Written by Kary

WePlay! Pushka League Division 1 came to a fruitful conclusion with Team Secret emerging victorious over Virtus Pro Prodigy in the finals. However, the latter’s performance was considered impressive by many, considering the short amount of time they’ve been together as a team. We saw a lot of heroes being played over the course of this event, and in fact, only three heroes were left unpicked. I’m rather glad to see support heroes being in the spotlight alongside having a decent win-rate this tournament. Let’s take a look at the top contested heroes played in this tournament and reason out as to why they were preferred in the first place.  

Most Contested Heroes

  Ember Spirit: Ember Spirit is the most contested hero in this event with an impressive win-rate of 52.73%. Living up to his name, Xin, has been favoured by every team over the course of the years, at one point or another owing to his high maneuvering and versatile nature that can cause the enemy team to go off balance and completely turn the tide of any game to his favour. A core that you can play on all three lanes, difficult to lockdown, flexible builds as well as combos up with other heroes really well, Xin pretty much ticks all the boxes for a first phase pick. Xin’s skill set allows him to set up for aggressive assaults on other heroes, as he can engage on them from long range using Sleight of Fist and tie them down for a brief moment with Searing Chains. His Flame Guard ability engulfs him with a shield that protects him from incoming magic damage while also dealing damage in a small area simultaneously. Lastly, his ultimate, Fire Remnant, allows him to escape, engage, appear or disappear around the map instantaneously that makes him highly mobile and lethal. In 7.26c, Xin has received a minor buff to few of his talents such as: Level 20 left talent: +50 Sleight of First hero attack damage bonus increased to +65. Level 25 left talent: -13s Fire Remnant charge replenish time reduced to -12s. Xin can deal a hell of a lot of damage and can move even more efficiently since his Fire Remnant charge replenish time has been reduced by -4s ever since 7.26 came into effect. Death Prophet: At 53.02% win-rate and coming in second in the most contested list, another hero that ticks a lot of boxes is none other than Death Prophet. She can be played in all three lanes right now (core, offlane or support) and seldom does she lose a lane regardless of the role she’s playing. As the game progresses, she eventually becomes tanky and has a great team-fight potential with Tower push and Roshan killing abilities that can help give her allies an edge at any point in the game especially early to mid game. All in all, she is a powerful spell-caster having wide Area of Effect (AoE) spells that specialize in pushing lanes, breaking through the enemy defenses and killing towers quickly in order to gain an upper hand for breaching their base and march towards victory. If you want to ensure early victory, you go for her. Period. Shadow Demon: Coming third in the list is Shadow Demon with a win-rate of 50.69%. He’s one of the most natural and a suave support hero in the game right now. He acts as a counterpick against teams that are prioritizing Mars, Ember Spirit and Death Prophet since his Purge can take off Flameguard as well as disable Euls. He’s even good against Mars since his disruption can save anyone who gets caught off in the Arena. Shadow Demon also helps establish strong lane presence early to mid game while contributing effectively towards late game as well. He is also used as a reliable stun setup hero owing to his disruption. He is being consistently buffed since the last few patches with his Demonic Purge receiving an upgrade as well as certain talent tweaks. Additionally, he doesn’t rely too much on inventory and has abilities that pierce through immunity. He’s extremely useful in resetting fights or countering enemy offensives. Keeper of the Light: Ezalor, as he is more fondly known, is often referred to as a one man support team. He can be a very valuable asset for any team since he can be played as position 4 or 5 that can push out waves almost instantly no matter how much the lane has been pushed into, is a perfect fit in establishing strong laning combos with many heroes such as Bristleback, Legion Commander -- to name a few, and has a ridiculously overpowered ultimate in Will-O-Wisp. His ultimate is a powerful teamfight ability and is extremely important since it “demands” counterpicks with right-click potential, which is something the rest of your draft can then work against. It’s no surprise why teams prefer to lean towards him during drafts despite a disappointing win-rate of 46%. Perhaps, it has to do with the utility it brings to the table with replenishing allies’ mana, being less dependent on inventory, having a strong teamfight presence alongside a high base movement speed. Grimstroke: Rounding off the list is none other than the Master Painter: Grimstroke! He was the most picked hero in the tournament and with an impressive win-rate of 55.17% on a support hero. He’s mostly played as position 5, and has been shown to paint the world as he sees fit. There are many aspects as to why teams preferred to pick him in the current meta. Firstly and most importantly, Grimstroke is counted as an offensive support having punitive and disabling spells, and coupled with his long cast range -- he can harass and completely zone out his opponents in the early laning stage while simultaneously dealing decent damage -- thus establishing lane dominance. I am extremely in favour of two of his spells, namely, Fate of Stroke and Ink Swell. The former is absolute bonkers as it is a linear nuking ability that slows down the enemy in its path while allowing Grimstroke and his allies to contemplate on their next moves. Meanwhile, Ink Swell is an ability that can be used as an offense or as a defence as per the situation. In both instances, enemies are forced to rethink their strategy since casting Ink Swell will discourage them as it increases the movement speed of the ally the spell is cast onto, and doing so could result in extra damage and a long duration of AoE stun. It combos up well with heroes that aren’t traditionally strong laners such as Riki, Phantom Assassin, Weaver -- to name a few. Combining the above spells with Phantom’s Embrace as well as his ultimate -- Soulbind -- Grimstroke can slow, stun, silence and bind multiple targets that can help change the tides of any game in his favour. He also enables heroes like Ember Spirit or Faceless Void during the late stage and is used more for the slow and confusion right now as opposed to the “double doom” or other gimmicks.

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