China Still Respects Earth Spirit; Ogre Is King
Just last week, the Boston Major regional qualifiers came to a close. Over the course of 7 days, numerous teams from around the world fought for a total of 8 slots, 2 per each region. New teams such as Faceless and NP established themselves quickly as powerhouses with older teams like Ad Finem finally claiming a Major slot.
As with every Major, the qualifiers are a great opportunity to witness the differences in region and their metas. 6.88 is the gift that keeps on giving, and it’s time to see how each region currently tackles the meta.
The roaming king, the illusion duo and the offlane
Ogre Magi is the 4th most picked hero of the entire qualifier and has the highest winrate (61%) out of any of the top most picked heroes. The hero has quickly established itself as the go to hero for almost any line-up. It’s a strong roamer that rarely warrants a ban (only 38) but can win the laning stage with both his slow and damage output early on. Ogre is incredibly difficult to kill and deal with early on and can be played both as a roamer, as well as part of a trilane. The hero's success is mirrored in pub games, where he's the 7th most successful hero in 5k+ MMR games.
The main attention of the qualifier has been drawn to the 
Shadow Demon & 
Luna combination. With a total of 28 games, these two heroes have been at the center of attention for a many teams, especially Europe. Out of 19 Luna games in Europe, Shadow Demon supported her in 15 of them. It’s not a new combination by any means. Fantastic Five used this exact combination in the qualifier for The International this year. Shadow Demon continued to be a meta staple at TI6, without Luna however. The combination resurfaced now, though as any popular strategy or pick, it struggles to be particularly successful, but a 46% winrate across all regions is still respectable.
While this may have been the main topic for many fans, the main takeaway from this qualifier may lie somewhere else. The offlane position has steadily transformed into that of a playmaker and initiator. With more space and farm available, offlaners have become more daring in how greedy they play and thus picks have been adjusted as well.
Slardar, 
Axe, 
Timbersaw but also 
Sand King have risen drastically in popularity. While Slardar, Axe and Sand King enjoy a rather typical winrate of around 40% for heroes of their popularity, Timbersaw has one of the highest winrates (60%) among the most picked heroes.
Where are the stars of TI6?
Aside from top picks such as Shadow Demon or Ogre Magi, TI6 saw a variety of distinctive top tier picks, such as 
Mirana, 
Drow Ranger or 
Elder Titan. Only Mirana remains in the top 10 most picked hero of the Boston Major qualifier, with Drow Ranger being the third most banned hero (behind OD and Batrider). With only 18 picks, Elder Titan fell off significantly, especially since 10 of these picks were in the SEA qualifier.
Faceless Void is another hero whose popularity drastically fell off, though it’s understandable as he’s received more nerfs since TI than any other hero. These small nerfs since TI certainly have been the main story of the meta thus far, as most popular heroes have constantly been addressed, even the ones that only emerged after TI.
The new and old first ban
With 99 bans across all regions, [missing hero: outworld-devourer] has quickly established himself as one of the current meta’s most fearsome hero. It may have taken a while for players to recognize his potential, but OD is an incredibly strong hero right now, worthy of the bans he receives. 
Dragon Lance and 
Hurricane Pike allow him to be much more survivable and threatening throughout the game and with or without Drow Ranger’s aura, he most likely will win his lane.
But as threatening as he may be, he’s no 
Batrider. 6.88f had a special nerf for Batrider, as Flamebreak’s knockback no longer interrupts channels such as TPs. It was a significant nerf, a nerf that could kill other heroes, but not Batrider. The hero remains a meta staple and was rightfully once again the most contested hero.
China hung up on Earth Spirit, Europe in love with SD and Ogre
Win-Loss statistics for certain heroes in certain regions
After significant nerfs to 
Earth Spirit in 6.87, the hero lost in popularity and went from a top pick in Manila to an average one at TI6. Europe seemed to have forgotten about the hero altogether with only a single pick this qualifier, but China could not have loved the hero much more: he was their third most picked hero and sports a 66% winrate.
Europe’s attention was clearly drawn to the aforementioned Ogre and Shadow Demon, much like SEA and the Americas did. China paid only little attention to both heroes though with 9 picks in total.
Batrider received a lot of love, or hate if you will, from all regions. SEA paid him even more respect than any other region with 35 bans. China was the region with the least amount of respect towards the hero, as they contested him in only 63% of their games. (EU: 92%; SEA: 81%; Americas: 89%)
In general, China has had the most distinctive meta in the Boston Major qualifier. They put much more emphasis on heroes like 
Bounty Hunter (68% contestion rate) or 
Naga Siren (25 bans) than any other region. China is also the only region that did not jump onto the Warlock hype train. He’s the third most picked hero in SEA, 7th most picked in the Americas and 12th in Europe, compared to only 2 picks in China (0% winrate).
Who will remain?
Whenever the qualifiers for a Major come to a close, one question remains: Which heroes will remain relevant once the curtain open on stage? Which meta and playstyle will actually prevail in Boston, as the invited teams join the fray?
Some trends seem to be just starting and could potentially really establish themselves at the Major, like Nyx Assassin’s rising popularity in SEA. Some trends may already be overplayed and could die out before the Major even ends, like Warlock’s return. That is how the meta usually cycles and it’s difficult to predict what will await us in a month’s time. No matter what meta it may be, it seems promising to be good Dota.
1st time to be 1st
2nd OH YEAH
3rd woooooo dint even read the article
Damn it Boys
4th after read the article
Can we just comment something useful on the OP rather than just saying first and all
Nvm Enjoy the little things in life
Boss magi at it's finest
Jerax's earth spirit is still rekting all over competitive matches.
1st of all 1st
IceFrog, please buff Sven's Aghanim's Scepter http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/2698756396 BibleThump
This article was great; it really informs the reader of the meta and the way it's continuing to develop. Best patch in the history of dota and I'm glad you keep writing on it.
Ogre domination! Gotta love that disable ;)
Ogre is so annoying especially the ones with that stupid wheel of fortune. I get aggressions if I see that hero. Can´t believe there are actually people who like to play him^^
Maybe if Ogre Magi's base armor is reduced by 1 (6.85 patch) :3
Can't wait to watch the pro on Twitch in December.
ogre smash
As an ogre spammer, this is awesome Feelsgoodman
ogre have more hp regeneration than daenerys targaryen brother (dragon kight) LOL
ayy people stopped giving fucks about void
time to spam him even more now
DING DING DING DING MOTHER ??????
Tucker