5 Dota 2 heroes dominated the esports scene in 2025. Here’s why they were so good

2025 has been a highly competitive year for Dota 2. The Wandering Waters patch introduced additional rivers and currents to the map, while the Spring Forward update polished a lot of hero Facets with new mechanics. These changes have led to several heroes appearing throughout the year, no matter the patch, simply because of the utility they provide.

The best Dota 2 heroes in 2025 are divided among the five main roles: three cores and two supports. While roles are important in pub games and are loosely followed, they become more defined in the pro scene, with different players specializing in specific roles. As such, we will divide the five best Dota 2 heroes in the pro scene by their roles.

For the majority of Naga Siren’s existence in the Dota 2 scene, the hero has primarily been played as a carry. However, the buffs to her Aghanim’s Shard recovery rate on Song of the Siren propelled her towards becoming a powerful hard support. Her sustaining ability and counter-initiation prowess made Naga Siren one of the most picked Dota 2 heroes of 2025.

Her success as a hard support was evident during TI 2025, with a whopping contest rate of 95% and a win rate of over 60% throughout the tournament.

Shadow Shaman has historically been a safe option for support players. While Chicken Fingers was usually the Facet of choice for most pro players, the buffs to Massive Serpent Ward changed his playstyle. Shadow Shaman has been played primarily as a pusher and high-damage teamfighter in 2025, quickly ending games off a single enemy mistake.

His 55% win rate across EWC 2025 and most of TI 2025 made Shadow Shaman one of the best Dota 2 heroes of 2025.

Earthshaker has seen consistent action in the pro scene throughout 2025 since the changes to his Slugger, making it an Innate ability. This allowed players to use it in combination with the Tectonic Buildup Facet, making him a chain-stunning monster. His TI 2025 dominance was apparent with an 86% pick rate and a 54% win rate across the tournament.

What makes Earthshaker one of the best Dota 2 heroes of 2025 is his ability to serve as a powerful flex pick, being played in the offlane role, soft support, and even as a midlaner.

Nature’s Prophet’s biggest strength is his ability to be flexed across all five roles, making him the most versatile hero. His strongest position throughout 2025 has been a Dota 2 midlaner, a role he uses to level up quickly and secure the side lanes. His high damage and ability to teleport anywhere on the map made him a global threat at any stage.

Nature’s Prophet has also been one of the most picked Dota 2 heroes in 2025, having the fifth highest pick rate at TI 2025 with an overall contest rate of 76%.

If there was one carry hero that could outclass Nature’s Prophet in 2025, it would be Ursa. His strong lane presence via Fury Swipes made him the bane of every melee offlaner in the pro scene. Ursa’s ability to join fights early with a simple Battlefury and Blink Dagger made him come online faster than the enemy carry in most games, leading to a rapid snowball win.

While Ursa’s contest rate across TI 2025 and most other tournaments was relatively low compared to the other heroes on this list, his win rate spoke for itself. Ursa boasted a win rate of 70% to 75% across tournaments like EWC, DreamLeague, and TI 2025, making him undoubtedly one of the best Dota 2 heroes of 2025.

2025 has been a whirlwind year for Dota 2. The variety of viable Dota 2 heroes in 2025 has never been higher in the pro scene. As we near the end of the year and the meta of Patch 7.40 starts to develop, it’ll be exciting to see which unexpected heroes take the stage in 2026. There’s no doubt that Dota 2 viewers are the real winners here.