The group stage of The International 10 (TI10) has concluded. With six regions, 18 teams, and 144 games played, there has been a lot of strategies demonstrated at the TI10 group stage.
Despite the diversity, some heroes have emerged as the clear favorites in their respective roles. Here are the best TI10 heroes in each role in Dota 2, based on what the pros are playing.
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The 5 best TI10 heroes for each role in Dota 2
Carry: Tiny
Tiny is the premiere carry of the TI10 heroes and it’s easy to see why. The meta in Dota 2 patch 7.30d favors mid-game team-fights above all else and encourages active carries who can scale into the late game.
Tiny is the perfect choice for that playstyle. Tiny farms efficiently due to Tree Grab, and also contributes to early team fights with his Avalanche and Toss combo.
Tiny is one of the best TI10 heroes in the late game. Teams are often picking Tiny with strong steroid spells from his allies such as Io and Lycan, to ensure his late-game dominance.
Tiny is also one of the toughest heroes to bring down. With four strength gain per level and 24 armor provided by his ultimate Grow, Tiny is an absolute beast who deserves his spot as the most picked carry of the TI10 group stage.
Midlaner: Ember Spirit
Ember Spirit is a tier above all other TI10 heroes in the midlane on Dota 2 patch 7.30d. Ember Spirit maintains a 66% win rate across 24 games at TI10. No other midlaner has been as successful as Ember at the group stage.
Ember Spirit always has a good laning stage thanks to a solid mix of defensive and offensive spells.
Against midlaners who harass with magic damage, Ember Spirit is able to negate a lot of damage with Flame Guard. Sleight of Fist allows the hero to dodge enemy spells and right clicks with good timing.
After the laning stage, Ember is one of the best heroes to roam with on the map. He can output an enormous amount of burst damage with Flame Remnant, Searing Chains, and Sleight of Fist. This allows a good Ember Spirit to control the pace of the game.
Ember Spirit scales pretty well into the late game. The hero is one of the hardest to pin down. Plus, he can focus on improving his physical or magical damage depending on the situation. Simply put, it is always a good thing when Ember Spirit is in the game.
Offlaner: Tidehunter
Tidehunter is the second most picked hero among all the TI10 heroes at the group stage of TI10. The hero has it all, and is great in this team fight heavy meta on Dota 2 patch 7.30d.
Tidehunter’s ability to shrug off attacks and reduce the enemy’s physical damage throughout the game ensures that he will always be at the vanguard of the team. He is the perfect hero to rush into battles and provide vision for allies.
In the small chance that Tidehunter is zoned out of a lane, Tidehunter is one of the most efficient junglers thanks to Anchor Smash. Whether it’s at the lane or the jungle, he will always be able to get farm.
Tidehunter’s farming ability allows the hero to itemize accordingly. It also means he will buy a Refresher Orb late game to double the impact of Ravage. With so much going for the hero, it’s no wonder he has been picked 51 times and holds a 55% win rate.
Soft Support: Lion
Lion has been the standout support hero of the year. Lion was the most picked hero during the regional qualifiers, and continues that trend at the group stage of TI10.
So far, Lion has been picked 24 times with a 58% win rate; an impressive performance for one of the most picked TI10 heroes.
What makes Lion so strong is his toolkit is always useful to counter illusions. What’s more, Lion is a solid laner who can set up kills if he has a strong offlaner with him. Earth Spike and Hex are potent spells at all stages of the game, especially later on when pickoffs become game-changing.
Lion’s impact continues in the mid game when his combo is able to one-shot squishy targets. With Dota 2 patch 7.30d placing a heavy emphasis on the mid game, it’s the perfect meta for Lion.
Lion’s impact wanes during late game when team fight supports such as Phoenix and Winter Wyvern shine, but this isn’t a big weakness for him, as the average game match is around 36 minutes.
Hard Support: Elder Titan
Elder Titan is the secopnd most picked among all TI10 heroes during the group stage. He was picked 52 times in 144 games and banned 35 times. In total, the hero was contested in 87 matches, which is 61% of all matches.
Elder Titan is one of the best laners as hard support. He is mobile, and hits hard thanks to Astral Spirit.
Elder Titan starts with 720 health and remains fairly durable throughout the game thanks to his 3 strength gain. This forces enemies to expand more spells and attacks on him than they would on other weaker hard supports.
Echo Stomp allows Elder Titan to set up fights for his team as well as help them disengage if the fight goes poorly. Elder Titan can do this safely by sending his Astral Spirit forward, allowing the hero to stay out of danger while remaining effective during fights.
Elder Titan is one of the best scaling hard supports in the game. Natural Order removes all base armor and magic resistance from enemy heroes, while Earth Splitter deals 50% of an enemy’s max health as damage, making Elder Titan an incredible threat in the late game.
The TI10 playoffs will begin on October 12. Catch all the matches broadcasted live on the Dota 2 International official Twitch channel.
Hungry for more Dota 2 action? Check out the Heroes of the Game documentary presented by foodpanda.
READ MORE: Why Tidehunter is the most picked hero at TI10 so far
