Here’s five heroes we expect to see in action during ESL One Malaysia 2022.

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ESL One Malaysia 2022 will be the last big event before The International 2022. The latter will take place in Singapore, and it will consist of the best teams in the world. Some of them have already received invitations for the event, whereas others will have to participate in the qualifiers.

There are a couple of weeks left until the Quals begin, so there is enough time for a big non-DPC event. ESL One Malaysia will have twelve teams and a $400,000 prize pool, which is pretty impressive. We’ve already done a complete overview of the event here, so make sure to read everything about it.

Having said that, this article will be slightly different because it will focus on heroes. Every big Dota 2 team has enough experience in the current meta, so we can expect to see a lot of popular heroes. However, there are a few options that you probably don’t think of, which is why we will share them in this article.

Aside from Razor, Puck, and Pudge, some of the best players in the world will pick loads of other options.

Visage

Visage is a fascinating hero that always had a role in professional Dota 2. This was never a popular hero in PUBs because some people think that it is not that strong. Furthermore, Visage is a hero with a really high skill cap, meaning that players need to know what they’re doing to succeed.

Of course, none of those things matter among professionals because the best players in the world definitely know how to use this hero’s potential. We can all agree that Entity is probably the best representation when it comes down to using Visage. The WEU team relied on the hero in many games.

What’s interesting about Visage is that this is the hero with the highest win rating on DotaBuff right now. As long as you get the correct items for the given game, you can use Visage to push and fight with your team.

Arc Warden

While we are on the topic of complex mid-lane heroes, we must mention Arc Warden. This is one of the cores that some people often forget about when deciding what to play. He is definitely not that easy to play, which is why only a few PUB players know what they’re doing.

Despite being one of the strongest mid-laners and late-game monsters, only a few pro players actually utilize Arc Warden. For example, Arteezy is among the few superstars that know how to use this hero and make the most of him.

Surprisingly, Arc Warden is also among the most successful heroes in PUBs so far. The hero has some flaws, such as the fact that he needs a lot of farm, but some pro teams always go for this tactic anyway. Hence, there is a good chance that we will see him a lot more often than we think.

Axe

One of the problems with the current meta is that the offlane is not what it once was. Instead of picking team-fight-orientated heroes, most pro teams focus on having a second carry or a hero that requires a lot of farm to be effective. Hence, we see things like Viper and Timbersaw all the time.

Fortunately, after checking the recent stats, it seems like one of the classic offlaners is slowly making his way into the meta, at least according to the win rate. Axe is a hero that allows a given team to be way more aggressive than usual. It offers great initiation and kills potential.

The bad thing about Axe is that the enemy team can counter him relatively easily. Sure, he can always surprise his opponents and use the Blink + Taunt combo, but some teams will do everything they can to stop him.

Speaking of Axe, Team Secret, one of the names at ESL One Malaysia 2022, is notorious for using Axe. Zai is arguably the best in the world with the hero, so we can expect to see him in action.

Warlock

Professional teams are cautious when it comes down to picking supports in Dota 2. Most of them want heroes that can survive and have some sort of disable. That’s why supports with stuns are usually popular in every meta.

Even though Warlock is not among the hottest picks right now, the hero has an impressive win rate, which indicates that some pro teams might decide to use him. 

Warlock is notorious for having one of the best team-fights ults in the game. Players often underestimate his Chaotic Offering, but this thing can be a pain to deal with, and it inflicts a substantial amount of damage.

What’s even more impressive about Warlock is that this is among the best lane supports for a squishy carry. Even though Juggernaut dominates the current meta, there are other carries that need more support. This is where Warlock comes to play.

Spectre

While talking about carries, we also have to mention one of the late-game monsters that is always a viable option. There is no arguing that Juggernaut is the best right now, but this hero can only end up in one team. The other one can definitely go for Spectre because she has one of the highest win rates.

Spectre is a well-known late-game monster capable of carrying her entire team. There are different builds you go for, but most players prefer to rush Aghs and get items that allow them to participate in the team fight. With that being said, some professional Dota 2 players might decide to test the old build where they had to rush Radiance. This item allows them to farm much faster and deal more damage.

Silencer

Finally, we have a hero that some teams often get when they want to counter a given hero on the enemy’s side, such as Enigma. Silencer is not the most mobile or hardy hero in Dota 2, but his ability to do a lot of damage and Silence everyone makes him incredibly dangerous. 

What’s interesting about Silencer is that the hero has more than a 52% win rate. He is also super easy to play, so we definitely expect to see him soon.

Be sure to stay tuned to ESTNN for all the highlights from ESL One Malaysia, plus Dota 2 betting tips, game guides and more!