Berlin Major Group Stage meta: Most picked and banned heroes

Ahh.. the sweet feeling of a new meta. After almost an entire year of roughly the same patch and meta, it's time to analyze new forces on the battlefield. Valve released Patch 7.33 on April 20th, just a couple of days before the crucial Berlin Major. Due to the colossal size of the update and the clogged timing, we are bound to see interesting drafts and gameplay from the best teams in the world. Now that the Berlin Major Group Stage has ended, we have compiled a summary of the meta. Take a look!

All information are written on May 2, 2023. Stats by Spectral Stats.

The most picked hero during the Berlin Major Group Stage is Crystal Maiden with 73 total picks out of 151 matches. She was banned in 23 other matches. This support hero has always been universally strong and especially irritating to play against during the laning stage. She has an AoE slow, a single target root, a global mana aura, and a high-damage AoE ultimate. Crystal Maiden poses a high kill potential during laning especially when paired with the new Blood Grenade.

But what made Crystal Maiden become even more desirable is the buffs in Patch 7.33. Her base damage is increased, allowing her to harass better during laning. Her Frostbite also got stronger as the damage interval ticks a little faster. Plus, there seems to be a lot of Mana shortage in the new patch as Clarities and Mangoes are now limited. Crystal Maiden is a great hero to solve the issue with her global Mana aura.

The rest of the most picked heroes include Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Underlord, and Doom.

Chen is the most banned hero during the Berlin Major Group Stage, and for a valid reason. This hero is absolutely despicable to play against and it's mainly because of the buffs to jungle creeps in Patch 7.33. A lot of them now provide massive buffs and powerful auras. Playing against Chen will feel like playing versus an entire army with unique abilities. Plus, Chen's Aghanim's Shard allows him to upgrade the levels of his minions, making them even stronger than their default levels. This hero can single-handedly buff and sustain his team with all the exuding auras.

The rest of the most banned heroes include Slark, Enchantress, Doom, and Phantom Lancer.

No one expected it but Medusa completely stole the show at the Berlin Major. This hero was picked 21 times and rock an abnormal near-80% win rate. Why is this hero so good?

Despite being the laughing stock with a creep-like early game HP, Medusa does not fool around during the late game. The new patch tweaked Medusa to begin the game "like a baby" and she is indeed incredibly weak. But her Mana Shield grows incredibly strong as it now gives colossal damage reduction. As long as she has Mana, she's basically unkillable. Stack her with heroes like KOTL and items like Greaves, and Medusa won't be a laughing stock anymore.

The rest of the high-win-rate heroes (more than 10 picks) include Terrorblade, Beastmaster, Pangolier, and Alchemist.

Following the big update, some of the strongest and most contested heroes have completely vanished. During the Berlin Major Group Stage, ten heroes were not picked or banned. This list includes the notorious Lina who dominated the Lima Major, and is now completely unseen at the second Major of the year. Razor and Nature's Prophet, key picks for Tours throughout have also vanished from the battlefield. Here are all of the uncontested heroes during the Berlin Major so far:

That's all for our Berlin Major meta (post-Group Stage) summary. Keep track of more Berlin Major coverage and general Dota 2 news on Esports.gg!