We take a look at the heroes who proved the most popular picks in both SEA & China’s Division I DPC 2023 Winter Tour.
Due to the Chinese New Year, the Dota 2 community had to wait for several days to see the final results from Division I. Fortunately, all of the action is now over, which means we know the names of the teams that qualified for The Lima Major.
China and Southeast Asia have always been among the most interesting regions. What sets them apart is that the teams here are even, which means everyone can win and lose against everyone. This became clear following the action in the SEA 2023 DPC Division I, where the favorites Fnatic and BOOM Esports finished last and will have to go to Division II.
Even though both regions had many interesting results, we won’t focus on them in this article. Instead, it will go over some of the most popular Dota 2 heroes we got to see in each region.
We’ve already done a review about WEU + EEU, as well as NA + SA, so we won’t include any of the heroes from there. Fortunately, China and SEA allowed us to watch even more interesting options, so let’s go through them.
China
When it comes down to the Chinese Division I DPC, we saw many exciting heroes. Of course, most of them were also very popular in other parts of the world. For example, Rubick and Tiny became the most picked heroes in the region, both of which were popular in Eastern Europe.
One of the exciting stats we’d wanted to share is Tusk’s win rate. Even though the hero appeared in almost 30 matches, he only has a 21% win rate. Unsurprisingly, this is incredibly low when compared to some of the other top heroes.
Speaking of interesting heroes, here are a few options that deserve more attention.
Disruptor
If you take a look at the Chinese DPC in the last couple of years, you can see that the teams here always favor Disruptor. This hero is known for his ability to harass, secure kills, and land team fight-winning ultimates. Even though he is not that popular in other regions, Disruptor has plenty of fans in China.
According to the stats, he appeared in more than 20 games and has a little over a 60% win rate. Needless to say, we expect to see the hero even more often in the upcoming Lima Major.
Phoenix
While we’re on the topic of heroes with ultimates that can win team fights, we must mention Phoenix. Even though this is a hero that we don’t see that often in other regions, it is really big in China.
Phoenix can disrupt every team fight. He is also a fairly good support/offlaner because he can do a lot of damage and is hard to kill. However, what makes him really good is his ultimate because he can stun everyone and do much damage.
Like Disruptor, Phoenix was picked in around 20 games, but he has a slightly better win rate.
Pangolier
Albeit having fewer picks than the others on the list, Pangolier is a hero that received more attention in China than in other regions. The hero established himself in the meta several months ago, and we’ve also seen him in other parts of the world. However, Pango is definitely more popular in China than in other places, such as Western Europe.
With around 16 picks, Pango has an impressive 60% win rate.
SEA
The situation in the 2023 Southeast Asian DPC Division I is no different from the one in other regions. Heroes like Rubick, Tusk, and Tiny dominate the meta, which is why we see them in almost every game. The same applies to Treant, Nature’s Prophet, and Mirana. However, there are some differences because a few heroes here aren’t that popular in other parts of the world.
Marci
One of Dota 2’s newest heroes was popular throughout 2022 because teams always picked her. Although she started as a carry/offlaner, Marci quickly became a popular support, especially in Western Europe.
However, things have changed, and the hero is usually picked as a carry. We’ve seen her several times in the hands of teams such as Fnatic and Geek, and it is safe to say that the hero is pretty good. Despite not being the hottest carry in the meta, Marci has almost a 70% win rate from 22 picks, which is really impressive.
Batrider
To be fair, Batrider is a popular pick in the current meta, which is why the hero appeared in every region. However, after analyzing the different games, we believe that he is more prevalent in SEA when compared to other areas.
Once one of the most prominent offlaners, nowadays, Batrider is a hero that will often take the mid-lane. He might not be that good in the late game, but his ability to dominate the lane and secure kills for his team makes him special.
Lina
Of course, we also must address the elephant in the room regarding the most popular heroes in the current Dota 2 patch. Lina is a trendy pick in every 2023 DPC region, and SEA isn’t an exception. Once a popular midder, Lina is the preferred carry for many teams because of her ability to farm fast and do a lot of damage.
Even though she is solid in the current meta, it seems like she isn’t good enough because her win rate in SEA is just 40%. This makes her significantly less effective than things such as Nature’s Prophet.
Besides the upcoming Lima Major, which we will learn more about, you can also pay attention to the Division II matches. The action began a couple of days ago, so we have plenty of things to keep an eye on.
estnn.com
