The Lima Major: Analyzing the Differences in Metas
The group stages for the Lima Major had finished. The playoffs are less than 10 hours away. Valve announces they will Patch 7.33 after the Lima Major on March 6th. There are a lot of differences between The International meta when compared to the current meta, even though it seems like it’s the same patch.
The Differences Of The Meta
At The International 2022, it was a Wraith Pact meta. Neta "33" Shapira from Tundra Esports pioneered this meta and eventually became The International 2022 Champion.
The meta revolved around teams buying Wraith Pact, an item that gives a 30% damage reduction to all types of damage. Other aura items would get purchased too. This meta makes “burst heroes ” unreliable because their instant burst damage would get reduced a lot and can get neglected. After The International, Wraith Pact got nerfed, concluding the Wraith Pact meta.
Once Wraith Pact got nerfed, players started buying Guardian Greaves and Pipe Of Insight. Both of these items have one thing in common, both of the items have an AoE effect when used. Guardian Greaves gives an AoE healing. Pipe Of Insight provides an AoE magic damage reduction when used.
The Solution
The answer to AoE effects is a single target burst damage. In The Lima Major, safelane hard carries like Lina, Drow Ranger, and Nature Prophet gets contested the most. These heroes are range damage dealers and also good at the laning stage. They are also good at defending their towers. They would buy a single farming item, a Black King Bar and can output enough damage to kill any hero.
Midlane heroes are good at ganking and can kite during fights often backed safelane heroes. Heroes like Tusk, Ember Spirit and Pangolier are getting contested at midlane. These midlane heroes get paired with active supports like Hoodwink, Rubick, Treant Protector, Phoenix and Silencer.
Offlane heroes like Death Prophet, Enigma and Snapfire are getting picked the most because they buy aura items and have AoE crowd-control abilities.
The meta right now is surviving the laning stage; the carries will farm while the midlane will get active on the map with the supports while the offlane farms for Pipe and Greaves. At the midgame, both teams will duke it out for Roshan. The team that gets the Aegis will attempt a high-ground push. That’s pretty much the meta currently. The hero that doesn’t survive the laning stage, the hero that gets out sustain won’t get picked in the current meta. There are only five days left before the current meta expires.
Featured Image Source: 4D Esports