Hey Dota 2 fans! Are you looking to climb the ranks as a support player? Understanding the current meta and picking the right heroes can significantly impact your win rate. This comprehensive tier list breaks down the best support heroes in Dota 2 right now, helping you make informed decisions in your drafts.

Understanding the Support Role in Dota 2

Before diving into the tier list, let's quickly recap what makes a good support hero. Supports are the backbone of any successful Dota 2 team, responsible for:

• Warding: Providing vision and controlling key areas of the map.
• Protecting Carries: Keeping your team's damage dealers alive.
• Initiating Fights: Starting engagements and setting up kills.
• Disabling Enemies: Crowd controlling opponents to create opportunities.
• Stacking and Pulling: Manipulating creep equilibrium to benefit your lane.

A great support player is adaptable, communicative, and selfless, always putting the team's needs first. Choosing a hero that aligns with your playstyle and the current meta is crucial for success. So, without further ado, let’s jump into the Dota 2 support heroes tier list and break down which heroes are dominating the current patch!

Dota 2 Support Tier List

This tier list is based on the current meta, win rates, pick rates, and overall impact in the game. Keep in mind that the effectiveness of a hero can vary depending on your skill level, team composition, and the enemy's draft.

S-Tier: The Meta-Defining Supports

These heroes are the cream of the crop, consistently performing well in almost every game. Picking them gives you a significant advantage.

• Crystal Maiden: Crystal Maiden is a quintessential support hero known for her ability to provide early-game mana regeneration and powerful disables. Her Arcane Aura is invaluable for mana-hungry cores, allowing them to spam spells and secure farm. Crystal Nova offers AoE damage and slows, while Frostbite provides reliable single-target lockdown. Freezing Field, her ultimate, can devastate team fights if positioned correctly. However, she is incredibly squishy, making positioning crucial. Mastering Crystal Maiden involves understanding when to aggressively zone enemies and when to play defensively to protect your cores. Effective warding is key to her success, as she needs to anticipate enemy movements and provide vision for her team. In the current meta, Crystal Maiden excels due to her ability to enable early aggression and control the pace of the game. Her simplicity makes her accessible to new players, while her strategic depth allows experienced players to maximize her impact. One of the key aspects of playing Crystal Maiden well is understanding when to rotate to other lanes to secure kills or provide support. This requires excellent map awareness and communication with your team. Furthermore, itemization on Crystal Maiden is flexible, allowing her to adapt to different game situations. Items like Glimmer Cape, Force Staff, and Ghost Scepter can significantly increase her survivability and utility, while items like Aghanim's Scepter can enhance her offensive capabilities. Overall, Crystal Maiden is a versatile and powerful support hero that can have a significant impact on the outcome of a game.
• Lich: Lich remains a formidable support, boasting incredible lane control and team fight presence. His Sacrifice ability denies creeps and converts them into mana, ensuring Lich never runs dry. Frost Blast provides both damage and a slow, making it easy to harass enemies and set up kills. Chain Frost, his ultimate, bounces between enemies, dealing massive damage in clustered fights. Lich is particularly strong against melee heroes and can easily shut down aggressive lanes. Positioning is key, as he needs to stay safe while maximizing the impact of Chain Frost. To play Lich effectively, focus on maintaining lane equilibrium, harassing enemies, and providing vision. His ability to deny creeps can cripple the enemy's farm, giving your carry a significant advantage. In team fights, prioritize using Chain Frost on groups of enemies to maximize its damage potential. While Lich may lack mobility, his defensive capabilities and raw damage output make him a valuable asset to any team.
• Treant Protector: Treant Protector is a versatile support hero known for his exceptional healing and vision control. Living Armor provides damage reduction and heals allies globally, making him invaluable for protecting fragile cores. Nature's Guise allows him to become invisible near trees, enabling him to set up ganks and ward aggressively. Overgrowth, his ultimate, provides massive AoE lockdown, making it easy to win team fights. Treant Protector excels in both the laning stage and the late game. His healing can sustain allies through harassment, while his vision control can secure objectives. Mastering Treant Protector involves understanding when to use Living Armor to protect allies, when to use Nature's Guise to set up ganks, and when to use Overgrowth to win team fights. Effective warding is crucial for his success, as he needs to anticipate enemy movements and provide vision for his team. In the current meta, Treant Protector is highly valued for his ability to provide global support and control team fights. His versatility makes him a valuable asset to any team, and his ability to adapt to different game situations makes him a formidable opponent.

