With the most recent update to the Compendium now live on the Dota 2 client, the window for The International 10 (TI10) tournament predictions is open. The Compendium itself has the usual round of prediction categories, all of which reward users with Compendium points for each correct prediction.
Stuck on your TI10 Compendium predictions? Read our guide to see what to place in your prediction slots this year. (Photo by Valve)
Of course, it can be difficult to pick out the best choices for each category. The hero predictions for instance have more than a hundred to choose from on paper. But as usual, that’s why we’re here: to help you decipher each bet and choose the best options as much as possible. If you fancy playing a bit of Dota Nostradamus, check out the following TI10 predictions guide!
Hero Predictions
Most Picked Hero: Silencer
The prediction for Most Picked Hero isn’t as simple as looking for the most broken hero in the patch and running with it. Such heroes are more likely to get contested in the first drafting phase anyway, meaning they are likely to get banned more often than picked. Cores are also more likely to get banned in the first phase, which removes picks like Weaver and Tiny from the outset.
The best choice, therefore, would be a support that isn’t just totally busted out of the gate. Silencer gets our pick here as a result. The buffs Nortrom received in 7.30 far outweigh the nerfs in the letter patches that followed, but he isn’t must-ban material in the first phase.
Most Banned Hero: Io
Whenever Io is a viable support — which it definitely is this patch (54.4 percent win rate in Divine/Immortal!) — you can bet that teams will avoid having to deal with it in the first place. The way Io is designed just makes it immensely powerful at the highest level of play.
It doesn’t help that Tiny is one of the strongest carries right now. Tiny and Io make up what is perhaps the most iconic hero combo in Dota 2 history, which makes the latter’s draft stock go up significantly.
Hero With the Highest Win Rate: Beastmaster
Beastmaster currently has the third-highest win rate in the Divine and Immortal MMR brackets, and is just a stable and solid pick overall. Top-tier offlaners like Daryl “iceiceice” Koh Pei Xiang also play him a lot, so we can expect to see him hit the field plenty at TI10.
Heroes that pair well with him like Spectre and Tinker are also popular right now, and we believe their synergy will help propel Beastmaster to the top.
Hero With the Highest Kill Average: Storm Spirit
Easy pick. It was either Ember Spirit or Storm Spirit for this category, as they are both very strong picks in the solo mid role right now. There being Storm Spirit specialists in Bucharest also lends well to this prediction.
Players like Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang of Invictus Gaming and Azel “Abed” Yusop are likely to bring the thunder with this hero.
Hero With the Highest Assist Average: Spectre
This category was quite tricky for us to figure out, as there are several choices that get assists but not necessarily their own kills. Clockwerk, Spirit Breaker, and Vengeful Spirit are actually all solid picks for this one, but ultimately we decided to go with Spectre. The Echo Sabre/Falcon Blade into Aghanim’s Scepter rush build is making waves in pubs right now. We have reason to believe that Spectre players will go the same route at TI10, which makes setting up mid game ganks way easier.
Haunt (R) being a global ability also empowers Spectre in this category, in the same vein as Zeus’ Thundergod’s Wrath (R) gets assists on the board.
Hero With the Lowest Death Average: Weaver
Weaver is a likely winner here, thanks to his current status as a broken hero in four out of the five positions and his natural propensity to narrowly escape death. Shukuchi (W) and Time Lapse (R) all help him survive long teamfights, if there is not enough lockdown and burst damage on the side trying to kill him.
Hero With the Highest Last Hit Average: Naga Siren
Naga Siren is currently on the rise as a carry. Small buffs adding up over the last several patches make her especially attractive in that role, and there are very few others that can match up to her in raw last hitting power. Luna is no longer in the metagame as well, so that’s one competitor out the window.
Hero With the Highest XPM Average: Night Stalker
With Night Stalker as one of the premier offlaners in the metagame right now, we think he’s got serious potential for this category. Night Stalker is able to facilitate ganks left and right as long as it’s night time, and even when it isn’t he can force the lights to go out with Dark Ascension (R).
