This article is part of our Dota 2 series.
Welcome back to my compendium predictions series. For those of you who read the first one, thanks for coming back! For any newcomers, check out the first article while you're here. The second article in this four-part series will focus in on the Hero section of the compendium predictions. These picks will be far more subjective than the previous article because it's hard to tell how teams are going to strategize for the most important tournament of the season. On top of all that, we have an extremely diverse meta and we can't go too far back to look at tournament meta because we got a patch after The Summit 9; Thanks Valve! So with all that in mind, let's get going!
Most Picked Hero:
The most picked hero is often not the "best" hero, but the hero that is just good enough that teams want to use it while not so good that teams feel it warrants a 1st slot ban. Recently, Crystal Maiden has been fitting that bill thanks to Crystal Nova receiving some buffs, making her an excellent laning support. Despite the recent nerf to Crystal Nova in the most recent patch, with a few changes to itemization, Crystal Maiden is still incredibly powerful in the early laning stages. Winter Wyvern is also a contender for her ultimate, Winter's Curse and Mirana for her teamfight potential and high appearance in pub games.
Author's Prediction: Crystal Maiden
Most Banned hero:
Just the opposite of the most picked hero, the most banned hero is often a hero that teams just consider too good to allow into the game. Io usually occupied this role until the past few years when everyone's favorite beeping ball of light became less of a global threat thanks to Tether nerfs. With the current meta being centered around a good laning stage, you can bet that a powerful laning hero or a solid roamer will get the collective ban hammer. Bloodseeker is very strong in lane with lots of sustain allowing him to trade favorably, Broodmother with her unobstructed pathing can completely dominate a lane if given the space and Enchantress with a solid healing spell and the Untouchable ability making her hard to burst down early on, are all candidates for this slot. Ultimately, I have chosen Bloodseeker as I think he requires the most attention in lane to keep him from getting out of control.
Author's Prediction: Bloodseeker
Hero with highest Win Rate:
The hero with the highest win rate is tricky. In such a diverse meta it is unlikely that there is going to be just one hero that dominates the entire tournament to the point that everyone is playing it. Usually, it's a hero that gets through just enough to make the five games played minimum requirement, but wins every single one of those games. Depending on how well ana does it could possibly be Alchemist, Arteezy could surprise teams with an Arc Warden he has allegedly been practicing or it could be Broodmother. Broodmother is seemingly unstoppable in the right hands and can really dominate a game by taking over the whole map. I think that Broodmother could ride the line to fit this category, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some teams who think they can utilize the hero and then ruin this category for everyone.
Author's Prediction: Broodmother
Hero with highest Kill avg:
Highest kill average is another tricky category because it's not necessarily going to be one of those heroes that just meets the five-game threshold and then never gets played again. Often, it's going to be a hero that gets picked somewhere in the middle but is always impactful in the right hands. Shadow Fiend could fit the bill as that hero is often one that presents itself around The International and is being favored by Maybe of PSG.LGD. Another hero who has been making the rounds recently is Templar Assassin. Though she isn't usually thought of by most as a hero who can really dominate a game, her built-in critical hit mechanics ensure that she can lock down at least one kill in most encounters. Clinkz could be another hero that fits here as the undead archer is quite adept at nabbing pickoffs throughout the game which can add up to big numbers in the end.
Author's Prediction: Templar Assassin
Hero with highest Assist avg:
The highest assist average can go to a hero who is played in almost every match or a hero who just meets that five-game demarcation. The hero could also be a meta hero or a niche hero that is favored by a few players in the tournament. The most important thing is that it's usually a hero who can get a piece of a large number of kills. Undying is a solid pick for this category as his Decay and Tombstone make sure he gets in on many kills even after death. In this situation, I'm going with Zeus. The hero has a global ultimate so he can get a piece of kills from anywhere on the map and if he is there Arc Lighting will help him get in on the action as well. The primary reason for picking Zeus here is that YapzOr and W33 both love the hero and between the two of them we should get some decently long games with plenty of kills to go around.
Author's Prediction: Zeus
Hero with lowest Death avg:
Hero with the lowest death average is definitely one of the hardest predictions. Sometimes it can all come down to luck because you have to consider which players die the least and who is likely to be playing the hero. You can also go the route of picking heroes that naturally have low deaths thanks to escape mechanics. A niche carry hero like Medusa can often be a safe bet since carries are not supposed to die and if there is a carry who can just make it over the five-game hump without dying to many times you should have a winner. In this category, I am taking Dragon Knight. DK is absurdly tanky and I think he will show up just enough with high efficiency to get me where I need to go.
Author's Prediction: Dragon Knight
Hero with highest Last Hit avg:
This section is pretty simple, what hero is going to be playing farming simulator 2018 for a good chunk of the games they appear in? There are a lot of heroes that can fit in this slot, but I think we will see just enough quality Broodmother games to give the queen of spiders another win in the Compendium Predictions.
Author's Prediction: Broodmother
Hero with highest XPM avg:
If you don't think Meepo is going to be played, I feel that this category is a bit of a toss up. Luckily for us, Abed will probably play Meepo just enough times to win this category, if not you may as well start up a pub game, random a hero and make whichever one you get your selection.
Author's Prediction: Meepo
Hero with most Kills in a game:
Hero with the most kills in a single game is going to be another one that's insanely hard to predict so we just take an educated guess and throw it out there. I remember one year Loda almost ruined this category by popping off as Slark. The best bet is to find out which of the core players are killing machines and select one of their favorite heroes. Maybe from PSG.LGD likes to play some Shadow Fiend so that's who were going with here.
Author's Prediction: Shadow Fiend
Hero with most Last Hits in a game:
We round out this category with a somewhat simple selection. Pick a hero who farms a lot, maybe one that can clear waves and one who is often involved in games that drag on and on. Phantom Lancer, Anti-Mage, Alchemist are all decent choices here. Personally I will be going with Medusa as she fits into all the categories previously mentioned.
Author's Prediction: Medusa
Despite this section being a little bit more subjective than others, hopefully this will help you with your predictions. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the third article in this series which will cover what the Team section of the Compendium Predictions.
