DPC Winter tour: 5 reasons Weaver was the most feared Dota 2 hero in pro play

Weaver has emerged as the most feared hero during the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Winter Tour, having been banned a total of 227 times across all Division I games.

Weaver was the most banned hero in both American regions, the second most banned hero in Southeast Asia, and the third most banned hero in both European regions. With that said, the hero was mostly ignored in China, where he couldn’t crack the top 10 list of most banned heroes.

So why are Dota 2 pros banning Weaver so much? Here are five reasons why we believe Weaver is one of the best heroes in Dota 2 patch 7.30e, and why he is the most feared hero of the Winter Tour.

Draft flexibility

For years Weaver was seen as a tempo carry with high mobility and a risky playstyle. The hero’s early game prowess enabled him to join fights with impressive burst damage from Shukuchi and Germinate Attack. The Swarm also provides his allies with vision, making it much easier to land spells during early skirmishes.

But now Weaver can take on the role of both the team carry as well as a support role. While he has shifted more towards being a Position 4 support since the previous DPC season, he remains a potent carry, as Nigma’s Igor “iLTW” Filatov proved in a recent pub game where he went 16-2-15.

In North America, Weaver was picked 17 times with an incredible 70% win rate. What’s interesting about his record is Weaver was picked during the first pick phase in every single game he was picked in.

Teams don’t care if he gets countered, Weaver can be picked early in a draft and reveal nothing to the enemy team.

If Weaver gets countered he is then shifted into a support role, which is what he was mainly played as in North America.

This draft flexibility is highly valued by team captains, and one of Weaver’s strongest strategic benefits.

Support Weavers can also carry the game

The current support Weaver item build is set in stone. Players rush a Spirit Vessel to gain access to a damage over time spell that doubles as a heal. The item deals a percentage of the enemy’s health as damage while also reducing all healing and HP regeneration on its target, making it a potent weapon at all stages of the game.

After Spirit Vessel, Weaver will focus on building Aghanim’s Scepter to allow him to use his Time Lapse ultimate on his teammates when they get initiated on. This is how most Weavers itemize in North America.

Past Aghanim’s Scepter, pros tend to go back to Weaver’s carry roots and start building damage items. The most common route is building Maelstrom into Gleipnir, giving Weaver an area-of-effect root late in the game combined with strong damage output.

This strong scaling was seen during game two of Arkosh Gaming vs simply TOOBASED, when Francis “FLee” Lee’s Weaver dealt more damage than both the team offlaner Nick “Lil_Nick” Hartzler’s Tidehunter and Eric “Ryoya” Dong’s mid lane Kunkka.

Time Lapse gives Weaver an unparalleled save

Weaver’s ultimate Time Lapse allows him to go back in time five seconds. This repositions him to where he was alongside giving him the same health and mana values he had at the time. On top of that, the spell also applies a strong dispel.

While most ultimates focus on giving the hero more damage or control, Weaver’s ultimate provides him with a lot of utility.

The reposition aspect of Time Lapse allows Weaver to jump into dangerous situations, draw out enemy spells, and then Time Lapse himself to safety.

This is perfectly demonstrated in game two of Arkosh Gaming vs simply TOOBASED when FLee went high ground against Arkosh and drew out both Queen of Pain and Shadow Demon’s ultimates, giving his team two fewer spells to worry about in the ensuing siege.

Time Lapse gets more versatile once Weaver purchases Aghanim’s Scepter. While the spell’s cast range is limited, Weaver is one of the most mobile heroes in the game and will usually get the save off in time.

Weaver is a nuisance in the laning stage

What Weaver lacks in stuns, he more than makes up for with his physical damage and ability to cause chaos in the enemy ranks. Weaver’s Shukuchi deals magical damage to all enemies he passes by while providing him with max movement speed and invisibility.

Skukuchi allows Weaver to trade hits effectively during the laning stage, as he can weave in and out of fights as he likes. The invisibility aspect forces enemy supports to buy sentries or suffer constant damage from Weaver. Dust of Appearance isn’t a counter to Weaver, as he doesn’t get slowed by the spell and can remove the debuff with Time Lapse.

The constant harassment, the ability to shrug off both Dusts and Sentries, and Weaver’s high mobility all make him one of the hardest position four supports to lane against.

The Swarm is too strong right now

Weaver’s Swarm ability provides a little too much right now. The spell sends bugs out in one direction that then latch on to enemies. These bugs do damage over time, preventing enemies from using Blink Dagger. Swarm also provides vision of all enemies they latch on to. And the icing on the cake? The bugs reduce enemy armor as well.

Weaver can use The Swarm to scout out enemies, delay creeps from pushing a lane, deal extra damage, and even to help bring down Roshan, as the armor reduction applies to him as well.

Once the spell is upgraded by Aghanim’s Shard, The Swarm gets even more ridiculous. It now reveals invisible enemies and enemies who have bugs on them also take Geminate attacks.

In short, The Swarm is overbuffed right now, which is perfect for Weaver, as he is one of the most overpowered heroes in Dota 2 patch 7.30e. Icefrog will definitely be bringing the nerf hammer in the upcoming patch, but until then, be sure to pick Weaver in pubs to grind that MMR.

Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.

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