Okay, so I decided to sit down and actually make my own Dota 2 hero tier list. It’s something I’d been thinking about, especially after some rough games lately and arguing with buddies about who’s actually strong right now.
Getting Started – Just Thinking
First thing I did was just lean back and think about the heroes I’ve been seeing a lot. Which ones made me groan when the enemy picked them? Which ones felt like an easy win when they were on my team? It wasn’t very scientific, you know? Mostly just gut feeling based on my own recent matches. I play a fair bit, mostly around the Archon/Legend bracket, so this list is definitely colored by that experience. Stuff that stomps pubs there might not be top-tier pro material, and honestly, I don’t care much about the pro scene for my list.
Rough Categories
I didn’t get fancy right away. I just grabbed a notepad file on my computer. I started dumping heroes into super basic buckets: ‘Really Strong’, ‘Pretty Good’, ‘Meh’, and ‘Please Don’t Pick This’. Super technical, right? It was messy. I’d put a hero in one bucket, play a game, lose horribly to that hero, and immediately move it up. Or I’d try playing a hero I thought was good and just feed relentlessly, then bump it down.
Trying to Add Some Structure
Then I realized the role thing is a big deal. A hero might be trash tier as a carry but amazing as a support, or vice versa. So, I tried breaking it down a bit more. I wasn’t gonna make five separate lists, that’s too much work. Instead, I started thinking about a hero’s best role or their most common one in my games. It made things complicated fast. Like, where do you put Windranger? Or Mirana? They pop up everywhere. I kinda just had to make a call based on where I felt they had the most impact, or where they annoyed me the most.
- Started putting the obvious OP heroes at the top. You know the ones, the flavor-of-the-month types you see every other game.
- Then the clear underperformers went straight to the bottom. Heroes that just feel like they need buffs or don’t fit the way people are playing right now.
- The middle was the hardest part. Lots of heroes are just… fine. They work, but they don’t feel broken or useless. Moving these guys around took the most time.
Going Back and Forth
I spent a good chunk of time just shuffling heroes between my rough tiers. I’d look at two heroes in the ‘Pretty Good’ pile and think, “Okay, is this one really better than that one?” Sometimes I’d base it on how easy they are to play. A hero might be technically strong, but if they’re super hard to execute in a chaotic pub game, maybe they don’t deserve the highest spot on my practical list.
I also thought about counters. Some heroes seem amazing until the enemy picks their direct counter, then they feel useless. How do you rank that? I mostly decided to rank them based on their general performance when not hard-countered, otherwise, the list would be impossible to make.
Finalizing (Sort Of)
Eventually, I got it to a point where I felt okay with it. I tidied up the categories into the more standard S, A, B, C, D tiers because people understand that format better. S-Tier for the game-breakers, A-Tier for consistently strong picks, B-Tier for solid situational choices, C-Tier for niche or slightly underpowered stuff, and D-Tier for the heroes I really wouldn’t recommend right now.
It’s definitely not perfect. I know people will disagree, and that’s fine. It’s just based on what I’ve seen and played lately. Next week, after a patch or just more games, I’ll probably want to change half of it again. That’s just Dota, isn’t it? Always changing. But for now, this is my take.
