Standout Heroes from the Recent Qualifiers

The post TI pro Dota drought ended this week, as fans were treated to qualifiers for both the MDL Chengdu Major, and the Dota Summit 11 Minor. With the qualifiers finished and the teams secured for each event, now is the perfect time to look at which heroes stood out for each position.
Hard Support 5
Abbadon
Loved for his flexibility, Abbadon was picked up extensively in both qualifiers. Fitting very comfortably into both the 5 and 3 roles, the sustain that Abbadon brings to a push is invaluable in closing a game out in quick fashion. In the Hard Support role, Abbadon has the ability to spam mist coil on his lane partner in the early levels, ensuring that your safelane hero won’t be harassed off the creep wave and can continue contesting farm as offlaners grow more scary with levels.
Keeper of the Light
A pick that hadn’t seen too much play prior to these qualifiers, teams have begun respecting the power of Keeper of the Light in the 5 position. The power of Chakra Magic to reduce ability cooldowns is incredibly powerful with the right lane partner, such as Bristleback for example. Additionally, the teamfight power of Will-O-Wisp is certainly to be respected, as it causes major problems for teams hoping to break Keeper’s highground.
Support 4
Lina
A standout pick leading up to the qualifiers, teams have wisened up to the power Lina support brings to an offlane. Few safelanes are able to engage her at all, thanks to her very long cast and attack ranges, which allow the offlane duo to secure unanswered harass throughout the laning stage. Lina’s burst damage is additionally useful in a meta filled with healing, allowing her team to secure a quick pickoff before the opponents have a chance to react. As one of the standout supports of this patch, Lina received a large number of first round bans during the qualifier.
Mirana
Seemingly all over the place in the last two patches, Mirana continues to be a support of choice for pro teams in the qualifiers. Despite attempts to address her dominance during the latest 7.22h patch, which decreased the attack speed gained from early levels of Leap, Mirana still provides significant burst damage and control through the mid game. When combined with another stun, Mirana can help secure kills from far away and with little assistance.
Offlane 3
Abbadon
Showing up again in our list, Abbadon has been the standout offlaner of both the Major and Minor qualifiers. Teams are taking advantage of Curse of Avernus’s bonus attack speed to push towers extremely fast behind Abbadon’s significant sustain. When played in the offlane, Abbadon takes on a more frontlining role than when picked as a support, and teams are quickly ending games before their opponents have sufficient farm to mount a significant defence.
Legion Commander
A relative newcomer, Legion Commander has appeared in the offlane throughout the qualifiers for both tournaments. Filling the same role as Abbadon, Legion Commander is usually picked up when the opposing team has significant effects that need to be purged from teammates. This makes LC a strong choice when defending against Mirana arrows, as well as laning extremely well against supports like Jakiro and Ogre Magi, who rely on damage over time spells that can simply be removed.
Middle 2
Kunkka
Despite further attempts to bring him in line with the rest of the cast during the 7.22h patch, Kunkka remains a pick of choice for Midlaners in the professional scene. Being picked or banned in 90% of the games in both qualifiers, Kunkka remains a threat for teams everywhere. Picked up because of his extremely reliable crowd control abilities, as well as doing well against most middle matchups, Kunkka doesn’t appear to be going anywhere unless further nerfs are seen in the next patch.
Outworld Devourer
Banned more often than he was picked, Outworld Devourer remains large in captains minds during these qualifiers. Picked up for his strong matchups against other meta cores such as Timbersaw, Bristleback, Kunkka, and Ember Spirit, certain heroes are extremely difficult to make work unless OD is off the board for your opponents. Outworld Devourer excels in games that his team can end prior to the opponents getting BKB’s, which makes him a fantastic choice to pair with the push and sustain of Abbadon.
Safe Lane 1
Gyrocopter
One of the most contested heroes for both qualifiers was Gyrocopter, who is finally getting some time in the spotlight without being paired with Io. Picked for his early lane presence, and ability to impactfully join fights very early, Gyro was seen everywhere this week. With his low cooldowns and early power spikes, Gyrocopter is one of two carries of choice for quickly closing out games in this deathball meta.
Faceless Void
The most contested hero in the minor qualifiers, Faceless Void was picked or banned in all games except a single one! Beyond that, in the mere 11 games where he slipped through banning, Faceless Void boasted a 100% win rate. Through his impact wasn’t quite so astonishing in the Major qualifier, the hero was still one of the most contested and successful carry choices. Incredibly difficult to kill, and boasting one of the most game ending ultimates in a all of Dota, Faceless Void remains a terror in the professional scene.