The most picked heroes in Dota 2 patch 7.34b

Dota 2 patch 7.34 brought a lot of significant changes. In turn, this made the community change its preferences when it comes to heroes.

In the previous major patch, 7.33, Pudge was the most picked hero. He had a pick rate of 28.22% and a win rate of 49.64% according to Dotabuff. After him came these four heroes:

• Legion Commander: 22.6% / 54.83%
• Slark: 18.84% / 51.16%
• Juggernaut: 18.2% / 50.59%
• Windranger: 18.08% / 51.23%

Now, in Dota 2 patch 7.34b, some of the top five heroes have been replaced by others. Pudge, of course, is still the most picked hero in the game, just because he’s very satisfying to play, even when you lose. But LC is no longer the second-most popular hero in the game.

• Witch Doctor: 24.55% / 55.63%
• Phantom Assassin: 23.96% / 52%
• Legion Commander: 21.27% / 51.71%
• Lion: 20% / 46.48%

Both Pudge and Lion have a win rate of less than 50%. And yet, the community picks them very often. That has to do with people’s natural patterns a lot more than with the meta itself.

The 7.34b meta

One thing to note about the meta is that it’s much more strict at the professional level than at the amateur level. The community as a whole changes slowly, and people tend to pick heroes they are familiar with, even if they’re no longer as powerful as they used to be.

If you’ve played 1000 Meepo games and are confident that you can win with this hero, whatever IceFrog does to him, you won’t be intimidated. The same goes for almost every other hero in the game.

The 7.34b meta revolves around a combination of stuns and physical damage. People absolutely love heroes like Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Slardar, and Legion Commander in this patch.

They also love supports like Witch Doctor, Rubick, and Earthshaker, who can make a big difference with just a few abilities. The goal is to win your lane and then either farm as much as possible or push as fast as possible. There’s no in-between.

Even at the professional level, we often see teams farming two big items before trying to fight the enemy side. Or, if their goal is to push, they pick a combination of heroes that can destroy all enemy outer towers by the 15-20 minute mark.

Header: Valve