance this doesn't seem a big nerf, but its value is greater as the match progresses. Omniknight is a relatively tanky support with 5.5 armor and 640 health points at level 1, but later on his innate constitution won't help him against hard carries. With a shorter range he has to commit more during a fight to heal his teammates and nuke the opponents, risking his life. Honestly, the changes are negligible in a pub environment, but in professional games and high ranked pubs a perfect positioning is mandatory for the success of a fight.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Picks % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Tiny 354 54.6% 180 27.8% 174 26.9% 58.3% guides ↗ Nyx Assassin 340 52.5% 87 13.4% 253 39% 55.2% guides ↗ Puck 332 51.4% 154 23.8% 179 27.6% 47.4% guides ↗ Tusk 306 47.2% 154 23.8% 152 23.5% 47.4% guides ↗ Sand King 297 45.8% 205 31.6% 92 14.2% 47.3% guides ↗ Earth Spirit 287 44.3% 154 23.8% 133 20.5% 42.9% guides ↗ Bounty Hunter 284 43.8% 64 9.9% 220 34% 54.7% guides ↗ Tinker 278 42.9% 91 14% 187 28.9% 41.8% guides ↗ Shadow Shaman 274 42.3% 182 28.1% 92 14.2% 52.7% guides ↗ Tidehunter 270 41.7% 118 18.2% 152 23.5% 44.9% guides ↗ Queen of Pain 265 40.9% 135 20.8% 130 20.1% 37% guides ↗ Winter Wyvern 250 38.6% 111 17.1% 139 21.5% 49.5% guides ↗ UP: DOWN: None Compared to November Tier list  Nyx is a very versatile hero Nyx Assassin is usually played as a support, but he can occupy the offlane and even a core position. Let's learn why. HP Regeneration. Nyx is the hero with the highest base health regeneration per second: 4.75. It is as much as Ogre Magi and 0.50 more than Axe. With it, 4.17 armor at level 1, and a Stout Shield you are basically immortal in the safe lane and can survive well even in the offlane. Counters high INT heroes. Mana Burn inflicts damage and burns mana based on the intelligence of the target. Against a high int hero like Queen of Pain, you can easily inflict 1k damage and more in the late game. Great roamer and ganker. Starting from level 6, you can exploit the invisibility, extra movement speed, and damage provided by Vendetta to gank any lane or even shut down the jungler. Counters initiators and gankers. Thanks to Vendetta Nyx is a mobile invisible ward, therefore you can spy the enemy actions, preventing ganks and risky teamfights. Spiked Carapace counters AoE. The ability can counter heroes with AoE damage and Radiance carries as you will easily harm and stun them. It helps when ganking or saving allies. An adaptable item build Nyx can build many items depending on the necessities of the team. Here are some examples. A Blink Dagger and/or a Force Staff for mobility and to help your teammates. I also love to take the Aether Lens with either of them. The Aghanim's Scepter is amazing in teamfight and for defending towers, particularly the tier 3 ones as you have the high ground advantage. The Eul's Scepter of Divinity helps against silences, contributes to mana regeneration and movement speed, and can even save your team. A Dagon and an Ethereal Blade can obliterate squishy heroes during all the match, but when playing as a support you will rarely have the opportunity to build them. Solid talents in 7.07 +100 Agility 25 Vendetta Unobstructed Pathing +75% Spiked Carapace Damage 20 +175 Impale Damage +325 Health 15 +35 Movement Speed +60 Gold/Min 10 +6% Spell Amplification Nyx Assassin's talents changed in 7.07, and he received no more adjustments in the successive patches. Let's have a quick look at them. +60 gold/min is your choice at level 10. All he needs to do his job as a position 4/5 is a Magic Wand and a pair of Arcane Boots - these sources of mana are indispensable to utilize your skills, and the wand will charge quickly as soon as you roam. The extra gold provided by the talent will be of great help to buy all the required consumables. At level 15 both options are cool, but I suggest taking the +375 health points in most skill brackets. Surviving is the first goal to accomplish if you want to win a game. At level 20 +175 Impale damage is the superior choice as the extra Spiked Carapace damage is very situational. The final talent is a tough choice as they are both great. Vendetta Unobstructed Pathing is self-explanatory, and will boost your already great mobility. +100 agility is a lot, especially because you are an agility based hero. Thanks to the changes to stats in 7.07, it gives you 100 damage, 100 attack speed, 17 armor, and 6% movement speed. Do not underestimate this perk and always take it if you have an Ethereal Blade as it will boost its damage.