The Dota 2 Lima Major: Most impactful heroes in the group stage

The Lima Major group stage is over – 12 teams proceed to the playoffs, and six teams bite the dust. The playoffs begin on Feb. 28 and end on March 5, until a champion is crowned for the first-ever Dota 2 Major held in South America.

But while we wait for the playoffs to kick-off, lets look back at the meta from the Lima Major Group Stage. Throughout the tournament so far, three heroes have stood out as some of the most impactful in meta at the Lima Major 2023. Those heroes are Batrider, Nature’s Prophet and Pangolier. But what makes them highly successful? Let’s find out!

Batrider has been a staple meta pick in many patches, and for good reasons. It’s one of the most impactful heroes in the mid-lane and the offlane.

The Hero is a strong laner, especially against a melee heroes, and quickly establishes himself as a strong opponent. Batrider’s speciality is in controlling the tempo of the game – initiating, setting up team fights, disabling a selected target, and changing the balance of the game.

By synchronizing his spells properly with items, Batrider players can create havoc amongst the enemy. Building Boots of Travel, Blink Dagger, Black King Bar (BKB), and Aghanim’s Shard goes hand-in-hand with spells like Sticky Napalm, Flamebreak, Firefly, and Flaming Lasso.

Boots of Travel and Blink Dagger provide increased movement speed and initiation ability – complimenting every spell in Batrider’s books.

Sticky Napalm slows down affected enemy units and amplifies damage, Flamebreak and Firefly provide the ignition to deal further damage, while Lasso strangles an enemy unit until thy kingdom comes.

We predict Batrider will play a vital role in the Lima Major playoffs since it boasts of 87% contested rate and a 58% win rate.

It’s pleasant to see Furion marking his presence in the Lima Major meta with an 84% contested rate and a 54% win rate.

Nature’s Prophet has prominently featured as the go-to carry pick for teams at this event. The hero has multifold uses: it can push lanes, it can hit hard, it can escape, and it is extremely mobile.

Furion has a global map presence because of its global teleportation spell and ultimate. Don’t be surprised to see him on one side of the map at any given moment, and then suddenly see him on the other side of the map the next moment.

With the help of Nature’s Call, the hero can create early pressure by pushing down towers, farm efficiently in the lane and neutral camps, and even scout the entire map.

At the Lima Major, Nature’s Prophet has been picked as a pure DPS-dealing hero. With items like Power Treads, Gleipnir, BKB, Silver Edge, Desolator, and others, he’s been able to single-handedly change the game in his team’s favour. And with items like Satanic and Daedalus, he can easily man-fight against several heroes at once.

Pangolier is a fantastic hero for a number of reasons. In simple terms, he is incredibly annoying to go up against. He can Shield Crash onto you thus dealing damage and slowing movement speed. Bring Lucky Shot into the mix, he can disarm as well as reduce armour.

If that’s not enough then he can curl into a spell-immune ball and roll towards you in a thunderous rage at an increased speed and the ability to move through trees, and upon striking, stun and slow the enemy.

Use that with the proper set of items like Diffusal Blade, Aghanim’s Scepter, Skull Basher and Aghanim’s Shard, you drain other lives to satiate your own.

Pangolier has a 59% win rate against a 72% pick and ban rate, signalling the use of the hero in almost every lineup. However, he’s best suited to be picked in a team trying to set the tempo of the game.

He’s primarily used as an offlane with initiating and frontline capabilities. However, he has an equal amount of win rate at 47% in the mid-lane as compared to offlane, albeit with fewer games. Thus, it also makes him a situational pick, flexing his versatility.

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