DOTA 2, THE POPULAR SUPPORT FOR DIFFERENT VERSION

Hello, I'm here to post some analysis on the popular support hero since 6.72. What I posted here is purely based on statistic. If you do not agree with me, please kindly reply and state your opinion.

6.72

Lich

Reason:
The games were much slower and based on mobile agility hard carry such as Anti-Mage and Spectre. Hence, Lich shined as one of the best laning support for the carry. He can control the creep equilibrium by denying so that the creep wave always near to the tower to ensure carry safe farming as well as denying enermy farm and experiences. However, he faded away in 6.73 due to:
1) weak ganking
2) weak against pushes
3) completely countered by pipe and meka

Ancient Apparition











Reason:
He was picked for his laning power, as well as his ultimate. He is also an amazing trilane support to provide follow-up stun. He had one of the best ultimate in the game. He can assist gank globally as well as being one of the best team fight support with his ultimate. His ultimate also completely shut down meka, Chen's ultimate and magic stick/wand burst heal.  In 6.73, his popularity dropped due to competition from other support.


6.73 

Venomancer

Reason:
He is the most successful support hero in the late history of dota. He was picked for his versatility. He has several advantages over other support:
1) Strong at level 1 with Venomous Gale
2) Ward is very good against push
3) Ward provides good vision as well to protect his team
4) His ultimate is good even in late game
5) Able to get himself some farm by using his ward
Even if enermy tried to focus him down, as long as he cast his ultimate before dying, he has done his job. Just to remind, his level 3 ultimate is able to deal 1215 magical damage to each enermy hero.

Chen

Same as Venomancer, he is the most successful support hero in recent history of dota. Unlike other support, he can farm very fast in the jungle, resulting very fast meka for his team. One of his selling point is his ultimate, global burst heal can safe his teammate no matter where he is. If he get a good creep, he can start ganking with another support and start pushing down tower. One of the most overpowered ability with him is his ability to send back his teammate. 


6.74

Venomancer

Reason:
2nd most picked and 3rd most banned support hero in The International 2012, this alone justified his position. He was also picked and banned frequently in most major tournaments.

Chen

Reason:
1st most banned support hero in The International 2012.

Leshrac 

Reason:
1st most picked support hero in The International 2012. Actually he was ignored for very long time despite being very strong hero. In 6.74, games were shorter and push strategy was very dominant. Hence, having skill to clear creep wave is very important. Leshrac is one of the strongest pusher in the game due to Diabolic Edict as well as having huge amount of AOE burst damage. He is simply too versatile not to be picked. His stun is easier to land than Lina's and deal very good damage at level 1. He can even transition to semi-carry if given the farm.


6.75

Jakiro

Reason:
Ice Path was reworked in 6.75 from an unreliable weak spell, into a spamable long range AOE stun with low mana cost. His popularity rised also because of neft on popular support, including Chen, Leshrac and Venomancer. His aoe and team fight potential is pretty much insane. His ulti is not reliable but can be used together with some chain stun, dealing huge amount of damage in team fight. He is also tanky with natural high base STR.

Rubick

Reason:
He was actually much more popular in 6.74. But he was not played as support hero, but solo mid position instead. He was picked due to his versatility as well as his broken ultimate. He has some anti-push on his own, a very reliable disable, and very useful aura for his team. He can transition into utility hero if given the farm.


6.76-6.77

Keeper of the Light

Reason:
He was picked to shut down the push, as well as being one of the best trilane support. Chakara Magic can refill mana for the trilane. Mana leak as well as his ultimate, provide some utility to his team as well. The main strength of this hero is that Illuminate can clear all the creep wave no matter how big they are, and he alone can cause big issue if his enermies try to push. Unlike other support, he can actually get his farm and buy utility item in mid to late game.

Shadow Demon

Reason:
This hero was picked mainly for his Disruption. This spell can set-up gank, safe his teammate, provide aditional dps by creating illusion of carry. His Soul Catcher make tanking impossible. He can also provide scouting tools with Shadow Poison as well as some nice damage. His ultimate works on magic immunity is one of his selling point since BKB carries like Luna and Sven is seeing a lot of picks.


Sources
http://dota-academy.com/home/
http://www.dota2wiki.com/wiki/User:Reaverxai
http://www.playdota.com/