ESL One Kuala Lumpur Meta Recap

ESL One Kuala Lumpur has concluded and Azure Ray took home the trophy in an amazing reverse sweep against Gaimin Gladiators. The team quickly adapted to the changing meta and used the patch to their advantage.

Dota 2 patch 7.35 is still in its infancy but we can already see some heroes rise to the top of the competitive scene. In this article we will do a meta recap of ESL One Kuala Lumpur, discussing the tournament's most contested, most successful, and most overrated heroes.

The meta recap of ESL One Kuala Lumpur

Pangolier was contested in 90% of the tournament

Can you pick a real hero bro? (Credit: Valve)

Continuing the trend that started when the hero was introduced, Pangolier continues to dominate the professional Dota 2 scene. To nobody's surprise, he was picked or banned in 19 out of 21 games.

The hero's mobility, solid laning phase, and impressive damage make him the perfect jack-of-all-trades pick for teams to open their draft with. Despite his many strengths, one hero was actually more popular in ESL One Kuala Lumpur.

After Dota 2 patch 7.35 dropped, Chen was picked or banned in every game. Well to be fair, he was picked once and banned 20 times, making him the most contested AND most banned hero.

Penitence makes his creeps more dangerous now, and he can take a value point in Divine Favor to greatly boost his healing in the lane. The hero brings a global heal, an army of creeps, more auras than you can shake a stick at. Yeah, no wonder he gets banned.

Magnus, Slardar, Grimstroke, and Phoenix conclude our list of the most picked heroes. Grim and Slardar were nerfed but we believe they are still strong picks and teams need more time to find new options to replace them, while Magnus and Phoenix offer overwhelming teamfight, something that teams always value.

Storm Spirit won every time he was picked

The best mid this patch? possibly. (Credit: Valve)

Looking at the most successful heroes at the tournament, one in particular stands out and it is Storm Spirit, with six wins in six games.

The hero received a minor buff in the latest patch but his real strength comes from the newly introduced Parasma. The item gives him massive amounts of intelligence, attack speed, armor, and greatly buffs his physical damage output. It's no wonder it was built in five out of his six games.

Since there were only 21 games played in the recent patch, most heroes struggled to show up more than a handful of times to make their impact at ESL Kuala Lumpur Meta. Vengeful Spirit had an 80% win rate in her five games, impressive but a relatively small sample size overall.

We expect every hero who can make good use of Parasma, Bloodstone, and Shiva's Guard to shine in the current patch. That includes Storm Spirit, Leshrac, and Timbersaw for now, but things will be clearer once more tournaments are played.

Brewmaster fails to make an impact at ESL One Kuala Lumpur Meta

No crits? no problem!. (Credit: Valve)

It seems the nerfs have finally caught up to our favorite alcoholic, as Brewmaster failed to win a single game in patch 7.35.

To be fair, he was only picked three times, so it's not the worst showing in the world. With intelligence heroes making a comeback, it's a little easier to burst down Brewmaster now and prevent him from getting his ultimate off and turning team fights around.

Another hero who has fallen from grace is Grimstroke, who only won two of his six games. Ink Swell got three nerfs in the recent update and that might just be the nail in the coffin that pushes the hero out of competitive viability.

Overall, ESL One Kuala Lumpur gave us a teaser of what the meta will look like in the coming months. It'll be exciting to see how teams adapt to the patch next year.

READ MORE: Ranking all Neutral Items Introduced in Dota 2 patch 7.35

Featured Image Source: Valve