Dota Pro Circuit Summer Tour meta recap: Eastern Europe

The 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Summer Tour regional leagues are now over, and it is time to look at all the regions and examine how the metagame developed in each one.

In this series we will be looking at the meta across all Division I Tours. We'll examine the most picked heroes, the most feared, the most successful, and the most overrated.

The second instalment of this series will head over to Eastern Europe, home region of The International 10 champions Team Spirit:

Tiny is having a not so Tiny impact on the meta

The most picked hero in Eastern Europe was Tiny, with 33 picks, and that comes down to the hero's role flexibility — Tiny can be played as a carry, a midlaner, and roaming support.

Teams can pick Tiny early and then slot him into whatever role suits the draft best. Tiny is the most picked hero in five regions, and Eastern Europe is one of them.

Another popular hero in every region is Puck, who was picked 32 times in the Summer Tour. Unlike Tiny who is the epitome of flexibility, Puck is exclusively played as a midlaner.

The hero is elusive and provides the team with excellent magic burst damage, and a teamfight ultimate. There really is no other hero who can do what Puck does in the mid lane.

Dawnbreaker and Snapfire are tied for third place, with both heroes picked 29 times.

Dawnbreaker's popularity hasn't translated to success in the meta, as the hero has a sub-50% win rate in all regions except South America.

Snapfire on the other hand is thriving in the region, winning 62% of her games. Snapfire fits the brawl-heavy meta of EEU perfectly and comes with a strong laning stage.

Nobody wants to play against Marci

Unlike in DOTA: Dragon's Blood, Marci is feared in Eastern Europe and is the most banned hero in the region.

Marci's ability to save allies and reposition enemies makes her a nightmare to play against, and that's why she was banned 39 times.

Marci isn't the only hero with 39 bans, as Viper was equally feared in the region.

Similar to Marci, Viper also has a strong laning stage, especially against current melee meta heroes such as Tiny and Alchemist. Viper remains a win-lane lose-game hero, though, as the hero only won six out of his 13 appearances.

One of the most interesting things in Dota 2 is watching how each region approaches the meta.

While heroes such as Puck and Marci are contested in all regions, certain heroes such as Bloodseeker are highly valued in Europe, where the hero was the third most banned hero in Eastern Europe while not making it to the top 10 in China, Southeast Asia, and South America.

The fourth most banned hero in Europe is also the most successful in this group, and it is none other than Beastmaster.

There is simply no such thing as a "bad Beastmaster game", as the hero can be picked into any lineup thanks to his toolkit.

Flying vision from his summons, a stun that pierces magic immunity, and great structure damage are just a few of the things that earned Beastmaster a 57% win rate and 36 bans.

Ogre Magi and Kunkka are among most successful heroes

When looking at the most successful heroes in the region, we'll be examining heroes with a minimum of five, ten, and twenty picks. Heroes with less than five picks are not statistically relevant enough to highlight.

Two heroes in Eastern Europe won all six games they played and they are Kunkka and Ogre Magi. While both these heroes are strong laners, they play very different roles in the game.

Since these two heroes have almost nothing in common, their shared win rate has more to do with the teams that pick them.

Outsiders picked Ogre Magi six times and they placed first in the Summer DPC. Kunkka had a similar story, being picked mostly by Team Spirit, BetBoom, and Outsiders.

While both heroes have an exceptional record, we believe it's due to the strength of the teams picking them rather than either hero being overpowered right now.

Lycan is the most successful hero with at least 10 picks, as he won seven of his 10 appearances. Mostly played as an offlaner, Lycan has a lot of the same strengths as Beastmaster. Both heroes are lane independent, deal great structural damage, and are part of the Zoo Meta.

Tiny makes his second appearance in this article as not only the most picked hero but also the most successful hero with at least 20 appearances. Tiny managed to win 21 games out of 33 for an overall record of 63%.

One of the reasons Tiny has been such a success is due to people utilizing his Aghanim's Scepter to allow the hero to deal damage safely in late-game situations.

Slardar is a small fish in Eastern Europe

When looking at the least successful heroes in the region, we'll be examining heroes with a minimum of five, ten, and twenty picks. Heroes with less than five picks are not statistically relevant enough to highlight.

Two heroes are tied for the worst performance in the region, and they are Slardar and Windranger, with five losses each and no victories.

While OG have had great success with both of these heroes, that hasn't translated into the rest of Europe.

Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf played Slardar three times in the Summer Tour and won all games, while Sébastien "Ceb" Debs' Windranger was a standout during the Stockholm Major.

Alchemist is another hero that has been a disappointment in the region, with only three wins in his 11 appearances.

This is the hero's worst performance across all regions, and it's due to how unsuitable Alchemist is in the Eastern Europe meta.

Alchemist performs badly when the opposing team intend to fight early and take control of the map with Juggernaut, Nature's Prophet, and Tiny.

The worst performing hero with at least 20 appearances is Zeus. While the king of gods has shot up in popularity in both the pro and pub scene, Zeus has only been successful in Western Europe. In the other five regions, Zeus has a sub-50 % win rate.

While the hero provides great magic damage, supports in EEU are prioritised for their ability to control the enemy and sustain allies and Zeus fails at both, winning only nine of his 24 appearances.

This is part two of our meta recap for the 2021-2022 DPC Summer Tour regional leagues. You can also check out part one covering Western Europe.

Keep an eye out for the next instalments of this series to find out how the metagame for the other leagues developed throughout the Tour.

Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.

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