The First Two Days of TI7
The International 2017 has so far been a stellar example at how diverse the current patch is. What began last year has remained a trend until this year. Day 2 of last year’s International boasted 88 out of 110 heroes picked, but this year has seen 100 out of 112 heroes picked so far. Additionally, 105 heroes have been picked or banned already as well, tying the record set by TI6 who had this exact number after the entire event.
Chinese powerhouse 
LGD Gaming and their sister team 
LGD.Forever Young started off strong, topping their respective groups on day 1. LFY has remained unbeaten even on day 2 and LGD is currently 2nd in group A, right behind 
Team Liquid. The biggest disappointment of the group stage so far are North-American fan favorite 
Équipe 1333179 and South-East Asian all-star team 
Ascent Esports, who have only 1 win to their name respectively and are both at the bottom of their groups.
Trending heroes
The most contested heroes so far have been the initiators and playmakers, such as Earthshaker, Night Stalker, Nyx Assassin and Faceless Void. The latter however fell out of favor quite a bit and was picked only 4 times on day 2.
The so far biggest meta upsets/surprises are Pugna (8 picks, 75% win rate), Sven (14 picks, 79% win rate), Kunkka (16 picks, 69% win rate) and Lycan (19 picks, 63% win rate). Previous meta staples have dropped off quite a bit, such as Earth Spirit (18 picks, 33% win rate), Clockwerk (17 picks, 23% win rate) and Queen of Pain (22 picks, 45% win rate).
The meta has become very push oriented and a lot of teams see split pushing as a more and more viable strategy. Team Liquid has picked Broodmother twice and 
Nature's Prophet has become a very situational pick as well.
These are the unpicked heroes so far, some of which--Huskar, Meepo, Lion, Clinkz, Warlock--have been banned. Especially the banned heroes are likely to be picked, but as we explained in a previous blog, the likes of Tiny could see some play as well. As the split push meta continues to develop, Spectre might just see the light of day as well.
Top 5 Games
Team Empire vs. Team Secret Game 1
Going into TI7, Team Empire had to replace carry player Chappie who couldn’t make it due to visa related issues. As a last-minute stand-in, former Empire captain and Planet Odd carry Resolut1on came to the rescue and he already delivered in his first game.
It may not be a million dollar Dream Coil, but a timely Chronosphere turned the tides quite quickly in this game. Mega creeps, huge team fights and split push, this game had it all.
Often regarded as a dark horse, TNC had a lot to prove in this opening match-up vs. EG. Dropping game 1 to the North-Americans, TNC pulled out some of their signature heroes to make life harder for EG in game 2. 54 kills in 36mins, this game will not disappoint you.
Team Secret had a shaky day 1 and with 3 ties, the European squad would face one of the stronger teams in their group. On the back off MidOne’s Invoker, Secret looked to secure victory against the South-East Asian powerhouse.
Going into this match, Digital Chaos only had a poor performance against Virtus.pro to show for. In game 1 however, the North-Americans proved that they are no push-overs and convincingly took the win. Game 2 however was a much more intense encounter, as Kiev Major champions OG are not to take lightly--ever.
An absolute bloodbath. 40 minutes, 91 kills. You shall not be bored.
hm. okay.
LFY surely top 4 in TI in my opinion, but still go Team Liquid
gg ez ok
where midone goes i go as well. malaysianpride
Please post the heroes which were not considered for pick and ban as well.....and the reason they might not be picked in further games...
i just love how every american hates liquid but they are the best non-chinese team rn
жидкие ауе
go Liquid!
go miracle go liquid
Wait for final
how come warlock is not picked yet he is rly good support and strong in team fight, mb for main stage , huskar should too i think some1 will do huskar strategy
Many of, or all of, TNC's losses seem like throws, in my opinion. None more obvious than Game 1 of their series vs Secret, where they diebacked multiple cores for no good reason, but even their loss against EG felt thrown considering their decent starting lead, and their loss against Empire, which they lost just under 80 minutes, with a Naga that was almost unimpeded in farm. But the latter 2, give credit of course to the opponents, striking with precision and slowly sapping the game away.
Fnatic is so disappointing. Cloud 9(Team NP) much more so, nobody truly expected Planet Dog(HR) to do much even after their stunning qualification, but C9 should be performing much better than this. DC and Secret also feel a little underwhelming, for the pure fact that they have 10K Doto. OG are still within upper bracket, but seem to be rattled.
Chinese Dota seems to be on the rise again, with both LGD squads leading the way. Excited to watch the upcoming round of games!
"on the back off" should be "on the back of" i think
"The meta has become very push oriented and a lot of teams see split pushing as a more and more viable strategy."
Didn't I say this before @1-IceTea 🌟? You have a very low understanding of the game and very low analytical skills.
I guess there are 3 clear strats this patch.
Deathball: A mix of 3-4 initiators and 1-2 pushers. EG favors this strat a lot.
Split push and summons Sieging: Amix of Lycan + Bulldog heroes+ Shadow shaman, Visage, Veno. Liquid likes this.
Turtling - 4 protect 1: A mix of 4 early-mid gamers and a late gamer like Morph, Anti-mage, Invoker, etc. OG and some Chinese teams like this.
liquid also likes deathball, but it's more like a shitstomp with lategame heroes
I feel like all heroes will be picked, or if not all, all but 1/2
That infamous/fnatic game.... wow!