A-Tier: Solid and Reliable Choices

These heroes are strong picks that can excel in the right situations. They may have some weaknesses, but their strengths outweigh them.

• Ancient Apparition: Ancient Apparition brings unparalleled global presence and anti-healing capabilities to the table. Cold Feet punishes enemies who stray too far from their initial position, while Ice Vortex amplifies magic damage. Chilling Touch empowers allies' attacks, adding bonus magic damage and a slow. Ice Blast, his ultimate, is a global nuke that prevents healing, making it deadly against heroes reliant on regeneration. Ancient Apparition excels at punishing greedy lineups and controlling team fights from afar. Positioning is crucial, as he needs to stay safe while maximizing the impact of Ice Blast. To play Ancient Apparition effectively, focus on coordinating ganks with your team, providing vision, and using Ice Blast to secure kills and control team fights. His ability to prevent healing can cripple the enemy's sustain, giving your team a significant advantage. In team fights, prioritize using Ice Blast on key targets to prevent them from healing and turning the tide of battle. While Ancient Apparition may be vulnerable to early aggression, his global presence and anti-healing capabilities make him a valuable asset to any team.
• Jakiro: Jakiro offers a mix of damage, disables, and pushing power. Dual Breath provides AoE damage and slows, while Ice Path stuns enemies in a line. Liquid Fire burns towers and slows enemies, making him effective at pushing and defending. Macropyre, his ultimate, creates a line of fire that deals massive damage over time. Jakiro is particularly strong in the early game, where he can harass enemies and secure kills. His pushing power makes him valuable for taking objectives, while his disables can control team fights. To play Jakiro effectively, focus on harassing enemies in lane, pushing towers, and using your abilities to control team fights. His AoE damage can quickly melt enemy heroes, while his disables can disrupt their positioning and prevent them from escaping. In team fights, prioritize using Macropyre to zone enemies and deal massive damage over time. While Jakiro may lack mobility, his versatility and raw power make him a valuable asset to any team.
• Snapfire: Snapfire is a versatile hero known for her damage output and supportive abilities. Scatterblast provides a cone of damage and knockback, while Firesnap Cookie launches allies to a target location. Lil' Shredder unleashes a barrage of projectiles, dealing significant damage to enemies. Mortimer Kisses, her ultimate, launches globs of cookies that explode on impact, dealing massive AoE damage. Snapfire excels at both harassing enemies in lane and controlling team fights. Her ability to launch allies with Firesnap Cookie can create opportunities for ganks and saves. Mastering Snapfire involves understanding when to use Scatterblast to harass enemies, when to use Firesnap Cookie to launch allies, and when to use Mortimer Kisses to control team fights. Effective positioning is crucial for her success, as she needs to stay safe while maximizing the impact of her abilities. In the current meta, Snapfire is highly valued for her ability to provide both damage and utility. Her versatility makes her a valuable asset to any team, and her ability to adapt to different game situations makes her a formidable opponent.

B-Tier: Situational Picks

These heroes can be effective in specific matchups or strategies, but they require more coordination and understanding to play well.

