{"id":14750,"date":"2026-03-20T13:11:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T13:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/?p=14750"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:58:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T10:58:27","slug":"how-top-dota-2-teams-win-with-largo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/how-top-dota-2-teams-win-with-largo","title":{"rendered":"Michael Hassall: What Makes Teams Successful with Largo, Dota 2\u2019s Newest Hero?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Largo is Dota 2\u2019s newest hero, having splash landed into the game in December last year, and joined the competitive scene with Captain\u2019s Mode in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that comparatively short release window (Kez, the previous hero, took almost a year<\/em> to join Captain\u2019s Mode, and most heroes wait several months before hitting pro play), teams have picked up the amphibian bard and put his auditory abilities to the test. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, the teams that have picked up Largo have found quick success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At BLAST Slam VI<\/a>, Team Liquid<\/a>, one of the teams to consistently pick Largo, won the tournament. Then at DreamLeague Season 28, Tundra, the team who picked the hero the most, raised the trophy at the end of the event. So why has Largo had such success and what\u2019s fueling it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Largo Has Shot to the Top of Picks and Bans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At BLAST Slam VI, the first Tier 1 tournament to feature Largo, the hero was picked 28 times,<\/a> making it the fifth most-picked hero. Both finalists at the event, Team Liquid and NAVI<\/a>, picked it four times and won the majority of their games with the hero selected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Team
ft. BLAST<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then at DreamLeague Season 28, Largo again sat as the fifth most-picked hero<\/a>, and this time saw play 54 times, with a huge 95 bans, the most-banned hero, and the third highest combined picks and bans. Tundra Esports<\/a>, who picked the Largo the most of any team (nine times) won the tournament,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Teams Who Pick Largo Right Now Win<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So why are the Largo-pickers winning? Well, there\u2019s a few key reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teams Don\u2019t Have Experience Against Largo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is the first, and arguably weakest reason: Largo is just too new. We\u2019ve had less than four months with the hero, he\u2019s not getting played much in pubs, and he only joined Captain\u2019s Mode two or three tournaments ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s crazy, obviously, to think that professional teams struggle against a new hero, but the reality seems to be that they do. And as a result, the win-loss record for Largo is soaring high. Teams will get better at playing Largo, and playing against the frog man. But until that happens, Largo is going to keep winning.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Largo Does Everything The Meta Calls For Right Now<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dota 2\u2019s meta is in a place that rewards early game leads and cross map movement. Heroes like Warlock, Jakiro, and Shadow Fiend, who spike early, and heroes like Tusk and Mars, who make early impacts, have led the stats in wins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, add a hero who thrives in these situations, and has good base stats and abilities, with a strong ult, and we\u2019ve got a recipe for success.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need to quickly get across the map? Largo has a built in Haste Rune with his ult. Need long range poke while sieging? Frogstomp and Lick have you covered. Healing? Yep. Damage buffs? So many. Largo is a Swiss Army Knife of a hero that does everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Largo is Strong as a Flex Pick in Several Positions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This point is probably the most important. Largo is flexible. With the above versatility, you can afford and thrive when you give Largo to your supports, thanks to his high base stats and utility, or in the Offlane, where the hero can become incredibly dangerous with buffing items transferring to allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Largo
ft. Valve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while we\u2019ve not seen Largo mid escape the nightmare realm of my pub games, and into competitive, yet, the potential for a supporting mid laner with a hyper-carry hero in the offlane is there. Luckily for all of us, offlane and support is where Largo has mainly remained for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This flexibility also means you can pick Largo early in a draft, even at an 8 if unbanned, without showing too much of your hand. And like all good flex picks, you really don\u2019t have to decide where he\u2019s playing until the end of the draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Largo Fits With the Players Finding Success Right Now<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At BLAST Slam, analysts compared Largo to \u2018Beastmaster <\/strong>without Roar.\u2019 What they\u2019re implying is that Largo, with farm and in the offlane, does all the things you\u2019d want from your Beastmaster in team fights, from holding the utility items, to providing buffs, long range harass, and generally meaning if you don\u2019t get your hands on Beastmaster, oh well, maybe Largo is open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that kind of offlaner is especially dangerous in the hands of people who, not so coincidentally, do really well with Beastmaster. Players like Neta “33<\/strong>” Shapira<\/em>, Marcus “Ace<\/strong>” Christensen<\/em>, who thrive when given space on a utility offlaner. Conversely, the hero hasn\u2019t been picked up as much by offlaners like Magomed “Collapse<\/strong>” Khalilov<\/em>, who thrives on individual playmaking, and Ammar “ATF<\/strong>” Al-Assaf<\/em>, who often prefers more carry-focused offlaners.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is to say Largo\u2019s utility has made teams who can match his playstyle better, and teams who don\u2019t worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And There\u2019s More\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lets face it, Largo is probably a little over-tuned. Not Kez or Primal Beast on release overtuned, but more, \u2018is probably doing more healing, boosting speed, and increasing damage more than is balanced.\u2019 This is just natural. A part of Dota 2\u2019s endless fine tuning, and the tightrope walk Valve walks when it adds a new ingredient into the eternal stew of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These high stats and base power make the hero a terror in a flex role where you can make him buy wards and stay poor, or give him farm and build him up strong. But a nerf or two, or a dramatic shift in the meta could still sink the Largo ship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while we\u2019ve gone over some specific examples and details above, the main reason teams win right now with Largo, because the hero is flat out strong, and they were quick to pick him up. As the weeks continue to pass, more players, coaches, and analysts are going to come to the rightful conclusion that Largo is a must-pick hero. Until, ultimately, he receives some (perhaps deserved) nerfs. Until then, the Largo pickers will continue to thrive. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Largo is Dota 2\u2019s newest hero, having splash landed into the game in December last year, and joined the competitive scene with Captain\u2019s Mode in January.  With that comparatively short release window (Kez, the previous hero, took almost a year to join Captain\u2019s Mode, and most heroes wait several months before hitting pro play), teams […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":14752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,104,52,100,53,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dota-2","category-dota-teams","category-esports","category-guides","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14750"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15015,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14750\/revisions\/15015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderpick.gl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}