How the Dota 2 meta evolved around the WePlay AniMajor group stage

The group stage of the second major of this Dota 2 season has just concluded, and we have seen many picks that have re-defined the meta in the 7.29d patch of Dota 2.

The group stage saw many plays and picks that became norms, thus making it viable for teams other than the ones who started it. Some of the little-picked heroes in DPC Season 2 were seen in action in the group stage, whereas some were thought to have gone off the meta after the 7.29d patch update was seen in action.

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The Meta as seen in the Dota 2 AniMajor Group Stage

The group stages of the WePlay AniMajor of Dota 2 Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021 just ended with 12 teams qualifying for the upcoming playoffs, which begin on June 9th.

This is the second and final major before The International 10, the most important Dota 2 Esports tournament. This being their last chance to prove their worth, securing a worthy position in this tournament is all that matters to the teams.

Some picks got really popular and were picked by players not minding their regions and were thus proven as some of the strongest heroes in this patch.

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#1 Carry Axe

Carry Axe was a trendy pick in the group stages of the WePlay AniMajor, as Wang "Ame" Chunyu, Michael "m'iCKe" Vu, Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte were seen picking it as a safe-lane carry.

Even though the Aghanim's shard upgrade was nerfed hard (Attack procs Counter-Helix Proc chance reduced to 5% from 10%), carry Axe is still a viable pick and is very much in the current meta.

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#2 Off-lane Broodmother

Since the nerf on the Insatiable Hunger in the 7.29c patch reduced the lifesteal from 70% to 40% in level 1, the Dota 2 community had presumed that the fearsome Arachnia would be little seen in the AniMajor. But the Evil Geniuses' off-laner, Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang had other ideas.

He picked Broodmother in many games in the group stage, dumpstered his lane opponents, thus allowing his carry player to get enough space to farm up until his items and win the games.

His impact on the game was evident, as Artour "Arteezy" Babaev did get enough space to farm in most games as Evil Geniuses finished fourth in the group stage to qualify in the Lower Brackets.

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#3 Spectre Echo Sabre

Jin "flyfly" Zhiyi was seen playing in this build in a few pub matches of Dota 2, but Igor "iLTW" Filatov successfully played in this in the group for the first time.

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#4 Templar Assassin New Item build

The Templar Assassin was picked many times in the group stages, and the Aghanim's Scepter was built on almost every occasion. As said by Brian "BananaSlammaJamma," Canavan "is the new Nature's Prophet due to her insane tower push potential.

Aghanim's Scepter enables TA to teleport to any other Psionic Trap on the map.