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HGC Meta Breakdown:MSB and the Global Meta Tier List
D. Va
Mid-Season Brawl is the first time D. Va has been allowed in the HGC, and she has been popping here and there in the tournament. So far it’s not entirely clear where she fits into the meta, but let’s take a quick look at her performance in the Mid-Season Brawl and some common builds for D.Va.
Mid Season Brawl (3 wins, 4 losses) 2 bans
Super Perfect Team vs Nomia Game 1, Game 2
Nomia Fat94 D. Va build Game 1
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#lRBuNomia Fat94 D. Va build Game 2
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#lRF4eStar vs Dignitas Game 1
eStarX D. Va build
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#lM6yDeadly Kittens vs Roll20 Game 1
DKEnavir D. Va build
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#lMJOeStar vs L5 Game 1
eStarX DVA build
https://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#lM6oDignitas vs Tempo Storm Game 1
TS cattle DVA build
https://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#lLoGFnatic vs Super Perfect Team Game 1
SPT Wings DVA build
https://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/dva#hd10HGC MSB Global Meta Tier List
Now that the group stage has concluded for the Mid-Season Brawl, a more unified meta game has emerged this tournament. Oddly enough, South Korea and China have adapted more to the Western regional picks than vice versa. Eastern regional favorites like ETC, Sgt. Hammer, Ragnaros, and Tychus have kind of been thrown by the wayside for more Western picks like Anub’arak, Greymane, and Abathur. Here are some of the most common hero picks along with their performance statistics through the MSB group stage so far. Let’s examine what picks and strategies have reigned supreme in the form of a tier list below.
S Tier(Must ban or pick)
Anub’arak 96% pick and ban rate, 63% win rate (24 wins, 14 losses, 22 bans)
Anub’arak has been the star of the Mid-Season Brawl so far. Before the tournament, the Nerubian tank was seldom used outside of the Western regions, but this international clash has seen his play rise in all regions. Anub’arak is first ban first/pick status on any map and with any composition. With reliable gap closers, the ability to chain cc, and one of the strongest team fighting heroics in the game it’s no wonder than Korea and China has adapted this hero into their drafts. In the hands of the MSB playoff teams, Anub’arak has a 76% win rate.
Uther 96% pick and ban rate, 58% win rate (17 wins, 12 losses, 31 bans)
The MSB could also be called the Uther Renaissance, because the paladin has become the new contested support pick in all regions. Part of this is because the Uther rework has made him a powerful healer with added utility through giving armor with heals. Another part is because Uther is crucial to synergize or counter the popular assassins of the tournament (Genji, Greymane, Illidan). Divine Shield allows these assassins to become even more powerful and Uther’s basic abilities help teams that are facing these assassins. When Uther was in the hands of the top 8 teams in MSB, he had a 76% win rate.
Genji 96% pick and ban rate, 51% win rate (20 wins, 19 losses, 21 bans)
It’s not surprising to those who have been following HGC since Genji premiered to see him in the S tier. Genji is the highest prioritized assassin in the meta and regularly draws early bans and picks. Genji pairs extremely well with other meta picks like Uther and Abathur. Additionally, teams that aren’t able to secure Anub’arak to Caccoon Genji struggle mightily.
Dehaka 93% pick and ban rate, 55% win rate (19 wins, 15 losses, 24 bans)
Just when you thought Dehaka would be nerfed out of first ban and pick status, Blizzard overtunes him back into S tier. Those that have followed the HGC this phase already understand the high impact that having a global teleport has on the game. Additionally, burst damage assassins like Genji, Greymane, and Zeratul have all but eliminated Falstad from drafts so Dehaka is a global king along with Abathur.
A tier(Strong picks, but not high ban priorities)
Malfurion 82% pick and ban rate, 55% win rate (24 wins, 19 losses, 8 bans)
After some of the balance changes on the live patch, this may be Malfurion’s last ride as a highly valued pick. It’s clear that his prioritization as a support has fallen behind Uther in MSB, but the druid is a nice consolation prize to teams that are unable to get Uther in the first wave of picks. His ban status has fallen significantly so it’s more likely for Malfurion to slip into drafts. Additionally, Twilight Dream serves as a good soft counter to some of the dive assassins that are seeing high levels of play this tournament.
