Heroes of 7.33: Meta at the ESL One Berlin Major 2023

Two weeks ago, we saw the release of patch 7.33. It was just before the ESL One Berlin Major 2023, where professional teams have played a lot of maps already. In this review, we will try to find out what's what.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE ESL ONE BERLIN MAJOR 2023 OVERALL STATISTICS:

• Radiant side won 53.69% of the games
• Dire side won other 46.31% of the games
• Average Map Duration is 37:42
• Draft with the last pick won 51.44% of games
• Draft with the first pick won other 48.56% of the games

5TH POSITION – HARD SUPPORT:

1. Crystal Maiden – 53.57% for 84 maps
2. Chen – 52% for 25 maps (top 3 by bans)
3. Rubick – 46.48% for 71 maps
4. Disruptor – 46.15% for 52 maps
5. Enchantress – 39.13% for 46 maps (top 6 for bans)

With the release of 7.33, Chen and Enchantress are back in the meta. The main buffs for Chen are getting gold for a tamed creep and new spots that have become very close to the safe lane. If previously it was possible to block close camps with Sentry Ward, now these two heroes just can't be prevented from picking up the most comfortable creeps for themselves.

At the start of the Berlin Major 2023 Group Stage, Valve released the balance patch 7.33b, which slightly weakened creeps. As a result, the win rate drop was 39% for Enchantress and 52% for Chen. On the other hand, Crystal Maiden was a kind of answer against Chen and Enchantress on the lane because it can easily take any of their tamed creeps with Frostbite.

There is the feeling that only Seleri and RodjER are worried about Enchantress' win rate, and they keep picking the hero no matter what. 

For the 4th position, teams mostly take strong laners. Overall, Bounty Hunter adds more scouting, Skywrath Mage is an excellent character against midlaners that are popular at the meta and can play quickly under the center corridor. Keeper of the Light is the strongest among the 4th position supports right now, as it combines with meta' midlaners because of Chakra Magic.

4TH POSITION – SEMI SUPPORT:

1. Keeper of the Light – 62.86% for 70 maps
2. Rubick – 46.48% for 71 maps
3. Skywrath Mage – 51.52% for 33 maps
4. Pugna – 62.96% for 27 maps
5. Bounty Hunter – 62.50% for 24 maps

The 3rd positions are stable. Teams in every draft either ban or trade Doom and Underlord. Beastmaster is also popular, but often in bans, as it helps scout a map and additionally gives control in BKB.

Vanguard is now a must-buy for any offlaner for a safe lane. Doom's strength is that he gets to his items quickly through the Hand of Midas and Devour. At the same time, Underlord adds mobility to his team because his ultimate allows him and his teammates to end up in any part of the huge new map.

There is a chasm between Doom, Underlord, and Beastmaster to the other popular heroes on the offlane. The pursuit group, leading by Dark Seer, who adds mobility and team fighting, and Dragon Knight, who gets the tower quickly in his opponent's safe lane and opens up the map.

3RD POSITION – OFFLANE:

1. Underlord – 58.46% for 65 maps (top 7 for bans)
2. Doom – 50.75% for 67 maps (top 2 for bans)
3. Beastmaster – 68.57% for 35 maps (Top 4 on Bans)
4. Dark Seer – 56.52% for 23 maps
5. Dragon Knight – 52.94% for 17 maps 

Alchemist is a hero for the mid and carry. From the center, he still has incredible timing, gets items, and finishes games quickly. In response to him, Gladiators took Pangolier and closed OG in 20 minutes. As we can see, there are popular mobile midlaners like Storm Spirit, Void Spirit, Pangolier, and Ember Spirit. They don't depend on their ability cooldowns and can be on any part of the map quickly. The only exception is Alchemist probably.

2ND POSITION – MID:

1. Pangolier – 64.71% for 34 maps
2. Alchemist – 62.50% for 56 maps
3. Void Spirit – 60% for 35 maps
4. Storm Spirit – 55.93% for 59 maps
5. Ember Spirit – 50% for 32 maps 

The three main heroes for the carry position are Medusa, Terrorblade, and Alchemist. Terrorblade is considered to be a good hero against both Medusa and Alchemist, which is why he has such a good win rate in this championship. Medusa's 71.27% win rate for 22 maps is crazy for the pro scene. And we discard all Axe's oneshot memes. The hero is clearly broken!

Despite Slark's 46-47% win rate for 32 maps, we added this hero to our top. He is considered a good answer to Medusa, Alchemist, and Terrorblade. On top of that, it gives scouting in terms of wards. It is important because of the same 40% map expansion.

1ST POSITION – CARRY:

1. Medusa – 77.27% for 22 maps 
2. Terrorblade – 66.67% for 33 maps 
3. Alchemist – 62.50% for 56 maps 
4. Naga Siren – 64.71% for 17 maps 
5. Slark – 46.88% for 32 maps 

On the whole, the teams didn't fully understand the meta themselves. BetBoom played half of its matches with Pudge as 4th support. And for example, Saksa took Slark in the same position and could win. Tundra also likes to experiment with drafts: it had Medusa from 33 as an offlane hero and Rubick as a midlaner for Nine.  

Lina, Treant Protector, and Nature's Prophet failed at the Berlin Major 2023, in our opinion. The changes in patch 7.33 completely ruined them, and we haven't seen a single game with them yet!