Clinkz stands alone in the pit of uncontested Dota 2 heroes, as he had zero picks and bans in Div I of Tour 1 DPC.
The Winter Tour Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) for Division I has finally ended. Throughout 421 matches played - that would be thousands of picks and bans scattered across all six competitive regions- all heroes were contested.. except for Clinkz. The Bone Fletcher was completely absent in Tour 1 Div I as he had zero picks and zero bans - dropping even lower than the niche and unpopular Meepo.
*All statistics in this article are from Spectral Stats.
Clinkz, a hero forgotten like an tale of antiquity
Throughout Division I Tour 1 in 2023, Clinkz was nowhere in sight. But what makes this hero so undesirable?
Clinkz is incredibly weak during the laning phase. It's squishy, it has no early damage, and its movement speed is painfully slow. This hero needs a strong support that can shield and protect him to not get annihilated during the laning phase. So oftentimes, picking this hero just makes losing lane inevitable.
Even though Clinkz has immense late-game damage, this hero is also easily caught and burst. Once heroes jump on top of Clinkz, there's simply no way to survive. And in the wake of powerful initiating heroes such as Marci and Primal Beast in the meta, picking Clinkz is questionable.
The way this hero is played which involves him pushing sidelanes and hunting alone is also risky. Just a little bit of kiting and his solo hunt is basically over. When it comes to teamfights, the enemy team can just lay out Sentries and his impact is diminished.
The last sight of Clinkz in the pro scene
In the 2021/2022 competitive circuit, Clinkz was picked 42 times, mainly in the Chinese region. However, its pick rate and win rate gradually stooped. The last game that saw a Clinkz pick was in the WEU DPC TI11 Regional Qualifier. In a series between Nigma Galaxy and Brame, Lasha "Nande" Narsia from Brame picked Clinkz in two consecutive matches. Brame won the first game and lost the next.
via STRATZ
Clinkz was also unpicked and unbanned at The International 11 alongside seven other heroes. You can check the full TI11 Meta here.
via Spectral Stats
Meepo makes it out alive from the trenches
For the first time in a while, Meepo is no longer the face of Dota 2's forgotten heroes. Let's take a trip down memory lane to see how Meepo did in the past few months.
In Tour 3 of DPC last year, he was the only uncontested hero. Meepo was then last seen during TI11 SEA Regional Qualifier. Midlaner, Vincent "AlaCrity" Hiew of Nigma Galaxy SEA played the niche hero against MIPH and won the game. However, Meepo would then be absent from the entirety of TI11, not being contested a single time.
In the current season, Meepo finally sees the light of day as he was picked once by Rolen "skem" Ong of Geek Slate and banned in two other matches. Although this first and only Meepo match in Tour 1 Div I was a loss, the hero is probably more than happy to stand on the battlefield.
With the stationary state of Dota 2, it seems like Clinkz will not appear in the pro scene any time soon. However, the community sniffs an upcoming Dota 2 patch and perhaps Clinkz will finally be set free from the deep, dark, trenches.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Dota 2 news!