Dazzle is the most banned hero at TI12 so far, here’s why this hero is broken

The International 2023 (TI12) is approaching its peak and we have a good view of what the meta is currently like. As usual, TI brings forward a unique meta with new heroes emerging at the top. The best heroes are picked, and the most broken heroes are banned. But there's this one hero that is getting way more bans than the rest and it is none other than the overpowered Dazzle.

In 126 matches across TI12 (Group Stage and Road to the International), Dazzle sees 91 total bans! That's 72% of the total games so far. Dazzle occasionally escaped the ban hammer and was picked in 16 games, rocking a whopping 68% win rate.

The next hero with the most bans is the Treant Protector which had 74 bans -- a wide gap from Dazzle's ban figure. Here's a full list of the most banned heroes at TI12:

Interestingly, this traditionally support hero is now insanely versatile in its role. At TI12, Dazzle has been played as a midlane hero, as an offlaner, and as both supports.

Its most popular role is the midlane with seven picks so far, but it isn't the most successful role. Instead, all of Dazzle offlane games have been wins, with five matches that flex a 100% win rate.

At TI12 (so far), TSM is the team that managed to grab Dazzle the most. The now-eliminated North American team picked Dazzle 4 times with a 50% win rate.

Almost all teams at TI12 have been spam banning this notorious hero. But Shopify Rebellion has banned Dazzle the most with 10 total bans. Other teams that gunned down on Dazzle include LGD Gaming and Talon Esports, which both banned Dazzle 9 times.

Dazzle is one of the most punishing heroes during laning. Its Poison Touch is aggravating to lane against as it can keep harassing you with its decent attack speed and deal tons of damage. Dazzle's spell kit also exudes a painful amount of physical damage. Pair it up with its armor-mitigating ultimate.. Dazzle can melt just about anyone.

Dazzle's spells are also incredible to buy time and hold fights. The Shallow Grave on top of the Shadow Wave's colossal heals can turn teamfights around. On top of that, Dazzle's Aghanim's Shard upgrades Poison Touch, hexing all affected enemies for a short duration. With the Shard, Dazzle doesn't really need any disable items and can go greedy with damage. It is also a great counter to illusions!

But these are not the main reasons why Dazzle is so overpowered at TI12. Throughout the tournament, Dazzle players will rush the Aghanim's Scepter before the 15-minute mark. This item upgrades its Shadow Wave to enable targetting enemies and also proc an auto-hit to all targetted enemies. This item with a right-click Dazzle makes him a powerful DPS hero.

That's not all. Dazzle's ultimate, Bad Juju, is the cherry on top that would make it the most broken hero at TI12. This spell basically gives an unlimited cooldown reduction to its spells and items. Dazzle can cast one Shallow Grave after another and spam its spells continuously. One would even say that Dazzle is the new Tinker as its Bad Juju effect has a similar outcome to Tinker's Rearm!