DreamLeague Season 26 Meta Analysis – How Did 7.39b Affect The Top Picks & Bans?

Dota 2

June 2, 2025

Luke Warr

After PARIVISION ripped through their competitors at DreamLeague Season 26, it’s time for our in-depth meta analysis. This Dota 2 tournament was even more interesting than usual because Valve dropped patch 7.39 in the middle of it. The teams even played on 7.39b, a minor update that tweaked some of the overpowered heroes.

This Dota 2 event gave us access to loads of games, so we have plenty of data to work with. Diving deep into a given tournament’s meta is always interesting, so let’s see what happened. All numbers here are courtesy of Liquipedia.

Image credit: Valve

Top Picks of DreamLeague Season 26

Supports are almost always among the top picks of any tournament because they are an essential part of a given team’s tactic. DreamLeague Season 26 was no exception, and we can see that Shadow Shaman is leading the list with 96 games. SS was among the hottest supports in the previous meta, but he is also a solid pick right now. After all, he secured a 53.13% win rate out of almost 100 matches.

Moving on to 2nd place on the list, we have Ringmaster. One of the latest Dota 2 heroes appeared in 80 matches and secured a 52.50% win rate. Those following the professional meta for a while won’t be surprised he is here because Ringmaster is a fantastic support that works in many lineups.

TB has always been a solid choice for a carry in the pro meta, and teams like him very much right now. After appearing in 73 matches, TB ended with a 45.21% win rate.

Templar Assassin. Image Credit: Eleonora Noura Adbrakhmanova

Most Banned of DreamLeague Season 26

Every Dota 2 tournament has at least a couple of heroes that receive an automatic ban, and DreamLeague Season 26 was no exception. If we analyze the stats, we see that Templar Assassin leads this chart with 156 bans. As you will see in just a bit, she is also the most successful hero at the event, so it’s no surprise that players did not want to face her.

The second place for the most banned hero goes to Bristleback. The incredibly annoying offlaner/carry got 155 bans and proved once again that he is a great pick. Despite the minor nerfs in the 7.39 Dota 2 patch, BB remains one of the best, and we’ll most likely see more of him in the future.

Lastly, we have Beastmaster with 134 bans. The offlaner/mid-lane powerhouse is tough to counter in the current meta. He does an impressive amount of damage, finally allows his team to push much faster, and can be very annoying to lane against.

Image credit: Valve

Most Successful Heroes

When talking about the most successful heroes at DreamLeague Season 26, we will only include names that appeared in over 10 games. It’s probably not surprising that Templar Assassin is leading the chart with a jaw-dropping 80% win rate out of 25 games.

TA has dominated in the last couple of months, so the 7.39 and 7.39b patches nerfed her core abilities. We definitely expect to see less of her in the next few months, but the hero was on another level at DLS26.

Undying is the next name on the list with a 73.33% success rate out of 15 games. These stats may surprise some of you because Undying is usually not the go-to option in pro games. Despite that, it seems like some teams have been testing different tactics around him.

Oracle can be very annoying to play against, especially when you pair him with some of the last of the more aggressive heroes in the current meta. He received solid buffs in the 7.39 Dota 2 patch, so we expect to see more of him in the future.

Least Successful Heroes

After revealing the most successful Dota 2 heroes at DreamLeague Season 26, it’s time to do the same, but this time, we will focus on the least successful options. As mentioned, all heroes here appeared in more than 10 games.

Dragon Knight was the first name that did not perform as well as we expected. The hero finished with a 20% win rate out of 15 games, which is one of the worst results we have seen.

The second place on the list goes to Disruptor and his 30% win rate. Even though we expected to see more from one of the hottest supports right now, the hero only appeared in 10 games and failed to impress us.

Speaking of failing to impress, Batrider is the last name here, and he only secured a 30.77% win rate out of 13 games. An interesting fact about Batrider is that he got solid buffs after the Spring Forward update, so we expect to see more of him in the upcoming Dota 2 events.

Heroes That We Did Not See in Action at DreamLeague Season 26

Although DreamLeague Season 26 allowed us to watch numerous high-quality Dota 2 games, some heroes did not get a single pick or ban. To be precise, 19 heroes in total did not receive a single pick. Some include Witch Doctor, Specter, Zeus, Legion Commander, and Necrophos.

Aside from that, 26 Dota 2 heroes did not get a single ban. This list has names like Ogre Magi, Dazzle, Clockwerk, Pudge, Skywrath, and so on.

Keep in mind that this Dota 2 event was played on two completely different metas because of the Spring Forward update. The teams had to adapt to the new changes on the fly, so we expect different results in the next big tournament. And, coincidentally, The International qualifiers will begin in just a couple of days, so don’t forget to follow the action. Beyond this, the event was missing two major teams, Team Liquid and Tundra Esports. We can only imagine what the next tournament will be like!