TI11 Group Stage: Team characteristics, playstyles and possible hero picks
The Group Stage of this year's Dota 2 The International 11 is finally upon us, with Team Secret and Team Liquid securing their spots after a gruelling Last Chance Qualifier.
Now that TI is about to begin proper, let's have a closer look at the teams, their playstyle, as well as possible picks in the current meta, courtesy of Dota 2 coach Nicholas "xFreedom" Kelvin Ileto Lim (@xfreedom on Twitter).
Group A
OG
OG tend to go for very aggressive farming cores, aiming for a farmed triple core lineup. Expect to see picks like Huskar, Invoker, Morphline and Leshrac from the WEU favourites.
Their playstyle usually hinges on fast-paced teamfight execution, and they prioritise defending and invading the map.
BOOM Esports
BOOM have a heavy emphasis on creep wave pressure, being invasive and fast-paced while their carry farms aggressively. They tend to go for a strong laning phase, and counter strategies by going with favourable carry pikcs.
Expect to see Leshrac, Morphling, Mirana and Mars for them in their lineup.
Evil Geniuses
EG tend to go with teamfight and utility-based supports, as well as a disruptive or tempo controlling mid. Their playstyle usually revolves around dual farmed cores in Pos 1 and 3.
Look out for Shadow Fiend, Morphling, Primal Beast and Earth Spirit from their drafts.
PSG.LGD
PSG.LGD's squad excel at countering strategies with a wide variety of heroes. Their hero picks often prioritise heavy teamfight and utility supports, with a disruptive mid and a flexible offlane. Expect Leshrac, Elder Titan, Magnus and Morphling to be some of the heroes PSG.LGD will go for.
PSG.LGD are renowned for their rigorous and disciplined playstyle, but they also have a highly versatile carry who can adapt to many situations.
Gaimin Gladiators
Gaimin like to go for a disruptive or tempo controlling mid, and favour a superior core to core matchup in the safe lane, making it an extremely strong safe lane for them.
Expect to see Shadow Fiend, Broodmother, Enchantress and Ember Spirit among their hero picks.
Soniqs Esports
Soniqs usually go for a teamfight or tempo controlling offlane, while prioritising lane-dominating mid heroes. Their playstyle revolves around their carry, with a strong emphasis on the safe lane matchup.
Expect to see Leshrac, Shadow Fiend, Morphling and Primal Beast among their picks.
Hokori
Hokori have an aggressive and invasive playstyle, which revolves around their carry. They like to pick teamfight and utility-based supports, and favour strong core mirror matchups.
Puck, Lehsrac, Morphling and Pudge are some of the heroes likely to make their draft.
BetBoom Team
This EEU squad tend to go for highly aggressive supports, and favour bulldozing heroes. Their counter for strategies is to go with fast-paced heroes.
Expect to see Visage, Nature's Prophet, Leshrac and Bounty Hunter from them.
Royal Never Give Up
This Chinese team favour strong core mirror matchups. Their playstyle revolves around dual cores with a wide hero pool and a strong laning phase, going for teamfight and utility-based supports.
Look out for Leshrac, Puck, Morphling and Nyx Assassin in their lineup.
Team Liquid
Liquid like to go for teamfight-centric lineups, with flexible dual-farming carries. They tend to prioritise a favourable matchup for MATUMBAMAN.
Expect to see Lone Druid (a MATU signature), Pudge, Shadow Fiend and Lifestealer from this team.
Group B
Team Spirit
The current defending champions of TI, Spirit often like to maintain the high ground position around hills for teamfights.
They tend to have a heavy emphasis on side lane pressure, with a flexible and usually strong laning phase, while going for an aggressive and tempo controlling mid.
Expect to see them go with heroes like Phantom Lancer, Primal Beast, Outworld Destroyer and Magnus (you know who's going to be on that).
Beastcoast
Beastcoast tend to go for a teamfight lineup centred around farmed cores, with some obnoxious offlane picks.
The team prioritise attaining optimal conditions for their mid and safe lane matchups. Some heroes to look out for in their picks are Phantom Lancer, Slark, Shadow Fiend and Snapfire.
Team Aster
Aster tend to prioritise strong safe lane matchups and teamfight-centric offlanes, and focus on pressuring the side lanes until their heroes can hit their item timings.
Their draft and playstyle tend to revolve around a power carry. Look out for Shadow Fiend, Lina, Pnagoliar and Outworld Destroyer from them.
Thunder Awaken
For Thunder Awaken, countering strategies with a superior core matchup is the name of the game. They will focus on defending their areas until their item timings, and tend to go for teamfight and utility-based supports.
Some hero choices from them are likely to include Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Monkey King and Morphling.
TSM FTX
TSM tend to counter strategies with duo core picks, going for teamfight and utlity-based supports.
Their playstyle usually starts more defensive, but gets more invasive as their heroes come online.
Look out for Drow Ranger, Morphling, Leshrac and Doom from them.
Tundra Esports
Tundra Esports' hero picks can sometimes be quite Avant-garde, usually setting the meta. They prioritise zoo offlane heroes, and prefer utility supports, all while giving equal farm spread across their triple cores.
Expect to see Shadow Fiend, Naga Siren, Broodmother and Doom from them.
Fnatic
Fnatic prioritise countering strategies with favourable core-to-core matchups, with a heavy emphasis on creep wave pressure, going with teamfight and utility-based supports.
Don't be surprised to see Primal Beast, Leshrac, Puck and Monkey King among their picks.
Entity
The Entity team favour bulldozing heroes and aim for superior timing exploitation. They tend to go with a volatile and fast-paced playstyle, countering strategies with a superior core matchup.
Expect to see Shadow Fiend, Invoker, Chen and Arc Warden among their lineup.
Talon Esports
Talon like to go for teamfight-centric lineups, with a defensive into invasive playstyle, and a heavy emphasis on creep wave pressure.
Expect to see Shadow Fiend, Morphling, Puck and Doom among their lineup.
Team Secret
Secret like to go for teamfight-centric lineups, prioritising a favourable mid matchup for Nisha. They excel at countering strategies thanks to their wide hero pool, also have superior timing exploitation.
Watch out for Shadow Fiend, Razor, Chen and Primal Beast from this team.
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