TL;DR
- Lone Druid achieved 83% win rate despite limited appearances
- Naga Siren was banned in 106 matches, making her the most contested hero
- Visage’s Death Toll facet dominated with 84% victory rate
- Only four heroes utilized multiple facets throughout the tournament
- 21+ heroes remained completely uncontested in draft phases
Games and Esports Articles Dota 2
The International 2024 concluded on September 15 with Team Liquid’s championship victory. This year’s competition introduced revolutionary gameplay mechanics including innate abilities and the new facet system, creating unprecedented pacing dynamics that reshaped traditional strategies. Classic hard carry heroes faced significant challenges while utility and tempo controllers thrived in the accelerated meta. Our analysis reveals the standout performers and strategic trends that defined the event, with statistical data sourced from spectral.gg.
The tournament’s faster tempo created opportunities for heroes who could establish early game dominance and maintain pressure throughout matches. Teams that adapted to this new pace consistently outperformed those relying on traditional late-game compositions.
Gaimin Gladiators and Tundra Esports showcased Lone Druid’s exceptional capabilities, achieving an impressive 83% victory rate across their matches. Despite this dominant performance, the hero saw limited action with only six appearances and fifteen bans throughout the tournament. Following closely in effectiveness were Drow Ranger, Visage, and Naga Siren, each demonstrating significant impact in their selected games. With 122 total matches played, our analysis focuses exclusively on heroes drafted five or more times to ensure statistical significance.
Strategic insight: Teams successfully utilizing Lone Druid focused on early tower pressure and map control, leveraging the hero’s ability to simultaneously farm and fight. This dual-threat capability proved particularly effective against slower-scaling lineups.
Naga Siren’s overwhelming presence in the ban phase saw her excluded from 106 matches, allowing only twelve appearances throughout the entire competition. Shadow Demon, Sand King, and Windranger also faced significant draft resistance, though they managed more frequent selections than Naga. The correlation between most banned and most contested heroes remained nearly perfect, indicating clear consensus among teams about the meta’s most threatening elements.
Common drafting mistake: Teams occasionally over-prioritized banning these top threats, leaving other powerful heroes available that could have better countered their opponents’ strategies.
Visage’s Death Toll facet emerged as the most successful specialization with an 84% win rate across all facet implementations at The International 2024. Omniknight’s Healing Hammer and Naga Siren’s Deluge followed closely, both maintaining victory rates slightly above 75%. Remarkably, only four heroes throughout the entire tournament saw utilization of multiple facets: Sniper, Omniknight, Batrider, and Timbersaw, indicating both strategic flexibility and potential unexplored opportunities.
Advanced optimization: Teams that mastered facet timing—switching between specializations based on game state—gained significant advantages. The most successful implementations involved pre-planned facet transitions at specific timing windows or item completions.
The International 2024 spanned September 4-15 in Copenhagen, featuring structural adjustments that reduced participating teams from twenty to sixteen and consequently decreased total match count compared to previous years. The competition operated on patch 7.37c, which significantly impacted hero viability and strategic approaches. Notably, over twenty-one heroes received zero picks or bans throughout the event, contrasting sharply with only seven uncontested characters in the previous tournament.
The reduced hero pool diversity suggests teams converged on established meta solutions rather than exploring niche counters. This trend toward consensus drafting may indicate either highly optimized strategies or potential innovation gaps that future tournaments could exploit.
Action Checklist
- Analyze draft patterns from top-performing teams to identify overlooked hero opportunities
- Practice facet transitions with Sniper, Omniknight, Batrider, and Timbersaw
- Study ban phase strategies to understand priority targeting
- Implement early pressure strategies demonstrated by successful Lone Druid players
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Best and most popular heroes and facets of The International 2024 Discover the top-performing heroes and facets from The International 2024 with strategic insights and analysis