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Disruptor Dominated Every Game of ESL One Birmingham 2024
ESL One Birmingham 2024 has come to an end. Team Falcons emerged as the champions, defeating BetBoom Team in a clean sweep during the grand finals. Despite playing their opening match with a stand-in and facing a setback in the upper bracket run, Team Falcons dominated the grand finals to claim the championship title. On their ESL One Birmingham 2024 journey, they've made some heroes a meta pick.
Despite the patch being out for some time already, we still witness some interesting drafts based on fresh ideas at the tournament. In this article, we will recap the heroes of ESL One Birmingham 2024.
Disruptor Continues his Dominance
Disruptor was one of the most popular support heroes at the ESL One Birmingham 2024. The hero got banned in 77 matches and drafted in 17 matches with a 58.82% win rate.
It's understandable why Disruptor is a go-to support in this meta. He offers a solid laning stage for his safelaner, good harassing spells, and he can catch retreating opponents with his glimpse. His ultimate offers crowd control in skirmishes. At the late game, with aghs and a perfectly-timed usage of his ulti, Disruptor can set up a team wipe for his team.
Shadow Demon Could Return
Despite Disruptor's dominance, the hero that stole the show was Shadow Demon. SD has been a stable pick at ESL One Birmingham, and it makes a lot of sense.
The hero offers a saving ability with his first ability, Disruption. Also, with some heroes like Anti-Mage, Luna, and Terrorblade, the ability can be used to create illusions of the hero to push the lanes in the late game. Disseminate can spread the damage dealt by his teams to opponents.
Shadow Poison is an efficient ability, as it can be a harassing tool during the laning phase. It can also stack camps for farming-oriented cores to benefit from later on. Shadow Demon's ultimate ability, Demonic Purge, debuffs opponents, making it useful in skirmishes. It also slows them for a particular duration. Shadow Demon had a 58.33% win rate in 24 matches. The hero got banned in 52.
Dragon Knight and Pangolier Ruled the Midlane
Remember the time Pangolier wasn't in the game? Those were the days. Since his release, this hero has found his place in the mid-lane. The trend does not seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Pangolier has everything a midlaner would want- solid laning stage, aoe crowd control, high-damage output, and initiating prowess. Thus, at ESL One Birmingham 2024, Pangolier got picked in 22 matches, and the hero has a 50.00% win rate. He got banned in 71.
The only hero on par with his popularity was Dragon Knight. Dragon Knight offers nearly the same perks that Pango does. He has a lockdown and can reduce the output damage of his opponents. DK can also take objectives easily with his ultimate. The hero is versatile, as he can either be a midlaner or an offlaner. Team Falcons even played DK as a safelane. Dragon Knight got drafted in 24 matches. He had a 54.17% win rate and got banned in 29.
Kunkka and Brewmaster are offlane go-tos
During the Elite League, players began to see the potential in Kunkka. They started drafting him more as an offlaner. At ESL One Birmingham 2024, we can see why the ship captain was becoming a meta.
Kunkka' Aghanim Scepter ability, Torrent Storm, is a threat to deal with during skirmishes. The hero's other abilities offer enough lockdown and ways to push out the lane. His Ghost Ship can buff himself and his teammates during a skirmish. Kunkka also scales well into the late game. The hero has a 45.1% win rate in 31 matches.
Credits: Valve
Another surprising thing about the tournament is that Brewmaster gets drafted often at ESL One Birmingham 2024. It's been a while since we've seen this hero. It could be because of the hero's ability to create havoc during skirmishes with his ultimate. Primal Split also comes in handy when pushing for objectives. Our favorite drunken panda has a 52.17% win rate in 23 matches.
Mars, Enigma, and Timbersaw are also popular choices at the offlane.
Luna Dominated The Safelane
Farming-oriented safelaners are making their way back to the meta. Among them, Luna takes the lead with a 53.13% win rate in 32 matches. The hero is a stable pick because it can farm efficiently, push out waves easily, and has a level 20 power spike. She also gives her team bonus night-time vision and damage during the night time. The hero got banned in 20 matches.
Credits: Valve
Gyrocopter, Morphling, and Lifestealer also get drafted often at the tournament. However, the return of Weaver is what's enticing. As the tournament progressed, teams started exploring more options and found Weaver. Despite being squishy, the hero is elusive and can deal high burst damage. Weaver also scales well into the late game. The hero has a 78.57% win rate in 14 matches, and Weaver got banned in 13 matches.
Credits: Valve
With Patch 7.34d in its last days, it seems some heroes of ESL One Birmingham 2024 could fade out soon. However, it could also open doors of opportunity for other unexplored heroes.
Featured Image Source: Valve
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