The strongest Dota 2 support heroes of the Berlin Major

The Berlin Major had a very interesting meta. We could say that Dota 2 patch 7.33 was fully explored and defined at this tournament. One of the interesting aspects of the new patch is the strength and pick rate of each support hero. As one might expect, some supports are highly contested, while others are completely ignored.

At ESL One Berlin Major, the supports that everyone fought over were Enchantress, Keeper of the Light, Crystal Maiden, Chen, Disruptor, Io, Bounty Hunter, and Pugna. Among them, Keeper of the Light and Chen were the most successful.

KotL’s strength

KotL is amazing at clearing creep waves and making it difficult for the enemy to farm during the laning phase. This hero is also strong in team fights thanks to his powerful abilities.

When he’s in Spirit Form, KotL’s Illuminate heals allies for 50%-70% of its damage, the hero’s cast range is enhanced by 125-375, and his movement speed is increased by 15%-25%.

Another thing that KotL does well is to refill his allies’ mana. He can cast this ability every 6 seconds thanks to the cooldown reduction and the amount is substantial: 320 mana at level 4. This means that over just 12 seconds, KotL can bring a target from 0 mana to 960 mana. Storm Spirit loves this support.

Chen’s laning stage potential

Chen is a support hero that excels at healing allies, giving them auras, and gathering a substantial army of neutral creeps. Unlike other support heroes, he peaks very quickly and allows his team to take tier 2 towers just 10-15 minutes into the game. This means that the enemy carry will struggle to farm properly and get his first important item.

Most carries barely start farming faster around the 15-minute mark. Chen will not only put pressure on every lane with his creeps. He will also put pressure on the towers as soon as his team is willing to join him. He’s usually ready at minute 10 but his cores might need a bit more time to buy their essential items.

In any team fight, a Chen that has a Mekansm will offer 500-600 healing to his entire team, including his own creeps. That level of sustainability is very hard to match by the enemy side and will usually result in lots of objectives taken without a real fight. Few teams dare to fight into a Chen formation 12 minutes into the game.

Header: ESL