Which Heroes Are Dominating The Meta In DreamLeague Season 22? [Comprehensive Overview]

The first phase of DreamLeague Season 22 has ended, with a total of 112 matches being played. First of all, let’s go over the most contested and successful heroes, then come up with a conclusion on which heroes are actually the best. 

Most Contested Heroes

Here are the top ten heroes with the highest contest rate, meaning they were either picked or banned. 

Hero	No. of Times Won	No. of Times Picked	No. of Times Banned	Total Contested (112 games)
Chen	1	2	110	112
Timbersaw	13	24	84	108
Dragon Knight	11	21	85	106
Mars	21	35	69	104
Batrider	22	33	60	93
Puck	23	34	49	83
Naga Siren	12	19	59	78
Tiny	22	43	32	75
Pangolier	8	22	45	67
Kunkka	10	24	41	65

It truly is mind-boggling that Chen was contested in every single game. At BetBoom DACHA Dubai, he had a 95% contest rate. An interesting shift is that Doom did not make it to this category when he was picked or banned in 60 out of 60 games in Dubai, a 100% contest rate. 

Most Successful Heroes

For this category, we will rank heroes using their win rates. We have only included heroes that were picked more than ten times.

Hero	No. of Times Won	No. of Times Picked	Win Rate
Faceless Void	9	12	75%
Puck	23	34	68%
Batrider	22	33	67%
Primal Beast	12	18	67%
Naga Siren	12	19	63%
Elder Titan	10	16	63%
Luna	11	18	61%
Mars	21	35	60%
Mirana	25	42	60%
Timbersaw	13	24	54%

With this table, we can already see some common denominators from the most contested heroes. However, Faceless Void, Primal Beast, and Luna seem to be heavily underrated. They have maintained a lower contention rate but have found unparalleled success. 

So, Who Are The Best Heroes, and Why?

Now that the data is laid out, we can begin to analyze which heroes are being highly contested but successful at the same time. These heroes are ranked in no particular order.

Chen (?)

Chen will be placed under the question mark category simply because he was contested in 100% of games, but only made two appearances with a 50% win rate – a very small sample size. 

Chen is one of the strongest laners in the game, and his preferred items, such as Drums of Endurance and Vladimir’s Offering, have become some of the best team items in the patch. Additionally, this hero farms at unnatural speeds for a Position 5, allowing him to afford more Aura items for the team. 

Puck

Though Puck has been in the meta for a relatively long time, the change to the Aghanim’s Scepter has made this hero’s late-game potential ten times scarier. 

Puck players have been buying right-click items such as Mjolnir and Parasma, then building the Aghanim’s Scepter as a fourth or fifth item. Parasma, in particular, has become one of the best build-ups for Puck since Witch Blade is usually a must-buy.

Buying an early Divine Rapier is no longer crazy, as Puck will benefit from both the attack damage and spell amplification; it becomes double the value. 

Naga Siren

Two item changes have made Naga Siren a real threat: Disperser and Eternal Shroud. 

Naga Sirens have always enjoyed buying a Diffusal Blade for years, but it became unpopular since the item did not have an upgrade. But now, Disperser becomes an attractive choice, especially when it now requires an Eaglesong instead of a Demon’s Edge to build. 

Eternal Shroud isn’t a new item but has been dramatically been changed and buffed in 7.35. Naga now has an additional choice for her first defensive item. Taking physical damage? Butterfly. Taking magical damage? Eternal Shroud. 

Batrider

Batrider has become extremely popular and successful due to two reasons.

The hero becomes a valuable pick in professional matches due to its flex potential. Support players can play the hero on Position 4 or 5; both work great. Though mainly played as a 4 or 5, expert Batrider players such as Davai Lama, 33, and Wisper can also play him in the Off Lane. 

For Supports, the most significant change is that you no longer skill Sticky Napalm and, instead, max Firefly first. This change in playstyle allows Support players to utilize a high-leveled Firefly to farm on the map, getting early Blink Daggers and scaling nicely into the mid to late game. 

Primal Beast

The Dinosaur was highly potent during the Blademail + Heart meta, which was nerfed already. But now, Primal Beast has two new items to work with: Shiva’s Guard and Eternal Shroud. 

Many players in the tournament have begun going for Blademail + Eternal Shroud as the new build. Then, getting Shiva’s Guard and Aghanim’s Scepter will help Primal Beast scale perfectly fine into the later portions of the game.

Primal Beast can also be played as a Mid or Off Laner, giving him extra value in the drafting stage. 

Faceless Void

Faceless Void has become one of the most prominent Carry heroes in 7.35, and the numbers don’t lie. 

Void as a hero has stayed the same, but he’s so successful now because he serves as an ideal counter to most popular Carry heroes such as Slark, Windranger, and Luna. 

The items Faceless Void prefers have also been buffed. Mjolnir received an attack speed and cost reduction buff. Most Faceless Voids wouldn’t mind getting their hands on a Disperser to dispel silences or roots, too.

The greatest part about this hero is the Level 20 talent, giving 95 bonus attack speed in Chronosphere, solving the main issue Faceless Voids run into, which is a lack of damage in his ultimate.

Mars

A new Mars build, mainly started by Ammar himself, has been on the rise. Players buy Eul’s Scepter and turn them into early Wind Wakers, then buy items like Octarine Core. Though this build may seem like it lacks damage, that’s the thing about Mars; you can buy anything on this hero.

Mars has incredible flexibility in itemization. If you need to be a frontline, buy BKB and Shiva’s. If there’s a pesky Lion or Crystal Maiden you need to burst, buy Desolator and Revenant’s Brooch.

The one-short Mars build has also situationally been used. Divine Rapiers stack additively, and Mars players are buying Brooch and three Rapiers; we’ve seen several players like Noticed and JT going for this build.

Timbersaw

The main selling point of Timbersaw in the professional scene is that he’s generally a safe and solid pick that can be flexed as a Mid or Off Laner. You will tend to see Timbersaw get picked very early in the draft. 

Timbersaw also benefits from Eternal Shroud and Shiva’s Guard, two meta items discussed earlier. With Timbersaw being a strong laner, most players will win the laning stage and buy an early Blink Dagger to snowball their advantage, especially if the hero is being played from the Mid Lane.

Late-game scaling isn’t too big of a problem for Timbersaw, as the percentage-based damage from Whirling Death infinitely scales.

Only the first phase of DreamLeague Season 22 has ended, and it will be interesting to see how the meta develops for the remainder of the tournament. Are you going to try any of these heroes in your pubs?