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The ESL One Hamburg tournament concluded on Oct. 27 with an exciting grand final match between TNC Predator and Gambit Esports. TNC, a team from Southeast Asia, became the first SEA Dota 2 team to win an ESL trophy.
Although the tournament was not a part of the official Dota Pro Circuit, it featured seven teams that will be competing in the upcoming Chengdu Major and three teams in the Summit 11 Minor. While there may be a letter patch for Dota 2 in the future, major game updates like the Outlanders update are unlikely to happen before the Major.
GOSU.AI, a gaming analytics platform, released a helpful infographic that provided key statistics from the tournament. This gave fans some insights into the debut events for the 2019-20 DPC season. Here’s what we learned from ESL One Hamburg.
Related: Top changes we want to see in the Dota 2 The Outlanders update
TNC Predator’s Impressive Performance
TNC Predator has been a promising team for several years but often fell short of expectations. In the SEA region, they were overshadowed by other successful squads like Fnatic, Mineski, and Team Faceless. Internationally, they struggled to make it to the podium. However, they did achieve yearly wins at the World Electronic Sports Games.
At Hamburg, TNC showed their competitive strength and dominated their way to victory. They defied the slowing game pace of the meta and chose aggressive heroes like Chen, Alchemist, and carry Nightstalker. Even with recent minor nerfs to these heroes, TNC remained confident in their skills and secured objective after objective.
However, TNC also revealed their vulnerabilities at times. They sometimes drafted slow farming lineups relying heavily on their talented cores, Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte and “Armel” Paul Tabios. While this strategy worked most of the time, the team seemed lost without a clear plan if their cores couldn’t carry the game. Unlike TI9 champions OG, who always had a strong timing and strategy even with late game lineups.
Although some top teams like Team Secret, PSG.LGD, the unnamed stack of Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi, and OG were absent from Hamburg, TNC will have another opportunity to prove themselves in the upcoming Major as these teams won’t be participating either.
Top Picks and Bans: Abaddon, Faceless Void, Kunkka, and Gyrocopter
The most commonly picked and banned heroes at the tournament were Abaddon, Faceless Void, Kunkka, and Gyrocopter. These heroes are resilient, difficult to punish, and can be picked early in the draft.
Abaddon, whether played as an offlaner or hard support, is a constant nuisance. The hero’s abilities allow for strong trades, denial of enemy actions, and added threat in teamfights.
Faceless Void is known as one of the strongest late-game carries in Dota 2. Even in the laning phase, he is difficult to kill and his ultimate ability, Chronosphere, provides great teamfight control.
Kunkka is a versatile hero that can be played in multiple positions. With long initiation range and powerful teamfight abilities, Kunkka offers great utility and damage.
Gyrocopter, a hero making a comeback, has seen increased playtime and has even been played in the midlane. With high burst damage and a wide range of abilities, Gyrocopter is a strong carry option.
Expect to see more of these heroes in the upcoming Minor and Major tournaments, despite potential nerfs in a future patch.
Popular Items: Black King Bar
Among items costing more than 2,500 gold, Black King Bar remains the most frequently purchased item. Other popular items include Aghanim’s Scepter, Boots of Travel, Eul’s Scepter, and Pipe of Insight.
Solar Crest, which was previously a popular choice, has seen a decrease in usage due to recent nerfs. Offlaners now prefer Hood of Defiance leading into Pipe of Insight instead.
Black King Bar, despite numerous reworks, continues to be the top item purchased for good reason. Its magic immunity is essential for cores to deal damage and protect themselves. While there are other options available, such as Aeon Disk or Lotus Orb, Black King Bar remains the most powerful choice for damage prevention.
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