This hero is going to be a terror (literally) in Bucharest, and his experience gain will be all the better for it.
Hero With the Most Kills in a Game: Storm Spirit
Goes hand in hand with everything we said in the Highest Kill Average category. We expect Abed to be the one to do the honors here.
Hero With the Most Last Hits in a Game: Terrorblade
Though Terrorblade has changed quite a bit since his frequent appearances at the WePlay AniMajor, there are still enough Terrorblade specialists in Bucharest to justify this selection. Artour “Arteezy” Babaev is the most well-known, and fans know just what he’s capable of with this hero.
And even if Arteezy doesn’t end up playing Terrorblade at TI10, there are others out there like Yawar “YawaR” Hassan and Yang “poyoyo” Shaohan that are known to pick him up every now and then. Poyoyo for example once scored 607 last hits as Terrorblade at the AniMajor.
Team Predictions
TI10 Winner: PSG.LGD Gaming
The most obvious choice. PSG.LGD Gaming has been on a tear in this latter half of the year. They were literally unstoppable in the AniMajor grand finals, and it looks like their understanding of the metagame is something that no one else in the field can match.
Unfortunately, though LGD have come very close to winning The International in the last three years, they always manage to fall just short of the Aegis of Champions. If you think this is enough to dissuade you from picking them, other good options include EG, Invictus Gaming, and even OG as we mentioned in our round table predictions.
Team With Most Kills in a Game: Evil Geniuses
With an explosive and extremely skilled mid laner in their midst, EG is a clear choice for this category. Abed is one of the most gifted players in Dota 2 right now, and is very likely do to the bulk of the assassinations for EG. They’re also the strongest early game team in the tournament, which means kills, kills, and more kills in the laning phase.
Team With Highest Kill Average: OG
Fairly straightforward selection here too. OG’s frightening mental game means they become more and more dominant as The International goes on. This being an “average stat” type category means, in turn, that they are the ones most likely to win this as long as they don’t get knocked out early.
And, well, we know how OG likes to do things at TI: go all the way to the top, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. There’s really just something about them that makes us confident that they can do it again for the third year running.
Team With the Most Assists in a Game: T1
T1’s support duo made a name for themselves at the AniMajor, with Kenny “Xepher” Deo in particular really showing the world just what he’s capable of in his role. Both he and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon are truly scary when they’re on the ball, and truly embody what it means to be a support player.
Thus, we have plenty of faith that they’ll turn up in Bucharest and rack up plenty of assists together throughout the tournament.
Team that Wins the Longest Game: PSG.LGD Gaming
Squads that can keep their composure in marathon games typically come out on top, especially in a high-pressure competitive environment such as The International. LGD have shown us throughout the season that they fit that bill, so they get our vote in this category.
Team that Wins the Shortest Game: Evil Geniuses
Not a very difficult choice here. Teams that tend to stomp their opponents in the laning phase can get them to tap out quickly. EG being the strongest laning team in the field means that they’re a shoo-in for this category.
Team With the Highest Game Length Average: T1
As we mentioned in our TI10 viewer’s guide, T1 are masters of extending games to fit their late game-dependent play style. Also, their momentum from recent results tells us that there’s a chance for them to make it quite far in Romania, thus bumping up their possible game duration numbers over several days of competition.
Team that Picks the Most Different Heroes: PSG.LGD Gaming
There’s no choice more obvious than this one. Given that LGD are being compared to the legendary Wings Gaming, it’s extremely easy to see them picking almost every hero in the pool at TI10.
Team that Picks the Fewest Different Heroes: Evil Geniuses
This category could very well go in different directions, especially if some of the lower ranked teams get bounced out early. But if you’re looking for a selection that isn’t just a coinflip between those that probably won’t make it past the top eight, EG is a fairly solid choice. They rely a lot on their comfort picks like Storm Spirit and Terrorblade, and could very well be the winners of this category after it’s all said and done.
