Yatoro has been trialing a few meta Dota 2 carry heroes this week, and he is convinced that Phantom Assassin is “trash” and “overrated” despite surging in popularity this patch. Instead, he’s impressed with Gyrocopter and believes it will be a popular pick at The International 2023.
“Phantom Assassin. I think she’s trash, to be honest. I think she’s overrated,” he said on Nix’s Twitch stream earlier this week. Yatoro explained that if she doesn’t win a lane, it takes her a long time to catch up, which teams often don’t have time to do in the current meta.
The TI winner has been dabbling in other meta carry heroes, like Wraith King, Naga Siren, and Faceless Void, the latter of which was one of the most contested heroes at The Riyadh Masters. But while his win rate on them this week has been 60 to 75 percent according to D2PT, he’s been swooned by Gyrocopter.
Yatoro admitted Gyrocopter’s slow movement speed around the map is less than ideal, but he thinks the buffs to Flak Cannon, Rocket Barrage, and Side Gunner in Patch 7.34 have turned the “cool hero” into an absolute powerhouse. “I think everyone will pick him,” he said.
Yatoro didn’t mention anything about other roles, but all the signs point toward Nature’s Prophet, Vengeful Spirit, and Witch Doctor being meta picks at The International 2023 as well. These all pair well with Gyrocopter, so Team Spirit will likely pick some of them to run alongside it.
It might be a stretch to see Yatoro play Phantom Assassin at the event, but since it’s his fourth most-played hero, it would be unwise to rule it out entirely. It certainly won’t be his No. 1 choice, though.
Related: Dota 2’s The International 2023: Location, dates, tickets, and more
