Pro Breakdown: Why Chen, Dazzle, Winter Wyvern were top picks in the Arlington Major

This is Pro Breakdown, a series by Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia where we talk with pro players, coaches, experts, and other personalities about anything and everything in the region's esports scene.

The Dota 2 PGL Arlington Major has concluded, with Team Spirit defeating PSG.LGD 3-1 in the grand finals to claim the mantle of Arlington Major champions, as well as the grand prize of US$200,000 and 820 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points.

More importantly, the Arlington Major was the last chance for teams to secure a coveted direct invite to The International 11 (TI11), Dota 2's marquee million-dollar world championship tournament.

We sat down with Singaporean Dota 2 veteran and Nigma Galaxy SEA coach Nicholas "xFreedom" Kelvin Ileto Lim (@xfreedom on Twitter) to break down how the metagame was shaped during the Arlington Major and what changes we can expect in the upcoming patch.

You can check out our previous discussion on the results of the Arlington Major here.

One of the biggest trends we saw during the Arlington Major was the Dire side getting a massive edge over the Radiant side in terms of win rate. What do you think happened for Dire to become so strong when previously the map was seen as Radiant-favoured?

xFreedom:I think teams realise that Dire has better neutral camps to farm. Dire has multiple camps close to each other, while on Radiant the camps are so spread out, you barely have double camps connecting on Radiant side. Dire can also do double camps from any position in the jungle.

When both teams contest Roshan, Dire also has more accessible camps in the vicinity of the pit, while Radiant only has the triangle near top lane.

One last thing, Dire have two high ground hills whereas Radiant only has one.

Let's talk about Chen, he had the highest win rate among supports with a 68% win rate across 45 games. Is Chen really just strong right now or is it more of the metagame suiting him?

xFreedom: All along I have been a Chen believer as a Chen player myself. Here's why he's been so strong:

Chen can bulldoze towers down and provides sustain in the laning stage with just a Headress of Rejuvenation and his passive skill.

Also, most of his small camp creeps are really strong in the early game, like the Harpy Stormcrafter or the Hill Troll Priest.

Chen can also control certain parts of the map by himself. He can pressure towers and heal allies on the other side of the map.

And with enough farm, he gets a global hard dispel [with his Aghanim's Scepter upgrade].

Is Chen's strength due to the presence of so many aura creeps?

xFreedom: I think it's due to the magic resistance aura from the Centaur Courser, currently you get a 15% magic resistance.

You can also get a Hellbear for a 15% attack speed aura and add a Hill Troll Priest for heal amplification on top of it.

It's a lot of auras on a position 5 hero without spending any gold. Chen also move with tower siegers, making it easier to bring down buildings.

Aside from Chen, the two most popular supports in the Major were Dazzle and Winter Wyvern. Why were they such hot picks?

xFreedom: I think teams finally realised how strong these heroes are.

Look at Dazzle, he's a strong laner. You get Poison Touch and it refreshes every time you hit the target, making it easy to chase down the [enemy] position 3 and 4 heroes in the laning phase.

Most position 4's can't trade against Dazzle without a dispel. On top of that, Shadow Wave not only heals but also damages enemies if they are close enough.

Meanwhile, Winter Wyvern has good lane harass thanks to Arctic Burn.

But I think the biggest reason the hero is so popular is Splinter Blast. It slows enemies by 30% for four seconds at and it's not scaling. It already slows for the full four seconds at level 1.

Both heroes also have the ability to prolong fights, either saving by themselves or allies. You can't ignore them in fights.

Why is Oracle ignored compared to Dazzle and Winter Wyvern when he also has a save?

xFreedom: The difference is in cooldowns, Dazzle and Winter Wyvern have short cooldown saves.

Oracle's save is in his ultimate and once it's down he can't really help in fights as much. He also provides magic immunity but it comes with a disarm.

It's just easier to play the other two heroes in comparison.

Tiny was the most picked hero of the Major overall, appearing in 96 games with a 51% win rate. Did you expect that?

xFreedom: I wasn't surprised by that, Tiny was in my list of Top 3 most picked heroes before the Major.

Tiny is one of the best heroes to pick in the first phase without worrying about a bad matchup, in the worst case scenario is you can just flex him to position 4. Tiny also deals well with Puck, who is a very hot pick right now.

Storm Spirit made a bit of a comeback during the Major despite the Null Talisman nerfs, how come?

xFreedom: With the rise of Dazzle and Winter Wyvern, teams were getting desperate to bring those two down.

If Void Spirit, Puck, and Tiny are banned, your last resort for a mid hero who can jump those backline supports is Storm Spirit.

Chinese teams like PSG.LGD and Team Aster pulled out the core Pudge pick, either as a carry or the midlaner. Why do you think the Chinese teams started having Pudge as a pocket pick?

xFreedom Pudge has been popular in the Chinese meta, Aster introduced it to the mid lane, often with Warlock.

Some teams like Aster.Aries play it as an offlaner. What makes the hero popular in the side lanes is that he can one-shot neutral creeps.

In your opinion, which heroes underperformed during the Major?

xFreedom: I expected Dawnbreaker to do really well but she ended up underperforming. I think some teams don't understand the full potential of this hero.

Like [Jonathan "Bryle" Santos] for Fnatic picked it mid and made the hero looked like she needed more buffs.

Would you say the metagame is in a good place right now or has it become a bit stale?

xFreedom: I think the meta could use a good shakeup. It's always Viper, Razor, Dazzle, and Tiny in every game.

I think Viper and Razor have been popular for a long time and I am a bit tired of seeing them.

Well, we could get that metagame shake-up you want in the upcoming patch. What changes would you most like to see?

xFreedom: I'm hoping for neutral item ban-pick system. Maybe structural changes to Outpost and some changes to the jungle as well.

I'm not sure how you can balance the neutral item ban-pick in a way that it's not too overpowered or underwhelming.

I am also not sure if you should do it before the hero ban-pick phase, during it, or afterwards. That makes it unlikely we will see in the next patch.

Another thing is I think it would be best to make Tier 5 neutral items available earlier, 60 minutes is too long and we don't get to see them in action that much.

What would you change about Outposts? For example, would you add more of them to the map?

xFreedom I think one Outpost per team is good enough, but it would be nice to have something new.

People are a bit sick of the same old stuff.

I don't think we need them to give gold, we have enough gold on the map. Maybe some new mechanic that summons a super creep or something to help push lanes.

Aside from those gameplay changes, are there specific heroes that you think the next patch should focus on in terms of buffs?

xFreedom: I think Riki or Outworld Devourer need buffs.

As for items, Null Talismans and Falcon Blade need buffs as well. These 4 things are completely ignored in the game right now.

I think Riki needs a rework, there are too many conditions for him to work, he's only good for intercepting backline heroes and he's bad at pushing out lanes.

I also think Ancient Apparition could use a rework, since he is easily abused in the lane and is dependent on his lane partner to get his skills off. He doesn't really contribute much in the lane right now.

On the other hand, which heroes or items do you think really need to get nerfed?

xFreedom: Puck, Zeus, and Keeper of the Light. These three don't take a lot of skill to play and they don't lose to most matchups. They can do a great job pushing lanes and have high magic burst damage as well.

As for items, I think Witch Blade needs a nerf. It gives armor, attack speed, and scaling damage. It's a very well-rounded item.

The price is fine but it's too strong on ranged heroes.

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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