The outcome of the TI4
The dust has finally settled after an amazing Dota 2 spectacle - TI4 and it is time to get back to what we love to do the most - discuss statistics. While there are tons of articles regarding the overall meta of the tournament, it is also necessary to note the impact it had on the lives of the typical Dota 2 players.
While not necessarily calling for a new full-size Tier list, there are still a lot of changes in the popularity of heroes as well as their win rates that we would like to discuss.
Without further ado - the TI4 aftermath:
Brewmaster
I remember the first article that I was writing for Dotabuff was a comparison of different regions in regards to the popularity of heroes and Brewmaster was in the lowest 5 heroes by popularity for every region except for, surprisingly, Russia.
Granted, the hero received a decent amount of buffs all around the place, but it is the International what brought him to everyone's attention.
The hero's popularity peaked the day after TI4 and was in a steady decline ever since. Interestingly, this surge in popularity did not have a huge impact on win rate - it is very often the case that sudden increase in popularity for the hero decreases win rate by a significant amount due to an increased amount of inexperienced players failing to pilot the hero effectively.
What it tells us is that while the hero still requires a lot of attention to micro the spirits during his ultimate, it should not scare away newer players - availability of the "second life" (even if the only ability used is the mini-earth spirit's stun) still has a substantial impact on the flow of the battle.
Last thing I am going to mention about the hero is after you got your 
Blink Dagger you should look at opportunities to finish the game as fast as possible - the hero is extremely strong in the mid game but he tends to fall off really hard after the enemy carries get their 
Black King Bars and DPS items. If you look closely at the trends graphs you will see that while he does not necessarily become a useless hero at higher levels and longer games, his win rate starts approaching the average for all heroes at given level.
Tinker
Tinker is another very interesting hero to look at. A lot of people claim to see him almost every game and it is partially true - his appearance was at its peak in the middle of the last month at an impressive 17%. Since then it has started to gradually go lower up until the finals, where it stabilized at roughly 14%.
The win rate on the hero, however, is in a steady and consistent rise. Of all the intelligence heroes in the pool Tinker arguably has the highest potential, due to his ridiculous burst damage coupled with the ability to disable a priority target for a very long time.
Some of the performances during TI4 have shown this potential and learning from the professional scene the general public is making considerable improvements in how they play the hero. One thing to note, however, is that no matter how strong the hero is, he has to make up for what his team has lost in terms of gold gain - you can singlehandedly ruin the item progression for all of your teammates if you get too greedy.
Witch Doctor
Personally, I have always considered this hero to be very fun, but quite unfit for the competitive play. His ridiculously low HP as well as a very limited lane presence has put it off from my radar of reliable picks for quite some time.
But one of the reasons we love Dota so much is its complexity. The rise in popularity for 
Faceless Void (3rd most popular hero this week) in several roles have opened a lot of possibilities for the Witch Doctor to shine. While this combination is not necessarily new, it is still one of those things that can turn around a very bad game in your favor without you breaking a sweat.
Number-wise, his popularity has experienced a 2% increase in popularity over the course of the last month, peaking at 14.91% the day before the Grand Finals (probably as a result of an amazing Kuroky play). His win rate remains quite high currently sitting at ~54%.
Skywrath Mage
The hero has only recently been discovered by professional players, originally as a really great counter to Brewmaster and later as one of the most annoying supports to play against. On top of that the hero scales relatively well and has a lot of synergy with any lockdown.
It is only natural that the hero has found his place in the public meta - after all no one really wants to play a support role with a hero that while providing a lot of benefits for the team struggles to actually deal damage. His current pick rate sits at a rather impressive 13% and he is the 22nd most popular hero in Dota 2.
Shadow Shaman
Here is another case of the post-TI hype:
Interesting fact - Shadow Shaman was the first hero yours truly has played in the original Dota and according to the latest statistics I have with this hero I am still capable of playing him relatively well.
Nostalgia aside, the hero has a lot to offer to the team which goes in line with his 51% win rate and 24th position in the popularity list.
It is a shame that only 2 weeks after TI4 has finished, the pick rate for this hero has fallen so much. His ability to disable targets is almost unparalleled and his ultimate is amazing in the situations where your team needs an extra damage source in the teamfight or needs to push. If you are looking for a high-impact support hero perfection popularized by SirActionSlacks - look no further.
