Earthshaker, Queen of Pain, and Nature’s Prophet were the most-picked heroes at ESL One Birmingham Online

Earthshaker, Queen of Pain, and Nature’s Prophet were the three most-picked Dota 2 heroes throughout ESL One Birmingham Online at the end of May. The tournament also had one of the closest win rates between the Radiant and Dire sides, as well as the first and second picks.
Ember Spirit retained his popularity from the WePlay! Pushka League, making over 254 appearances in the draft, 181 of them being bans. His pick rate has dropped significantly, however. Teams are dealing with the hero’s immense versatility and incredible ganking prowess right from the draft stage rather than in-game.
Pudge remains the most-picked hero in public matchmaking, but the Butcher has been in dire straits professionally. Pudge was the only hero to go unpicked throughout the entire tournament. His massive laning weakness and poorly-defined role proved to be massive detriments to his viability.
Changes to the map have made both sides more even than ever
Dota 2’s asymmetrical nature meant that Radiant and Dire have distinct pros and cons. For a long time, Radiant has been the superior side since it enjoyed laning advantages with multiple pull spots that were unachievable by the Dire, as well as the closest jungle creeps for the mid laner to farm. Roshan, a massive objective in any given game, was also helped by the proximity of Radiant buildings that provided multiple spots for teleportations.'
With the removal of Shrines, as well as the shifting of neutral creep camps and outposts, it seems like IceFrog has brought balance to the landscape. Sure, the never-ending war between the Ancients rages on, but at least there’s a more even win rate spread now, with Dire barely edging out Radiant at 51 percent.
A big part of Dire’s success can be attributed to the movement of the Ancients creeps to the bottom side of the map. In high-level Dota 2, carries tend to move to the opposite side of the map to exploit the wider avenues of space. By moving both Ancients camps to the bottom, Radiant carries now have to make a tough decision: either give up the lucrative farm that comes from regular Ancients or risk losing map control.
Having an Outpost in the Dire main jungle also makes controlling the Roshan pit easier for Dire and provides a convenient avenue for heroes to teleport in after expending buybacks. The pros and cons seem to be on a fine razor’s edge and pro teams have learned to make the most out of the lay of the land.
Earthshaker: A counter to the zoo strategy
Earthshaker has risen to the top of the pick charts, along with a rise in a summons strategy employed by teams.
Helm of the Dominator and Necronomicon have become a first-choice item pickup for cores and supports alike. Helm comes with a powerful base damage aura, which can be supplemented by dominating a creep for additional utility, like a Centaur Conqueror stun or an Alpha Wolf’s Packleader Aura.
Likewise, Necronomicon summons two units that greatly amplify farming speed for any hero, as well as providing a movement and attack speed aura that comes with the blue Necronomicon Archer. Plus, heroes that summon additional units like Beastmaster and Nature’s Prophet are surging in the meta.
Besides salivating when he sees grouped-up enemies, Earthshaker retains his teamfight and roaming prowess regardless of the meta. Good Earthshakers can turn gank opportunities into surefire kills with Fissure’s unique terrain creation mechanic and even save allies by zoning out enemies.
While the hero is a relatively poor laner, creep blocking Fissures can pull the offlane back, allowing his ally to farm under the relative safety of a tower. The increased viability of ranged offlaners like Queen of Pain and Nature’s Prophet make picking a melee support less punishing as well.