Greymane 79% pick and ban rate, 44% win rate (20 wins, 25 losses, 4 bans)
Greymane’s win rate in the MSB may look like he isn’t up to par with his other dive assassin compatriots, but in the hands of the top 8 teams in the tournament, he has a 69% win rate which is actually higher than Genji’s win rate by top 8 teams. Still, the Worgen seems to play second fiddle to the Cyborg Assassin so far this tournament. His limited mobility compared to Genji means he’s more reliant on being paired with an Uther, Abathur, or Tyrael to reach his full potential. A very strong pick that is more likely to slip past the ban phase.
Tyrael 64% pick and ban rate, 39% win rate (13 wins, 20 losses, 7 bans)
Similar to Greymane, Tyrael’s win rate doesn’t tell the whole story. When filtering out the bottom teams, Tyrael’s win rate jumps to 60% which is pretty solid. Once only a coveted pick in the Eastern meta, the West has recognized the power of Sanctification and Holy Ground and incorporated it into their drafts.
Abathur 45% pick and ban, 87% win rate (14 wins, 2 losses, 12 bans)
When you filter out the bottom 4 teams of MSB, Abathur is a perfect 12-0. Yet again it’s another case of Eastern teams adapting the Western meta into their drafts. Before the MSB, Korea and China only picked or banned Abathur 8% and 7% of the time respectively. Abathur has S Tier potential on certain maps, and it seems like teams are pushing the limits of where they will run this hero. The only maps that haven’t had an Abathur played on them on Battlefield of Eternity, Dragon Shire, and Braxis Holdout and I believe at least one of those might see it before the end of the tournament. Abathur is another hero that gets vaulted a top priority pick because he synergizes so well with the meta assassins of Genji, Greymane, Zeratul, and Illidan. We’ve even seen top teams run Abathur clones on Li Mings, Vallas, and Falstads so Abathur has even more versatility in compositions than traditionally thought.
Zeratul 38% pick and ban rate, 66% win rate (4 wins, 2 losses, 18 bans)
Zeratul’s involvement has been a little puzzling this MSB. In HGC South Korea, Zeratul was first ban/first pick status, but now he doesn’t see much play even when unbanned. Most of the bans of Zeratul were teams playing against Soul Torturers out of respect for ZoLa, their strong Zeratul player. Teams seem to value Genji and Greymane much higher than Zeratul. Zeratul is pretty adept at ganking split pushers like Falstad and Zagara so maybe the fact that those heroes aren’t being played often is why Zeratul hasn’t been utilized as much. Either way, Zeratul is still a strong pick that synergizes well in the current meta of dive assassins and Abathur compositions.
Chen 11% pick and ban rate, 85% win rate (6 wins, 1 loss, 0 bans)
If you had told me before this tournament that Chen would look like a strong pick in the highest level of competitive play, well I would’ve thought you were crazy. Before MSB, we’d seen Chen as a niche solo laner on two lane maps like Braxis Holdout. But now, it seems like Chen has a lot more versatility. He dives backlines, he bullies solo laners, and, if your team is light on crowd control, he becomes an immovable object in team fights. Chen has also thrived at a target for Abathur hats in Abathur compositions. So far only MVP Black and Tempo Storm are the teams playing Chen, but with the success they’ve had with him so far, I imagine more teams will have to show the Pandaren Brewmaster more respect in drafts.
Arthas 27% pick and ban rate, 63% win rate (7 wins, 4 losses, 6 bans)
Arthas continues to be a strong pick in double tank compositions. The Lich King hasn’t seen a lot of play, but when he has it’s been effective. Most teams seem to slot Arthas in alongside Anub’arak, Dehaka, Tyrael, or Muradin without much issue.
B Tier (Solid picks)
Li Ming 53% pick and ban rate, 50% win rate (12 wins, 12 losses, 9 bans)
Unfortunately for Li Ming, the prevalence of Anub’arak and dive assassins makes it hard to be a mage these days. However, if a team was inclined to run a mage, then Li Ming is probably the safest option. She has excelled on maps like Towers of Doom to interrupt channels and Battlefield of Eternity to poke the immortals.
Muradin 32% pick and ban rate, 47% win rate (9 wins, 10 losses, 1 ban)
Muradin continues to be the solid tank pick that brings the crowd control and survivability without a lot of the frills of other top tank picks. He seems to be outclassed by Anub’arak’s intiation ability and he doesn’t have the global of Dehaka or a strong team fighting heroic ability like Tyrael. But in drafts where these heroes aren’t an option, Muradin can fill in well.