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Picks % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Batrider 232 35.8% 110 17% 122 18.8% 49.1% guides ↗ Morphling 226 34.9% 72 11.1% 154 23.8% 69.4% guides ↗ Ancient Apparition 224 34.6% 138 21.3% 86 13.3% 53.6% guides ↗ Shadow Fiend 224 34.6% 135 20.8% 89 13.7% 60% guides ↗ Ogre Magi 206 31.9% 114 17.6% 93 14.4% 51.8% guides ↗ Enchantress 200 30.9% 45 6.9% 155 23.9% 37.8% guides ↗ Gyrocopter 199 30.7% 103 15.9% 96 14.8% 34% guides ↗ Death Prophet 198 30.6% 82 12.7% 116 17.9% 43.9% guides ↗ Doom 197 30.4% 107 16.5% 90 13.9% 49.5% guides ↗ Shadow Demon 196 30.2% 105 16.2% 91 14% 59% guides ↗ Luna 195 30.1% 91 14% 104 16% 49.5% guides ↗ Outworld Devourer 183 28.2% 84 13% 99 15.3% 48.8% guides ↗ Faceless Void 179 27.6% 92 14.2% 87 13.4% 47.8% guides ↗ Storm Spirit 174 26.9% 59 9.1% 115 17.7% 47.5% guides ↗ Phantom Lancer 172 26.7% 76 11.7% 97 15% 43.4% guides ↗ Elder Titan 169 26.1% 92 14.2% 77 11.9% 50% guides ↗ Weaver 165 25.5% 86 13.3% 79 12.2% 43% guides ↗ Rubick 163 25.2% 133 20.5% 30 4.6% 50.4% guides ↗ Chaos Knight 153 23.6% 48 7.4% 105 16.2% 50% guides ↗ Disruptor 153 23.6% 109 16.8% 44 6.8% 55% guides ↗ Undying 149 23% 66 10.2% 83 12.8% 51.5% guides ↗ Beastmaster 149 23% 61 9.4% 88 13.6% 50.8% guides ↗ Dragon Knight 143 22.1% 93 14.4% 50 7.7% 63.4% guides ↗ Witch Doctor 131 20.2% 108 16.7% 23 3.5% 36.1% guides ↗ Viper 130 20.1% 49 7.6% 81 12.5% 49% guides ↗ Ancient Apparition's role as a counter One the main reasons behind Ancient Apparition's position in the charts is his capability to counter other high tiered heroes. Ice Blast prevents regeneration and healing, so is a hard counter against heroes that rely on them. It works well against any healer. Looking at the tier 1 and 2 picks, it affects Omniknight and Winter Wyvern. These heroes have the primary purpose to prevent deaths, but Ice Blast counters their efforts. Also, players affected by Cold Embrace are a very easy target for your Cold Feet. I featured Winter Wyvern in the previous tier list explaining what makes her a wonderful support and the impact of the night vision talent. Meanwhile, she dropped from tier 1 to 2 after the nerfs IceFrog brought in 7.07c and 7.07d. WW will probably reach a stable mid-high tier 3 position in January. Lifesteal is also blocked. It helps countering another tier 1 pick of the month, Medusa. During December, pro players purchased about 100 Masks Of Madness on her (over 120 games), before minute 14-15 on average. She is a very tanky hero, and the MoM boosts both her damage and survivability, particularly in the late game as Split Shot now can use modifiers with the new level 25 talent. Morphling is hard countered. In the tier list, Morphling is a top tier 3 pick with an astonishing 69.4% win rate. He often relies on Attribute Shift for his own survival when split-pushing, in ganks, and in teamfights, but Ice Blast negates it. Also, shifting points into strength is counter-productive because will bring Morphling closer to the percentage based shatter threshold. Note that the hero has a lot more to offer to the team, and was a very appreciated pick also in 7.06. In October, we discussed the importance of the underestimated Ice Vortex and all the effects of his ultimate. As a final note, Huskar is a dead pick against AA because he relies on his self-healing, lifestealing, and Armlet toggling to survive.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Picks % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Lifestealer 125 19.3% 59 9.1% 66 10.2% 59.3% guides ↗ Anti-Mage 119 18.4% 29 4.5% 90 13.9% 41.4% guides ↗ Vengeful Spirit 116 17.9% 66 10.2% 50 7.7% 50% guides ↗ Terrorblade 112 17.3% 45 6.9% 67 10.3% 51.1% guides ↗ Legion Commander 102 15.7% 55 8.5% 47 7.3% 49.1% guides ↗ Broodmother 102 15.7% 37 5.7% 65 10% 62.2% guides ↗ Lycan 99 15.3% 50 7.7% 49 7.6% 52% guides ↗ Slardar 99 15.3% 67 10.3% 32 4.9% 53.7% guides ↗ Mirana 94 14.7% 68 10.5% 27 4.2% 47.1% guides ↗ Underlord 90 14% 58 9% 33 5.1% 48.3% guides ↗ Juggernaut 88 13.6% 49 7.6% 39 6% 51% guides ↗ Kunkka 88 13.6% 58 9% 30 4.6% 55.2% guides ↗ Jakiro 82 12.8% 66 10.2% 17 2.6% 47% guides ↗ Templar Assassin 80 12.3% 37 5.7% 43 6.6% 54.1% guides ↗ Pudge 78 12% 31 4.8% 47 7.3% 54.8% guides ↗ Timbersaw 77 11.9% 39 6% 38 5.9% 43.6% guides ↗ Spirit Breaker 74 11.6% 33 5.1% 42 6.5% 45.5% guides ↗ Monkey King 65 10% 42 6.5% 23 3.5% 42.9% guides ↗ Sven 64 9.9% 32 4.9% 32 4.9% 31.3% guides ↗ Drow Ranger 62 9.6% 20 3.1% 42 6.5% 65% guides ↗ Sniper 60 9.3% 30 4.6% 30 4.6% 43.3% guides ↗ Invoker 60 9.3% 40 6.2% 20 3.1% 55% guides ↗ Nature's Prophet 58 9.1% 34 5.2% 25 3.9% 55.9% guides ↗ Huskar 58 9.1% 23 3.5% 36 5.6% 65.2% guides ↗ Abaddon 58 9% 35 5.4% 23 3.5% 62.9% guides ↗ Earthshaker 53 8.2% 35 5.4% 18 2.8% 51.4% guides ↗ Lone Druid 50 7.7% 29 4.5% 21 3.2% 51.7% guides ↗ Ursa 46 7.1% 22 3.4% 24 3.7% 45.5% guides ↗ Lich 42 6.6% 14 2.2% 29 4.5% 50% guides ↗ Silencer 40 6.2% 29 4.5% 11 1.7% 44.8% guides ↗ Io 38 5.9% 20 3.1% 18 2.8% 50% guides ↗ Slark 37 5.7% 22 3.4% 15 2.3% 54.5% guides ↗ 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 stellar.

