Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour meta recap: Southeast Asia

The 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season's Winter Tour is now over. Across two divisions in six regions and with 96 teams competing in total, competition in the circuit's regional leagues has thus far been intense.

With the leagues now over and everyone looking ahead to the Regional Finals, let’s take a look into the metagames of each region and see which heroes were the most picked, the most feared, and the most overrated. Let's start by checking out Southeast Asia.

Note: All the data featured focuses on Division I games only

Mars is the most picked hero in SEA

Southeast Asia has always been considered one of the more aggressive regions, with teams eager to get into brawls from the moment the horn blows — sometimes even before that. With such a fight-heavy meta in the region, it makes sense that Mars, the God of War himself, comes out as the most picked hero.

Mars has been picked 33 times in total, six times more than second placer Queen of Pain’s 27. Weaver shares third place with Bane, with both having 25 appearances. Fifth place is a tie between Ember Spirit and Lion, with both playing 22 games in total.

The SEA region is in love with Mars and what he provides. A good stun that can capture multiple enemies with the Aghanim's Shard upgrade, strong durability to tank for the team, and a great teamfight spell in his Arena of Blood ultimate.

Despite his immense popularity at the SEA DPC, Mars hasn’t been very successful. The hero only won 13 matches and lost 20.

Mars has received several nerfs since his introduction and doesn’t have the impact he used to. His many appearances also lead to him being figured out quickly by opposing teams.

Nobody wants to play against Monkey King

Since his appearance in The International 10, Monkey King has been one of the most banned heroes in all of pro Dota 2. The hero provides a lot of flexibility in drafts while providing vision, a long-range stun, and a teamfight ultimate in Wukong's Command within the game itself. He’s a lot like Mars when you think about it.

Monkey King did appear in eight games during the SEA DPC but only won half of them. It’s not an impressive record for a king. It should be noted that the hero received multiple cooldown nerfs in the latest patch, which explains his average win rate.

Weaver is the second most banned hero, being removed from 39 games in total. Kunkka shares third place with Outworld Devourer, each having 36 bans. Both these heroes have an astounding win rate. Kunkka won 13 out of 17 games, while OD won eight out of his 12 appearances.

Tying in for fifth place we have Lina and Bane with 31 bans each. Bane is the fourth most contested hero in the region, well worth playing for people who wish to grind MMR.

If you want to win in SEA, pick Batrider

The most successful hero with at least five appearances is Batrider, who won all six games he played in. And the hero was played by four different teams, with Execration picking him three times.

Pangolier is the most successful hero with at least 10 appearances, winning 11 out of his 14 games. The hero’s high mobility and good team fight presence fit well in the current meta. Lion is the third most successful hero in the SEA DPC.

Lion won 16 games out of 22. It’s rare to see a support hero with such a high win rate but Lion’s ability to lock down elusive enemies and great burst damage has kept him relevant since the previous DPC season.

Dawnbreaker, Spirit Breaker, and Mars are the worst performers in the region

Dawnbreaker is the latest hero added to captain’s mode and the hero still needs more time to be fully figured out. That may be why Dawnbreaker has lost all five matches she has played in. Or perhaps the hero just needs a buff to be competitively relevant.

For heroes with at least 10 games played, Spirit Breaker is the most overrated of the group. In the 13 games the hero appeared in, he has only won three of them.

Spirit Breaker is a popular hero right now but he has a below 50% win rate in five regions. Only China manages to make the hero work with a 63% win rate.

Last, and in this case, least, Mars has the worst performance among all heroes with at least 20 game appearances. Mars is the most picked hero in the region with 33 games played but he only won 13 of those 33 games.

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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