Razor
And lastly - the all-around popularity winner for the post-TI4 analysis. This hero does not necessarily have the highest increase in the pick rate, but it certainly feels like it. Coming from the pool of heroes that you would typically get on random and feel sad about it afterwards to one of the most prioritized picks in both competitive scene and public matchmaking this hero has a great deal to contribute to the success of your team.
Unlike many other core heroes, the damage comes to Razor quite naturally, letting the player to focus on utility/survivability items for himself or the whole team. The added strength growth in 6.81 had a substantial impact on his win rate while the countless professional matches that people could learn from solidified this success leading to a 53.66% win rate in the last month.
Another interesting fact - EE-sama got his 7k rating on the back of this hero.
There is not a lot left to say - if you are playing in the skill bracket high enough to dump relatively unreliable heroes like 
Pudge and 
Riki, chances are - you are going to see at least on of the aforementioned heroes. And it is better to come prepared.
Tinker-the post-TI4 pub cancer >.<
Dont rule out void
To me it seems Tinker has taken Pudges place in terms of pub picks, pre TI4 it was always a Pudge in game, now post TI4 it's Tinker, so annoying.
@Insomniac that's how it feels for me too. However, Pudge is still the #1 picked game in pubs, but I expect Tinker is more common in higher skill bracket pubs.
Quick question: Why does Phantom Lancer not get picked more often? Everyone used to complain on and on about how he required a nerf, did he get one?
^ no but almost every one else got buffs, so he is weaker relative to other heroes. People also started building mjolliner a lot more which is one of the best items to counter him.
"The TI4"
i liked void before it was cool
OUTCOME OF the ti4
OF the ti4
the ti4
the the international 4
the the
the the
queen of qop of pain
@up good point
fucking tinker pickers i hate them
Tinker is the new bara is the new furion is the new lancer is the new drow is the new riki.
Funny enough I don't run into Tinker that much.
I do run into that god damn shadow shaman all the fucking time though, and believe me he makes me want to kill a dog. Skywrath mage can also fuck off, been playing a lot of games lately against him.
Also been having to deal with phantom assassin in 85% of my matches now. It's ridiculous, especially if you're trying to learn a new hero like Lone Druid (Which is already one of my favorite heroes) or trying to have a good time.
Faceless Void I can agree does need a slight nerf on his evasion to where if you have monkey king bar he won't be able to evade.
It's Newbee's fault this shit is happening. I wish they were kicked out of the TI4...
EE-SAMA DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY
pick void > get threads and mask of madness > press R > win
he's in every match and he needs a goddamn nerf
the witch doctor combo makes it even more ridiculous
Faceless Void and Phantom Assassin need serious buffs.
With a void at 60GPM get MOM at 40 min.
Time Walk in Press R and end their sprees become rich and end the game.
Becomes so annoying with PA too.
The evasion coupled with lifesteal is seriously annoying.
You go in when PA has 100 HP hit thrice miss all times, she crits and then boom she has 500 HP back.
Newbee can jump into a pit of boiling oil for making Faceless Void, Shadow Shaman (Oh GOD fuck this guy), and Skywrath so common now. Phantom Assassin also can fuck off.
Guys, I'm not kidding. Before the Internationals, I never saw Shadow Shaman that much. Afterwards, it's rat dota time. Fuck you Newbee, fuck you. I am so angry about them ruining my fun on this game, now it's grief grief grief.
There's nothing you can do about Tinker. Perhaps Blink Dagger needs a rework?
FUCK YOU TI4, my beautiful tinker has been popularized and shit on by the general public. I will never forgive you. I liked tinker before it was cool.
Same here. I used to play tinker a lot, now I don't because I don't want to get yelled at.
Maybe we shouldn't have the TIs anymore if we're going to have asshats from China do Rat Dota style matches and have repeat offenders on pubs.
Each of those heroes can be countered. IMHO, Razor and Void really need nerfs. Skywrath and Shaman would be my 3rd and 4th on the list of most annoying heroes, but nowhere near damn Razor. He isn't inherently annoying, he's just way OP. My win rates with my most successfull heroes are usually 55-60%, but I'm 70% with Razor. And I don't even play him that well. Tinker is easy enough to counter.
volvo delete tinker plz!
I really thought there would be a mention of Meepo somewhere here. Of all the heroes I thought his popularity spiked the most and fell the quickest.