Why is Dazzle the most contested hero at TI12?

The group stage of International 2023 (TI12) concluded with a spectacular showcase of the current Dota 2 meta. Surprisingly, the most contested heroes are support heroes, most notably Dazzle.

Taking the crown as the most banned hero at TI12 and among the top three most contested, he stands just behind Treant Protector and Pangolier.

Let’s take a deep dive into what makes Dazzle such an uncommon pick at TI12 will give us a glimpse of the meta landscape as we approach TI12 Playoffs this weekend.

Dazzle’s statistics at The International 2023

Sporting the highest ban rate at TI12, it indirectly led to Dazzle’s low pick rate. He was only played in 13 games, in which he has a 69% win rate. Of course, with such a small sample size, it’s not sufficient to claim Dazzle is winning games.

It’s Dazzle’s capabilities that truly define the consequences of letting a team pick him. For starters, Dazzle has a powerful long-range slow Poison Touch, which serves as an effective harassing spell in lanes. At level 1, it provides kill potential if an opponent doesn’t run away from Dazzle as the slow debuff will keep refreshing at every Dazzle’s attack.

And frankly, there’s much to fear about Dazzle just because of his first skill, which puts him among the most banned heroes at TI12. Regardless, his other skills also offer a decent heal, albeit at a heavy mana cost, and a saving grace, Shallow Grave. An ally under the effect of Shallow Grave will not have his health drop below 1 HP, essentially saving him for some extra time.

The heal, Shadow Wave, is an AOE-based heal which deals higher amounts when there are more units. Finally, his ultimate, Bad Juju, is a stack-based ability, which basically decreases Dazzle’s cooldowns and improves armor at the expense of Dazzle’s health.

Why is Dazzle the most banned hero at TI12?

While there isn’t any significant change to Dazzle’s skills per se, Dazzle’s impact in TI12 meta has much to do with the current carry trends. Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, and Spectre are popular picks at TI12.

These heroes have one aspect in common, the ability to create multiple illusions. In CK’s case, CK and his illusions can instantly deal massive damage on a target with a slight of CK’s Reality Rift ability. Yet, Dazzle’s affordable pick-up on Aghanim’s Shard grants him the ability to destroy illusions using Poison Touch. For the unwary, the shard ability applies a hex onto multiple targets, rendering CK’s illusions, clumped up together, obsolete.

This same can be said for Naga Siren and Spectre’s illusions, too. Plus, in general, many teams at TI12 attempt to secure a numbers advantage over their opponent by picking off an easy target before a fight occurs. Dazzle’s saving abilities and cheap upgrade of a Hex, make him a threat against many hard carries.

Other Dazzle perks as a Support

Other benefits of Dazzle being in the draft include his armor improvement and reduction from Bad Juju, which can really cripple an opponent’s durability in fights. Moreover, the Hex ability forces opponent carry players to rush BKB or even prematurely trigger BKB usage to avoid getting hexed.

Given Dazzle’s easy access to powerful AOE-based Hex, it’s no wonder why every team couldn’t risk having him on the playing field. He is too much of a counter to many TI12 teams’ cheese picks, that it would be tedious to switch up their entire line-up just than to just ban him initially.

As we head into TI12 Playoffs, don’t expect to see Dazzle in any games, considering the dire consequences of letting him fall to the hands of another team.