The Gods That Won DreamHack

Smite Masters at DreamHack was the cap to the Spring Split of Smite esports. The tournament was held at Jönköping, Sweden. A quarter of a million dollars were distributed among nine teams from five regions. This article is not a look at the teams or players that were at DreamHack, but instead the gods picked and banned. We will be looking at the most picked gods, the strongest gods, and some that may have been valued incorrectly.

 

There were 21 Smite games played over the course of DreamHack and 55 gods were picked or banned during the Tournament. Only one character, Raijin, achieved 100% pick/ban rate while six gods were present in at least 80% of games. Nine deities won 100% of the games they were picked in, but none were played more than three times. On the other hand, 15 gods were picked but did not win a single game. The majority of gods fell in the middle.

Raijin

Raijin was the only character to have a 100% pick/ban rate at the tournament. He was the second most banned character with 12 bans and picked in every game he wasn’t banned in. The strength of Raijin was apparent in the games. His early game clear allows him to control the middle lane and put pressure on the opponent. Raijin also has a very strong late game with the insane burst damage from his ability combo as well as an ultimate that can assassinate a single character or corral an enemy team. This god is also one of the safest mages in the game, able to cast an uninterruptable teleport to get out of a bad fight. Raijin was a monster in the SPL and there is no surprise he was the god pick at DreamHack

  

Top Picks

The only character banned more times than Raijin was Nemesis. She received 16 bans and was only ignored in the first game of the event, in the match between Red Canids and Kaos Latin Gamers. This leaves Nemesis with only four games played. While she only was only victorious in one game, it is not fair to say she is overvalued. One of her loses was on the Latin American team when they fought Enemy and her other two loses were against a Raijin pick. Nemesis’ one win was when she was on the same team as a Raijin and that game showed the power of Nemesis and her ability to shred enemies and set up easy kills for her team.

The most played Jungler was Thor. Out of 21 games, Thor had 10 bans and 10 picks, giving him the same pick/ban rate as Nemesis and tying for second most picked character. Thor had an impressive 80% win rate, only losing twice the whole tournament.  Part of Thor’s massive success is his versatility as a jungler; he can be an assassin or a setup tank or a bruiser hybrid. Thor’s flexibility allows his team to excel and makes him a strong pick.

The jungle picks were a huge part of Smite at DreamHack and Susano and Ao Kuang played a large role in this. Susanoo was played three times, banned in 14 games, and ignored in four. Ao took 10 bans and was picked in 4 games, being skipped over seven times. These two characters were thought of as the top jungle picks coming into the tournament and their ban count shows. Ao Kuang won three of this four games while Susano only won a single game. In all seven showings, these characters looked impressive, even when they couldn’t carry a game by themselves.

Guan Yu was also a top pick at Smite Masters. He was the other god with at least 10 bans throughout the tournament. The in and out of combat sustain that Guan provides makes him a strong pick in Smite. His abilities also grant his team additional utility such as protection shred and initiation. Guan is traditionally played as a solo laner, but can also support. Out of his nine selections, Guan was played solo five times and support four. This season, Enemy’s PainDeviande is the frontrunner of Guan Yu support and during DreamHack, he played it twice and had it picked or banned away in the other five games Enemy played in. Panthera’s Dimi also relied on the power of Guan Yu a few times during the event.

 

Support

One part of the Smite Masters LAN meta that surprised many people is the support picks. Throughout the Spring Split, Khepri was the best support by far. However, at the tournament, Khepri was banned four times, three of which were by KLG and only picked one time, in a loss. A combination of meta changes and a series of nerfs caused Khepri to be valued less.

In his place, there were two supports that stood above the rest, Bacchus and Sobek. Bacchus was included in 18 games while Sobek was used in 14. These gods had steadily gotten more play over the course of the SPL and this culminated at DreamHack. The support meta has shifted away from a defensive backline style to more aggressive gods with disruption skills and high damage. Bacchus and Sobek excel in these areas. Both have the ability to initiate and allow their team to easily pick off a target. They also have artificial protections built into their kits which allows them to survive for longer while picking off targets and disrupting the enemy lines. Bacchus and Sobek are ideal picks in the current support meta.

Hunter and Solo

In the DreamHack tournament, the hunter and solo roles were not as focused as the other roles. The most picked were Apollo and Ravana, respectively, who were either picked or banned 10 times total. This means that the top hunter and solo were involved in less than half of games, which means that the pool of these roles were deeper and there were more gods selected.
 

Conclusion

Smite Masters at DreamHack was an international tournament that capped off the Spring Split. Over 21 games, 55 gods were contested. Raijin dominated the mid lane, with a 100% pick/ban rate. Nemesis, Thor, Ao Kuang, Susano and Guan Yu were heavily represented picks. The support role was controlled by Bacchus and Sobek. Hunters and the solo lane had wider pools chosen from. With the Spring Split over, there will be a short break before the Fall Split starts and competitive Smite resumes.

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