For a TI qualifier that was played soon after the introduction of brand-new mechanics like Hero Facets, Valve can be happy that teams banked on the viability of almost all heroes of the roster, barring two.
The two unpicked heroes from Dota 2’s 125-wide hero roster are Omniknight and Riki. While both of them have been historically known as pub heroes rather than professional picks, their treatment in the large 7.36 gameplay patch and its subsequent letter patches didn’t help.
Before Patch 7.36, Omniknight saw play in the Offlane role with builds focusing on his Hammer of Purity nuke. On the other hand, Riki was mostly untouched, being only picked once in the last two months of pro Dota 2 by Xtreme Gaming’s Xinq in PGL Wallachia Season 1.
As it stands, Omniknight has an identity crisis and it remains to be seen which direction Valve pushes him in through future patches. The hero is currently sitting at a scrawny 38.6 percent win rate in pro-level pubs, according to Dota 2 Pro Tracker. Riki, however, features a much more respectable 47.8 percent win rate, so we assume it’s a matter of time before he starts being visible in pro matches again.
The last month of pro games has been played on 7.36 and its subsequent letter patches. Naturally, the game changed dramatically with Hero Facets, and we have seen teams across the regions in the TI 2024 qualifiers experiment with new strategies. While some heroes have emerged as clear winners of the patch, some are yet to be discovered—as we have seen time and again with big gameplay patches in Dota 2 history.
What’s clear, though, is the quality balancing at work behind Valve’s MOBA. For some comparison, there were 79 uncontested Champions in League of Legends’ premier Mid-Season Invitational this year among Riot’s roster of 167, according to Liquipedia.
