DreamLeague Season 20 group stage meta breakdown

DreamLeague moves into its 20th season, and with it arrives Dota 2 teams from all over the globe duking it out for the $300,000 prize pool and a direct invitation to Riyadh Masters. The 16 teams continue to battle as DreamLeague Season 20 moves into the playoffs starting on June 24. So, let's take a look at the meta from the past couple of weeks before we get into the playoffs.

Void Spirit is the most picked midlaner throughout the group stage at DreamLeague Season 20. So far, it has 54 games and about an almost matching 55% win rate. Although we saw a couple teams run Void Spirit in the safelane, this was under niche circumstances. Regardless, in either lane, Void Spirit has insane damage output once he hits his Echo Sabre timing.

Timbersaw's presence is both surprising and also not surprising at the same time. With the 7.33 update, Timbersaw's new Aghanim's Scepter helps him excel. Additionally, his natural tankiness and high damage output helps him deal with the majority of the other meta picks. For most of the games, he was picked early on and flexed as an offlaner if counter picked too hard. In the hands of teams with players who can use Timbersaw in both lanes, like Aster with Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan or Lin "Xxs" Jing, Timbersaw became quite the threat.

By a significant margin, Morphling is the most picked safelaner of DreamLeague Season 20 so far. With 60 games, the puddle has 16 more games than the second most picked hero at the tournament. And for good reason. Outside of some niche picks, there are few and far heroes that can efficiently burst Morphling down. So you'll need to bring your whole team to control and take down a Morphling.

As previously mentioned, following behind Morphling in the popularity of carries in DreamLeague Season 20 is Bloodseeker with 44 matches played. Bloodseeker thrives in the constant fighting of the current metagame. On top of his sustainable laning and strong early game, Bloodseeker can thrive in most games. Not to mention the efficacy of his ultimate, Rupture. He can prevent hyper-mobile heroes like Void Spirit or Timbersaw in fights and easily turn the tides.

Doom can't be stopped. Despite the nerf to Doom's Devour for bonus gold, the utility and value that Doom provides is unmatched. Your average pro playing Doom typically either matches farm with the carry or outright surpasses it. Doom was instantly picked up by most teams — hence his involvement in 130 matches out of the total 182 matches played. However, Doom alone can't carry games as his kit revolves around shutting down one hero. This is why his win rate is only at 48% despite being one of the most picked heroes at the event.

The king of the zoo strategy is back and better than ever. With the recent changes to his Aghanim's Scepter, the community picked up on his strength. His strength was shown throughout DreamLeague Season 20. With a total of 52 matches, Beastmaster is the second most picked offlaner. The control, push, and overall damage he provides throughout all stages of the game make Beastmaster a true menace.

Surprisingly, Techies boasted the most involvement out of all the heroes at DreamLeague. This trio had a whopping 167 matches that they were either picked or banned in. When the trio got let through in the draft, they were almost always picked up. And this shows in his 73 total games picked stat. This beats all other heroes by a far margin. The only hero that comes close to this is Timbersaw with 50 games.

Techies is one of the best supports in the game at the moment. The hero trio can control essential areas of the map, gank, harass, and so much more. At all stages of the game, no matter what items used, the trio provides so much value to any team that they are on.

Following close behind in terms of support usage in DreamLeague season 20 is Rubick. Just like Techies, Rubick provides great value during all stages of the game. Because what's better than your big team fight ultimates? Well, your enemy being able to steal it and use it against your team. But realistically, Rubick is one of the better heroes for support players can use to show off.

Not only is Undying the almighty of the undead, but he is also the almighty of fighting at chokepoints. On top of a menace in lane, Undying's tombstone is the ultimate tool for fighting in tight areas. Although Undying tends to fall off later in the game, he more than makes up for it with his intense pressure in the early game. No hero wants to be hit over and over by Decays or is tanky enough to fight an Undying who's gotten some Decays off.

DreamLeague Season 20 picks back up on June 24 with the playoffs. Although the meta hasn't drastically changed since ESL One Berlin, teams now have time to come up with new meta threats.

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