7 Heroes That Must Be Either Banned or Picked in Riyadh Masters

The upcoming Riyadh Masters will be played on patch 7.36c, and Russian outlet cyber.sports.ru has highlighted seven heroes that are likely to be either banned or picked.

Chaos Knight

A crazy carry hero with a minor nerf of 0.1 strength per level in 7.36c. Does it make a big difference? Not at all. CK can still crush any offlaner, his passive lifedrain allows him to enter the jungle early, and his ultimate smashes through anything.

For a typical physical carry, CK has the displacement ability, Phantasm, a four-second stun, powerful illusions, and a passive that multiplies his damage output. CK is set to be the top carry pick in Riyadh.

Tiny

Okay, okay, okay. Just look at Toss, this skill deals almost as much damage as Lion’s Finger of Death when maxed out with Rolling Boulder at level 12! And Finger of Death has more mana cost, longer cooldown, and affects fewer targets.

Hardly any heroes can effectively counter Tiny, and he doesn’t even need to aim Toss – just press a few buttons and kill someone. His innate ability, Rock Skin, lets Tiny lane comfortably.

This is why the monster can adapt to almost any position! Imagine Falcons picking Tiny: maybe Malr1ne on mid Tiny, skiter on hard carry Tiny due to his aggressive early game style, ATF has already picked Tiny in a match and recently beat Miracle and SumaiL with him in a pub game, and Cr1t has been a top-notch offlaner with Tiny for a while. Good luck to the teams in Riyadh who don’t ban Tiny.

Dark Seer

The strongest hero in the 8k+ MMR Dota 2 lobbies with a win rate of 55% across 4,000 games. In professional matches, DS performs even better with Vacuum and Ion Shell pushing lanes, teamfights decided by Force Staff and Wall of Replica.

In the recently concluded TI qualifiers, DS was among the top five banned heroes. In Riyadh, his banning rate will surely be even higher!

Skeleton King

Let’s examine the nerfs in 7.36c: Requiem of Souls’ early game damage reduced, no longer gains souls from killing other unit types, movement speed and attack speed reduced slightly. A nightmare of nerfs, yet SF remains a highly picked hero.

This hero excels in laning, jungling, and early roaming, overpowering around 90% of heroes, and his fear from Requiem of Souls serves as a team control.

Of course, SF hasn’t been a meta favorite for a long time, but it’s great to see him in pro matches, though not in such a terrifying state! The hero’s strength might play a cruel joke: he still won’t see playtime.

Weaver

With a Diffusal Blade, Weaver’s mobility becomes ridiculously high, allowing him to cross the entire river from top to bottom lane in just 22 seconds! Even a Bristleback with Leg Strength and Swiftness takes one second longer. Yes, we spent a few minutes racing in Dota.

Speed is one of the main mechanics in Dota. For supports, it’s about timely ward placements, stolen experience or gold, or efficient roams to other lanes. For carries, it’s about farming speed.

Antimage has always been great at split-pushing, regardless of the patch. In drafting, all you need to do is ban Rubick before or after picking Antimage, and I believe top teams can manage that.

Slithereen Guard

It’s hard to imagine a professional scene without Slithereen Guard now, with the hero being a top mid in last year’s Riyadh Masters and remaining a meta pick today. In the 1win Summer Cup, he had a high pick rate of second place. Even the build has shifted to Diffusal Blade, Aghanim’s Scepter, Blink Dagger, and Force Staff.

Topson even experimented with a Daedalus build, thanks to talents and passives reducing armor by 19 points. Keep in mind that all of Slithereen Guard’s abilities deal physical damage. Plus, he’s a hero that can flex between mid and safe lane. Impossible to ignore!

Omniknight

How can the Riyadh Masters be without Omniknight? With a bleak 11% pick rate in TI qualifiers, the hero’s pick rate soared to 60.8% in the 1win Summer Cup. The problem is that most top-tier five-position players have mastered Omniknight. Why risk playing against him when there’s a ban option?

I believe Omniknight will secure a spot on the ban list right from the start.