The Lima Major: Three heroes most likely to make an impact

The Lima Major group stage begins in a couple of hours, with eighteen teams competing for a $500,000 prize pool and 1900 DPC points.

To taste the ultimate glory, teams will tread on muddied waters and cruise through an onslaught of strategies, pressure, and mind games against formidable foes. Only then will the Major champion be crowned – for the first-ever South American Dota 2 Major.

Speaking of strategies, one needs to study the meta and present viable strategies and hero picks to inch closer to glory.

We found three heroes who are most likely to make a massive impact at the Lima Major.

Rubick has made his mark after a long hiatus – an undeniable fact considering his popularity in all DPC regions. Averaging a pick rate of around 54%, Rubick is definitely a go-to pick for teams, especially in the support role.

More importantly, Rubick averages a win rate of around 51%, making the Grand Magus a favored and trending hero in the current Dota 2 meta.

Three regions, namely, DPC WEU, DPC China, and DPC NA, are profoundly superior on Rubick than other regions. This is reflected not just in their pick rates but also in the way they prioritize Rubick over others.

The Grand Magus is one of the most flexible spellcasters in Dota 2 and is best known for his ability to copy/steal the enemy's last-used spells. That also makes him a superior counter against heroes having big team fight spells such as Enigma, Tidehunter, Magnus, and Earthshaker.

Similarly, Rubick is also a decent enabler in the laning phase, providing his allies with the necessary backup and being obnoxious by harassing enemies with Fade Bolt, Telekinesis, and Arcane Supremacy – the latter amplifying all his spells.

Rubick has received decent upgrades over the last few patches, with an increase in base attack damage, an increase in base armor, reduced cooldown on spells, and changes in the talent tree, thus making him a viable pick in the current meta.

Who doesn’t love Tiny? We all do!

Play it as a mid, as a carry, or as a roaming support, Tiny fits in almost every aspect as a flex pick – it makes a lot of sense seeing the Stone Giant in the current meta due to his versatility.

Despite the subsequent nerfs over the last few patches, Tiny still makes it to the hero pool because of the value he provides in any strategy, primarily for two reasons – the bigger he grows, the stronger he gets. It is incredibly difficult to kill Tiny as he has a natural inbuilt defence mechanism, granting him strength and high base damage.

Tiny’s Avalanche + Toss combo is a sure shot death to any squishy hero, especially the poor supports, that can effectively lead to a handicap situation during team fights.

As a core, Tiny can farm effectively owing to Tree Grab/Tree Throw which provides cleave effects. As the game progresses, Tiny grows into a behemoth owing to his passive ability – Grow –  which increases his attack damage, armor, and toss power while slowing his attack speed.

He averages a pick rate of around 38% but averages an impressive win rate of around 53% – making the risk-reward ratio highly favorable.

Speaking from personal experience, Tusk is truly an annoying hero to play against. Tusk’s inclusion in this list is a controversial one because his stats don’t look that promising when viewed from the macro perspective.

Tusk averages a decent 40% pick rate and features prominently across all DPC regions. On the other hand, it registers a 45% win rate.

However, when you look at the hero from the microscopic point of view, you’ll notice that Tusk’s pick/win-rate graph is volatile, to say the least.

DPC China and DPC South America have the lowest win rate on Tusk at 20% and 37%, respectively. In comparison, the other regions average an impressive 53%. That’s a huge deficit, isn’t it? It won’t be difficult to gauge which region/team is most likely to win with Tusk in the fold.

The primary reason behind Tusk’s inclusion is his ability to initiate and set up team fights. Besides being an initiator, he is also a nuker as well as a disabler.

Ice Shards is a great spell to trap enemies. Snowball is a double-edged sword: Tusk can use it to save himself/allies or to charge toward enemies.

Tag Team applies a negative debuff aura causing the enemies to take bonus physical damage and reducing their movement speed.

Lastly, Tusk’s Walrus Punch deals a critical strike onto the enemy, launching them into the air and inflicting heavy damage.

Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Lima Major and Dota 2 news, guides, and info!