Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour meta recap: China

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.

The fifth installment of this series will head over to China, which remains arguably the strongest region in the entire circuit. You can also check out our other recaps for Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North America, and South America.

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

Bane continues to assert his presence across all regions

Similar to Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and North America, Bane is the most picked hero in the Chinese regional league.

We've talked a lot about Bane’s strengths before but it’s worth mentioning them again. The hero is a fantastic laner thanks to Nightmare and Brain Sap while remaining elusive during early game skirmishes. And, of course, Fiend’s Grip is one of the best disables in the game and allows Bane to fully bypass magic immunity on enemy cores.

Even if Bane ended up as the most picked hero across four of the circuit's six regions, China actually saw one of the hero’s weakest showings. It is the second time the hero won less than half his total games with a 45% win rate across 40 games played.

Interestingly, the second most picked hero in China, Death Prophet, doesn’t show up in any other region. The hero is a bit of an oddity in this meta as she isn’t particularly mobile like other mid laners, can’t stand in the frontline as well as other offlaners, and has no stuns compared to other supports.

Perhaps that is why Death Prophet only won 13 games out of her 35 appearances, by far the worst win rate among the top five picked heroes in China. With other regions avoiding the hero, it’s fair to say that Death Prophet is in a weak spot right now.

Mars sits in third place with 24 picks, a big drop from Death Prophet. Mars has almost the same story in China as he does in Southeast Asia; a high pick rate with a 40% win rate. With the hero performing better in other regions (especially South America) we can chalk this up to the hero being misunderstood in the region.

Queen of Pain, Tidehunter, and Weaver are tied in fourth place with 23 picks each. Weaver and Queen of Pain suffer similar levels of success, with both heroes hovering around a disappointing 45% win rate. This is another oddity in China as both these heroes enjoy far greater success in other regions, especially with Weaver being the most banned hero in Division I across the entire DPC.

Tidehunter is the only hero who wins more than he loses among the most picked heroes in China. While he has been relatively absent in most regions apart from China and South America, the Leviathan's ability to solo the lane, massive team fight ultimate, flexible item build, and incredible durability are all things teams want in an offlaner.

Mess with the bull, you get the horns

Speaking of perplexing statistics, Spirit Breaker and Io are the most banned heroes in China, both with 48 bans to their names. Io has long been a prized pick in Dota 2 yet was only heavily contested in both the European regions for the Winter Tour.

While Io’s 48 bans in China make sense, Spirit Breaker's is a little more confusing. The hero has had an abysmal showing in other regions, going from a terrible 27% in Southeast Asia to a slightly less terrible 43% in North America.

Yet Spirit Breaker won 12 out of 19 games in China. Perhaps it was because 2021 was the Year of the Bull?

Outworld Devourer comes in third place among China's most banned heroes with 45 bans in total. It’s hard to gauge the hero’s strength in the region, as he was only picked in four games when he wasn’t banned, too small a sample size to draw any conclusions.

Queen of Pain makes it on two lists in China, being among the most picked and banned in the region. She and Spirit Breaker are the most contested heroes in China, both being picked or banned in 67 games.

Last among the list of most banned heroes is Monkey King, with 34 bans, quite a drop from Queen of Pain’s 44 bans. Monkey King’s versatility hasn’t translated to much success in the region, as he only managed to win six of his 16 appearances. The hero wins more often when played as a carry, with four wins as a core and two wins as a roaming support.

Unorthodox picks dominate the China DPC

The three most successful heroes in the China are all exclusive to the region. First off is Troll Warlord, who won five of his six appearances and is the most successful hero with at least five games played. The hero has had a strong laning presence for a few patches now but hasn’t found success in other regions.

Continuing the theme of odd heroes performing well in China, Broodmother makes a surprise appearance on the list. Often picked at the end of the draft to throw enemy teams off, Broodmother won eight games out of 10. One important thing to note here is that Broodmother was only picked once while facing an enemy Spirit Breaker, her natural counter.

The best performing hero with at least 20 games played is Wraith King, with 14 wins across 22 games. Wraith King’s presence in China might explain why Bane hasn’t performed as well in the region.

Bane’s greatest strength is locking down one hero, preferably a core while allowing his allies to bring them down. Wraith King is the worst hero in the game to use Fiend’s Grip on, as he simply resurrects after being brought down. As such, the One True King wins the matchup against Bane in 60% of the games they are both picked in.

Ogre Magi is proof that two heads aren’t always better than one

Ogre Magi made a splash in North America, where he was the fifth most played hero in the region.

In China, the two-headed Ogre won only two of his 11 matches, the same number of heads he has.

Death Prophet also makes it on the list of most overrated heroes in the region, though she probably doesn’t want to. Losing 22 games out of 35 is a bad look on the hero.

The main issue facing Death Prophet is her lack of identity in any specific role.

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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