Having more options in the professional scene is always nice. While typical tournament meta usually revolves around thirty or so heroes, extra options that can throw a curveball during the drafting stage not only make for a more varied viewing experience and also allow theoretically weaker teams to take an opponent by surprise. Releasing the heroes too early, in an unbalanced state, however, could prove problematic. Today, we would like to discuss whether Marci and Primal Beast are ready for Captain’s Mode.

Black King Bar is an integral part of the game with many mechanics and abilities balanced around it. Lately, however, the item has been getting increasingly important, to a point where the first major item BKB feels mandatory on a wide variety of heroes. Is BKB too strong right now and how it could be nerfed is a question we will try to answer today.

With the Stockholm Major behind us, it is now time to start thinking of what we want to see in the future. The International Battle Pass some time soon™ is a given, at least we hope it is, but even more than cosmetics, we are excited about possible gameplay changes. Here are some of our ideas for what could be improved.

Every Major brings new heroes and strategies into the spotlight and the ESL One Stockholm was no exception. Today we would like to take a look at the snapshot of the meta and see which heroes are doing exceptionally well and which are underperforming.

With millions of dollars on the line for the most winning teams, it makes sense that the way that Dota is played would change as players strive to perfect their gameplay. Although the basic principles of Dota have stayed the same, some more advanced ideas have adjusted as new patches have come.

Pugna is undeniably one of the strongest and most annoying position five supports in the professional scene right now. He boasts a 70%+ win rate in the Major and is in the top three most contested heroes. Does it mean the hero can be as successful in pubs, or is Pugna too coordination-reliant to work in a chaotic environment?

Wraith Pact is a mid to late-game item which received multiple buffs recently. The cost was reduced to 4000 gold, thanks to the recipe cost reduction to Vladimir’s Offering. The aura’s radius was buffed along with its mana regen and lifesteal. Despite boasting an impressive 67% win rate in pubs for being so cheap, it's been almost unseen in pro matches. Is this because the item is bad? Or have players not had enough time to learn about the utility of the item? I’d argue it's a mix of both.

The Major is just around the corner, but we still have one more recap to go through. Today we are going to discuss teams from EEU and NA. Both regions had a long history of playing second fiddle to WEU in the Western Dota scene, but the former proved itself by winning the last TI and NA is on an upward trajectory as well, with teams like TSM and Quincy Crew joining Evil Geniuses as Tier One international teams.

We are continuing our team preview series for ESL One Stockholm, today concentrating on the SA and SEA regions. Both are often associated with very high peaks, but lack consistency, and this Major will be indicative of whether they improved in this regard.