The Helm of Dominator dominated The International 2025 meta

The International 2025 has just begun, and the meta is not only about a broken hero that everyone spams. This doesn't mean there aren't heroes that are gaining relevance, but the eyes of Dota 2 fans are locked on one item that nobody built consistently until this tournament: the Helm of Dominator.

What's more impressive is how this item made some forgotten heroes so viable. Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk got it while playing Faceless Void. Later that day, Wang "Ame" Chunyu went a mile further and built the item for Anti-mage.

This was even more impressive, considering how unusual it is to see this item on a hero that tends to go for Battle Fury as a farming option. The popular statsman Ben Noxville pointed out that this was only the thirteenth time it happened. After that match, it became the rule for everyone playing the hero.

Despite looking like a TI2025 innovation, this item was a solution to the spam of Silencer in high MMR matches. After the discovery of this item build, the hero is losing presence in pro-ranked matches.

Silencer, Dazzle, Disruptor, and most support picks are weak against Helm of Dominator because they depend on back-line positioning. The controlled creep can effectively zone out these heroes, cancel their Blink Dagger, or even force them to use their Force Staff in awkward situations.

Also, most support heroes don't have the right spells to get rid of the controlled creature. This makes the next item, Helm of the Overlord, even scarier. But it's not only tied to specific heroes. The controlled creep earns a minimum of 1,000 HP, which allows it to stale lanes, protect towers, or push while the hero farms or team fights. It's perfect for taking advantage of the bigger map and immediately improves the early-gank capabilities of any hero.

But The International 2025's meta is not all about Helm of Dominator. After the Road to TI games, there's a trend for support picks that can fight early and counter high-mobility heroes. Picks like Pugna and Disruptor are good for teamfight control, while Snapfire excels in tower and highground defense.

It's also important to note that counter-initiation picks like Shadow Demon, Tusk, and Undying are gaining a lot of relevance.

Thanks to the Helm of Dominator, The International 2025 meta features carry picks like Ursa, Anti-mage, Faceless Void, Lycan, and Beastmaster. However, other heroes like Earth Shaker, Doom, and Alchemist love to see so many units in teamfights. For this reason, some of the aforementioned are included both in the most picked and most successful graphics.

All this information was gathered during the Road to The International. However, more trends will develop in the bracket stage. For more information about TI 2025, make sure to follow esports.gg's coverage in our Dota 2 section!