Illidan 37% pick and ban rate, 57% win rate (8 wins, 6 losses, 9 bans)
A surprise pick of the MSB. Illidan brings strong mercenary control and his Hunt heroic serves as a pseudo global. Additionally, Illidan has really emerged as a strong pick in a few different composition types. First, he’s showing up in traditional Illidan compositions that support him with Abathur hats and Tassadar shields. More surprisingly, another way that top teams have adopted Illidan is alongside Genji for extremely lethal dive compositions. These dive bros compositions really punish teams that don’t draft enough strong crowd control.
C Tier (Solid but need certain enablers)
Valla 45 % pick and ban rate, 45% win rate (9 wins, 11 losses, 8 bans)
Valla is one of the hero picks that the Eastern teams have retained from before the MSB. eStar, MVP Black, and L5 teams have shown an affinity to run double support Valla compositions and are 6 – 1 with it. With other priorities for bans and picks, there is a strong chance that picks like Auriel, Tassadar, and Zarya that power up Valla compositions will slip through and be a dominant force.
Lunara 12 % pick and ban rate, 71% win rate (5 wins, 2 losses, 1 ban)
Sometimes teams will sniff out a double support Valla composition in draft and will either ban or pick her away. In those cases, teams seem to be able to slot Lunara in that position without missing a beat.
Tassadar 43% pick and ban rate, 50% win rate (9 wins, 9 losses, 9 bans)
So Tassadar buffs have returned the Protoss support back into competitive play albeit not in the first ban status he previously had. Tassadar is the preferred choice for double support compositions where the incredible life steal on his shield powers up heroes like Valla, Lunara, Cassia, and Illidan.
Auriel 32% pick and ban rate, 44% win rate (8 wins, 10 losses, 2 bans)
Auriel is a very powerful pick for double support compositions, but needs a hypercarry pick to generate hope for her heals like Valla, Lunara, Cassia, or Gul’dan.
D Tier (High potential, but player or compositionally dependent)
Medivh 24% pick and ban rate,62% win rate (5 wins, 3 losses, 7 bans)
In the hands of great Medivh players, he can be a menace. Look to see teams continue to ban out Medivh against Roll20 Glaurung, because that team is a lot more dominant when they can run their comfort Medivh compositions. Additionally MVP has shown Medivh picks a few times and it’s more likely that the hero will slip through drafts to them than to Roll20.
Tracer 9% pick and ban rate, 75% win rate (3 wins, 1 loss, 2 bans)
Fnatic, Roll20, MVP Black, and L5 have all shown Tracer compositions in Mid-Season Brawl and have good Tracer players to back it up. When the draft aligns and enemy teams are light on crowd control, Tracer can be devastating.
Wild Card Tier (Not a great showing, but potential to counter high tier heroes)
Varian 27% pick and ban rate, 30% win rate (4 wins, 9 losses, 4 bans)
So Genji, Greymane, and Illidan are seeing heavy play and we’ve still yet to see consistent Varian counter picking which is curious. It could be that Varian typically needs to wait for his level 10 heroic ability Taunt to really come online as a reason why he’s not being played. I expect we will see more Varian play because he’s such a reliable counter to dive assassins that are being played nearly every game.
Sylvanas 11% pick and ban rate, 50% win rate (3 wins, 3 losses, 1 ban)
Sylvanas has already been used as a counterpick to Abathur, but I’d like to see more teams utilizing her. There is going to be a lot more Abathur play going forward so teams should start prepping ways to shut it down.
Lost Vikings 3% pick and ban rate, 0% win rate (0 wins, 1 loss, 1 ban)
Similar to Sylvanas, the Lost Vikings are a strong global to compete with Abathur compositions. A lot of the meta assassins are good at picking off Vikings, but it’s hard to believe that Dignitas and Fnatic will go a tournament without bringing out the strategy.
Kael’thas 6% pick and ban rate, 100% win rate (4 wins, 0 losses, 0 bans)
So Kael’thas has fallen out of the meta in HGC for some time now, but he’s had some niche play in MSB. It’s a tough life for immobile backline heroes in this meta, but Kael’thas does bring a crowd control ability which can be useful against the heavy dive that is being played.
Obviously I didn’t include every hero that was played in the Mid-Season Brawl, but hit most of the highlights that seem to be meta impacting. I’m interested to hear from you if there are any additional heroes that should be added to the Wildcard Tier as potential counter picks.
Next Time on HGC Meta Breakdown
Next time I’ll recap the playoff portion of the MSB and see if the rumors about teams withholding strategies in group stages is true.
Previous HGC Meta Breakdown
Matt MacNeil
Came here for the Abathur write-up, solid. So excited for the bracket to start tomorrow :D