Hero P+B P+B% Picks Picks % Bans Bans % Win % Guides Wraith King 32 4.9% 24 3.7% 8 1.2% 45.8% guides ↗ Dark Seer 29 4.5% 23 3.5% 6 0.9% 43.5% guides ↗ Zeus 28 4.3% 19 2.9% 9 1.4% 47.4% guides ↗ Venomancer 28 4.3% 16 2.5% 12 1.9% 68.8% guides ↗ Meepo 27 4.2% 9 1.4% 18 2.8% 44.4% guides ↗ Leshrac 26 4% 20 3.1% 6 0.9% 40% guides ↗ Skywrath Mage 26 4% 24 3.7% 2 0.3% 45.8% guides ↗ Magnus 25 3.9% 13 2% 12 1.9% 53.8% guides ↗ Oracle 22 3.4% 12 1.9% 10 1.5% 58.3% guides ↗ Phoenix 21 3.2% 18 2.8% 3 0.5% 38.9% guides ↗ Dazzle 20 3.1% 14 2.2% 6 0.9% 42.9% guides ↗ Arc Warden 19 2.9% 13 2% 6 0.9% 69.2% guides ↗ Chen 19 2.9% 7 1.1% 12 1.9% 42.9% guides ↗ Ember Spirit 18 2.8% 10 1.5% 8 1.2% 40% guides ↗ Enigma 18 2.8% 13 2% 5 0.8% 61.5% guides ↗ Phantom Assassin 17 2.6% 9 1.4% 8 1.2% 55.6% guides ↗ Keeper of the Light 17 2.6% 8 1.2% 9 1.4% 37.5% guides ↗ Naga Siren 17 2.6% 11 1.7% 6 0.9% 54.5% guides ↗ Lion 16 2.5% 10 1.5% 6 0.9% 30% guides ↗ Treant Protector 15 2.3% 11 1.7% 4 0.6% 36.4% guides ↗ Visage 14 2.2% 8 1.2% 6 0.9% 25% guides ↗ Pugna 14 2.2% 9 1.4% 5 0.8% 55.6% guides ↗ Centaur Warrunner 12 1.9% 9 1.4% 3 0.5% 55.6% guides ↗ Bloodseeker 12 1.9% 9 1.4% 3 0.5% 33.3% guides ↗ Warlock 12 1.9% 12 1.9% 0 0% 33.3% guides ↗ Bristleback 12 1.9% 11 1.7% 1 0.2% 45.5% guides ↗ Clinkz 10 1.5% 5 0.8% 5 0.8% 40% guides ↗ Crystal Maiden 9 1.4% 7 1.1% 2 0.3% 42.9% guides ↗ Troll Warlord 9 1.4% 8 1.2% 1 0.2% 50% guides ↗ Spectre 9 1.4% 7 1.1% 2 0.3% 42.9% guides ↗ Necrophos 8 1.2% 5 0.8% 3 0.5% 40% guides ↗ Axe 8 1.2% 6 0.9% 2 0.3% 50% guides ↗ Windranger 6 0.9% 6 0.9% 0 0% 33.3% guides ↗ Alchemist 5 0.8% 3 0.5% 2 0.3% 0% guides ↗ Lina 3 0.5% 3 0.5% 0 0% 33.3% guides ↗ Riki 2 0.3% 1 0.2% 1 0.2% 0% guides ↗

All heroes were picked or banned.

The competitive picks are more stable if compared to a month ago, still we will witness many changes in January. Patch 7.07d has not touched as many heroes as the past one, but will have an impact on the drafts. For example, among other things Morphling can no longer activate Attribute Shift while stunned, and lost over 6% win rate in pub games. He will surely drop positions in the tiers.

Are you waiting for the fall or the rise of a hero in particular? Meanwhile, do not forget to commend your supports, and have a Happy New Year!


Credit: Statistics gathered from OpenDota, thank you for your wonderful DotA 2 stats!