To say that the International Group Stage had some unexpected results would be an understatement. Underperforming WEU, the return to glory for China and EEU dominance made for a very entertaining Group Stage, but the Road to TI has just begun and teams now have several days to re-evaluate their understanding of the meta and adapt to playoffs.

Watching The International is very entertaining, regardless of how well you know the game. There are always big highlights, fight-turning ultimates and split-second outplays to be amazed by. But what if we said that the fight begins much earlier? That a big part of the battle happens during the drafting stage and it is when some matches are decided?

If there is one thing that can further elevate your appreciation of the International, it is being emotionally invested in a team. There are many candidates worthy of your attention, but today we will concentrate on the few that stand out in one way or another: teams with rich history, to whom the International is personal.

The International is just around the corner and today we want to discuss the most iconic TI heroes and how they fare in the current patch. Historically, TI always had its own meta, with an emphasis on reliable and powerful lockdown. This year might be different, though, as many iconic TI heroes are currently off-meta.

There are several heroes who are only starting to gain popularity and are still underutilized by the playerbase. Today we want to talk about such heroes and discuss why exactly they fit so well into the current meta and why many professional teams are experimenting with them.

Habits are hard to break, but it is necessary to adapt to new patches and balance changes. There are several heroes who persist as some of the most popular pub picks, despite being very situational or sometimes even outright bad in the current meta. Today we are going to talk about such heroes and why we think they don’t really belong in above average level pubs.

Maximizing resource gathering on the map is one of the key aspects of Dota. Being more efficient can lead to a snowball effect off the back of some small advantages and ultimately win you the game. One of such advantage is the “free” shard your team can get from Tormentor. Taking it is usually a team effort, however there are several heroes who can (and should) do it by themselves.

The qualifiers are not over yet, but there are definitely some trends worth paying attention to. Today we would like to highlight three heroes, who overperformed or are overperforming in all regions, making them the best candidates to spam in your everyday pubs.

New patch - new trends. After a small adjustment to the game, new heroes emerged, while the obviously overpowered characters received some well deserved nerfs. Today we are going to go through some heroes who went overlooked in the previous post, but absolutely demand your attention right now.