• Grimstroke: Grimstroke is a complex support hero known for his ability to amplify damage and control team fights. Stroke of Fate deals damage in a line, while Phantom's Embrace silences and slows a target. Ink Swell provides damage absorption and movement speed to allies, while Soulbind links two enemies together, causing them to share damage and disables. Grimstroke excels at punishing clustered enemies and setting up kills. His ability to amplify damage can quickly melt enemy heroes, while his disables can disrupt their positioning and prevent them from escaping. Mastering Grimstroke involves understanding when to use Stroke of Fate to harass enemies, when to use Phantom's Embrace to silence targets, and when to use Ink Swell to protect allies. Effective communication is crucial for his success, as he needs to coordinate with his team to maximize the impact of his abilities. In the current meta, Grimstroke is valued for his ability to control team fights and amplify damage. His complexity makes him a challenging hero to play, but his potential rewards are high.
• Disruptor: Disruptor is a strategic support hero known for his ability to control space and disrupt enemy movements. Thunder Strike deals damage over time, while Glimpse teleports a target back to their previous location. Kinetic Field creates a circular barrier that blocks movement, while Static Storm silences and damages enemies within an area. Disruptor excels at punishing overextended enemies and controlling team fights. His ability to teleport enemies with Glimpse can create opportunities for ganks and saves, while his barriers and silences can disrupt enemy positioning and prevent them from escaping. Mastering Disruptor involves understanding when to use Thunder Strike to harass enemies, when to use Glimpse to teleport targets, and when to use Kinetic Field and Static Storm to control team fights. Effective communication is crucial for his success, as he needs to coordinate with his team to maximize the impact of his abilities. In the current meta, Disruptor is valued for his ability to control space and disrupt enemy movements. His strategic depth makes him a challenging hero to play, but his potential rewards are high.
• Vengeful Spirit: Vengeful Spirit is an aggressive support hero known for her ability to swap positions with allies and enemies. Magic Missile stuns a target, while Wave of Terror reduces armor and provides vision. Vengeance Aura increases damage output for allies, while Nether Swap teleports Vengeful Spirit to a target's location, swapping their positions. Vengeful Spirit excels at initiating fights and saving allies. Her ability to swap positions with enemies can disrupt their positioning and create opportunities for kills, while her aura and disables can enhance her team's damage output and control team fights. Mastering Vengeful Spirit involves understanding when to use Magic Missile to stun enemies, when to use Wave of Terror to reduce armor, and when to use Nether Swap to swap positions. Effective positioning is crucial for her success, as she needs to stay safe while maximizing the impact of her abilities. In the current meta, Vengeful Spirit is valued for her ability to initiate fights and save allies. Her aggressive playstyle makes her a formidable opponent, and her versatility allows her to adapt to different game situations.

C-Tier: Niche Picks

These heroes are highly situational and require specific team compositions or enemy drafts to be effective. They are generally not recommended for general play.

• Lion: Lion is a burst damage support known for his powerful disables and mana drain. Earth Spike stuns enemies in a line, while Hex transforms a target into a harmless critter. Mana Drain siphons mana from enemies, and Finger of Death unleashes a devastating single-target nuke. Lion excels at punishing single targets and bursting down enemies. His ability to disable and nuke enemies can quickly turn the tide of a fight. However, he is incredibly squishy and relies heavily on positioning. Mastering Lion involves understanding when to use Earth Spike to stun enemies, when to use Hex to disable targets, and when to use Finger of Death to nuke enemies. Effective warding is crucial for his success, as he needs to anticipate enemy movements and provide vision for his team. In the current meta, Lion is a situational pick that can be effective against certain lineups. However, his squishiness and lack of mobility make him vulnerable to ganks and team fights.
• Shadow Shaman: Shadow Shaman is a push-heavy support hero known for his strong disables and tower-killing potential. Ether Shock deals damage to multiple targets, while Hex transforms a target into a harmless critter. Shackles disables a target, preventing them from moving or attacking, and Mass Serpent Ward summons a horde of serpent wards that attack enemies and structures. Shadow Shaman excels at pushing towers and controlling team fights. His ability to disable and summon wards can quickly overwhelm enemies and structures. However, he is vulnerable to focus fire and requires careful positioning. Mastering Shadow Shaman involves understanding when to use Ether Shock to harass enemies, when to use Hex to disable targets, when to use Shackles to control enemies, and when to use Mass Serpent Ward to push towers. Effective warding is crucial for his success, as he needs to anticipate enemy movements and provide vision for his team. In the current meta, Shadow Shaman is a situational pick that can be effective in push-heavy lineups. However, his vulnerability and lack of mobility make him less versatile than other supports.

How to Use This Tier List

• Consider Your Playstyle: Choose heroes that align with your preferred playstyle. Are you aggressive or passive? Do you prefer roaming or staying in lane?
• Analyze the Draft: Pay attention to your team's composition and the enemy's draft. Pick heroes that complement your allies and counter your opponents.
• Practice and Adapt: Don't be afraid to experiment with different heroes and strategies. The meta is constantly evolving, so stay flexible and adapt to the changing landscape.
• Communicate with Your Team: Coordination is key to success in Dota 2. Communicate your intentions with your team and work together to achieve your goals.

Final Thoughts

This tier list is a starting point for understanding the current meta and picking the right support heroes in Dota 2. Remember that individual skill, team coordination, and draft analysis are also crucial factors in determining your success. Keep practicing, stay informed, and have fun climbing the ranks! Good luck, and may your wards be ever in your favor!