ESL One Raleigh 2025 is in the books, and we learnt a lot about the current meta for Dota 2 as the top players in the world were able to showcase what works, and what should be left to theory crafting this patch.
This meta recap will try to show you everything you need to know about ESL One Raleigh, which was Played on the Dota 2 Patch 7.38c, the event allowed us to see 89 heroes in action. Some were more successful than others, so let’s dive into our meta-analysis, where we’ll cover everything you missed. Keep in mind that we will use that data from the Main Tournament, excluding the ESL One Raleigh 2025 qualifiers.
ESL One Raleigh 2025 Meta Recap
Image Credit: Valve
The Most Popular Heroes
If we look at the stats from Liquipedia, we will see that Tiny became the tournament’s most popular hero. With 40 appearances, he was the go-to option for almost all Dota 2 teams. This is probably not surprising because Tiny always had a role in every professional meta.
What’s also impressive about Tiny is the hero’s win rate. With a 55% win rate out of 40 matches, Tiny proved himself to be a reliable pick in the 7.38c Dota 2 meta. Currently, most teams use him as a core, but he is versatile and can fit into many different roles.
Aside from Tiny, Jakiro was also one of the preferred options, with 39 picks. The support has been dominating the position 4 roles since the arrival of the Wandering Waters update. Despite the nerfs, Jakiro remains a solid choice because of the hero’s fantastic utility. In terms of win rate, Jakiro scored 48.72%.
Finally, we have Ringmaster, the newest Dota 2 hero that was added to the professional meta. He appeared in 35 games and got an impressive 60% win rate. It will be very interesting to see if professional Dota 2 teams will rely on him for the PGL Wallachia Season 4.
Image Credit: Valve
The Most Banned Heroes
Nature Prophet takes the crown for the most banned hero at ESL One Raleigh 2025 with 81 bans in total. This is substantially more than the second on the list. In fact, NP was banned in 92.05% of the matches, which means he is incredibly strong right now.
Moving on to the second-most banned Dota 2 hero, we have Monkey King. He did not get the chance to play in 64 games, which may surprise those of you who’ve followed the tournament. MK appeared in 16 matches and only secured 4 wins, so it seems like teams are not sure how to use him properly.
Finally, we have Templar Assassin with 60 bans. This pick did not surprise us because the Dota 2 patch 7.38c made her one of the top-tier mid-laners in Dota 2. In fact, we expect her to continue to be one of the most banned heroes in remaining tournaments prior to the next big update.
Image Credit: Valve
Heroes With the Highest Win Rate
There are tons of heroes with a 100% win rate or 90%+, but most only appeared in a couple of matches tested. we will only focus on heroes with at least 10 games.
Some may not be surprised that Ancient Apparition became the Dota 2 hero with the highest win rate at ESL One Raleigh 2025. He is the best position 5 in the current meta, so his 75.86% win rate out of 29 matches may not surprise some of you. AA is in a league of his own right now because he works exceptionally well in the fast-paced meta that we are currently in.
Ember Spirit is the next name on the list regarding win rate. The midder/carry had the chance to play in 19 matches, and his win rate was 73.68%. This made him the most successful core.
Finally, we have Terrorblade. Historically, he has always been a solid pick in pro Dota 2 games, regardless of the meta. Terrorblade offers one of the best late-game potentials and can scale fast because of its impressive farming speeds. Going back to the ESL One Raleigh 2025 event, Terrorblade played in 16 games and secured a 62.50% win rate.
Image Credit: Valve
Heroes with the Lowest Win Rate
We briefly mentioned Monkey King’s abysmal win rate, so it’s no surprise that he is the first name on the list. His 25% win rate puts him in a weird spot because, despite not being successful, he is highly contested (which is proven by the number of times he was banned).
Our ESL One Raleigh 2025 meta recap with the second option continues on the list – Magnus. Surprisingly, he is also among the heroes with the lowest win rate because he got a 30.77% success rate.
Tusk is the last name on the list, with a 33.33% win rate. The annoying position 4 hero had the chance to play in 24 matches but only won 8 of them.
Which Heroes to Keep an Eye on For PGL Wallachia Season 4?
Considering that the PGL Wallachia Season 4 begins in just a few days from now, some people may wonder which heroes to focus on. Aside from those mention above, there are a few other names worth mentioning:
- Enigma – Despite only showing up in 7 games at the last event, Enigma’s stats were impressive. Therefore, we expect to see more of it.
- Elder Titan – One of the best counter-picks in the game against some carries will probably get more playtime next week.
- Sven – It seems like Sven is back in action and seems even stronger than before.