Player Predictions
Player With the Highest Kill Average: Abed
What do you get when you put an absolute superstar like Abed in a tournament that produces highlights at every turn? Tons of kills, that’s what. As he is likely to get a hold of at least a few of his signature heroes here (they can’t possibly ban all of them), we’re sure to see Abed absolutely pop off as he is wont to do.
Player With the Most Kills in a Game: NothingToSay
![NothingToSay [Lina] Top 3 Europe Rank - Dota 2 Highlights TV](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AU07du7IT2k/hqdefault.jpg)
The best mid laner in the world right now deserves to be the top choice in this category. NothingToSay is an absolute beast, and though he might not get the highest kill average in the tournament, he’s a strong pick for most kills in a single game.
Player With the Lowest Death Average: Ame
Wang “Ame” Chunyu is the quintessential Chinese carry, and with that comes a penchant for avoiding death whenever possible. He won this category at TI9, and it’s easy to see him winning it again this year given how well he and his team have been playing.
Player With the Highest Assist Average: Fly
Tal “Fly” Aizik will always be a fantastic pick for this category, because he’s just that good of a hard support player. He’s one of the cogs in the well-oiled laning phase machine that is Evil Geniuses, too, which means assists will just come naturally to him as the tournament goes on. This also wouldn’t be the first time he’d win in this fixture, either, so he’s just solid overall here.
Player With the Most Assists in a Game: s4
One would think that a superstar support player like Elephant’s Xu “fy” Linsen would be the absolute best choice here, and honestly he might be given his accomplishments in that role over the years. But there’s one thing that fy isn’t: a TI champion. Former International winner and veteran extraordinaire Gustav “s4” Magnusson is more than capable of scoring a ton of assists in a single game, as evidenced by last year’s results as well.
Player With the Highest Last Hit Average/Player With the Most Last Hits in a Game: Arteezy
Everyone knows that farming up a storm is Arteezy’s specialty. Naga Siren is also on the rise right now as we mentioned in the hero predictions, which Arteezy himself will definitely take advantage of at TI10. Expect this mechanically-gifted carry player to win these two adjacent categories at the same time.
Player With the Most GPM in a Game: K1
Héctor Antonio “K1” Rodríguez is the player whom beastcoast revolves their game plan around. He is all about shooting for deep late game scenarios, in order to get ahead of the enemy team just in terms of sheer net worth. It is therefore not a stretch to see him racking up the highest GPM value for a single game in the entire tournament.
If beastcoast were a much better team than they are currently, K1 would be a good pick for last hit average as well. But as things are, we don’t see them getting too far at TI10, which will bring his average in that category down significantly.
Player With the Highest GPM Average: Arteezy
As a pure carry with a ton of skill and a team that is likely to make at least the top three, Arteezy is a clear choice here. Average categories take a team’s longevity to account, so he’s one of the most likely winners. He just needs to avoid getting shut down early on so that he can farm to his heart’s content.
Player that Plays the Most Different Heroes: NothingToSay
We mentioned NothingToSay’s extremely deep hero pool in our round table predictions, which means he is a hundred percent the most obvious pick here. The man can make so many heroes work for himself, and we think he’s going to do just that at TI10.
Tournament Predictions
We’ll be honest here: tournament predictions are typically a crapshoot, as there are just too many variables at play here. Anything can happen at The International especially, and there’s a wide range of choices available in each category. That said, we tried our best to pick the above with a rhyme and reason.
First off, let’s discuss the categories related to the hero pool. TI has always been a tournament where almost every hero is picked or banned. Teams really like to get creative and pull out pocket strategies at The International, and so we think that the entire hero pool will be used and restricted in equal measure.
Next up is the category for highest GPM by a hero in a single game. This will always be dominated by Alchemist, just by nature of his passive ability Greevil’s Greed (E). Now, this isn’t to say that Alchemist is meta right now. But considering that some team will pick him at least once, it’s reason enough to choose “1,000+” in this category.
As for the rest, it really depends on how games play out over the course of the tournament. The choices we’ve made in the remaining categories are based on statistics from previous iterations of The International, where crazy things definitely happened in a lot of games.
