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The obvious answer to this question is that they are not. The heroes do not have their facets quite yet and this on its own puts them in a weird situation when it comes to competitive play. However, given how the professional meta is getting a bit too static and given how there are multiple upcoming big tournaments, we are here to argue that adding them in their current state could be a good idea.
First of all, we are not entirely sure how bug-free the heroes are and that is, possibly, the only counter-argument to what we want to bring up. Given how they are played in pubs on a regular basis and how even some high-tier lobbies utilize them makes us believe that they are ready from a technical standpoint, but what about their balance?
Statistics-wise, neither Kez, nor Ringmaster stand out. They are not dominating pubs of any level and if anything, they are a bit on the weaker side, after all the nerfs. That said, there are many cases when a hero doesn’t do well in pubs, but is ridiculously broken in the competitive play.
It could be a case of a small subset of players figuring out how to utilize them well and unleash their full potential, or it could be the team coordination aspect that makes heroes shine.
Most of the time, it is heroes with strong macro-presence that fit into the second category. Winning lane as Chen matters that much more, when you can capitalize on it with your team. Having global ganking potential with an Io is also a lot more powerful, when all five players on the team are on the same page and are constantly communicating. We don’t think Kez or Ringmaster really fit into this category.
Mechanically demanding heroes require a dedicated player, and Kez is definitely one of those. Ringmaster is also far from being a simple hero. Perhaps if allowed to play these heroes in a competitive setting, professional players will be able to showcase just how broken they are. This is definitely a possibility, considering how much better professional players are, even compared to high level pub players.
Would it be a problem for the professional scene, though? We don’t think so.
Guaranteed bans are in the Captain’s mode for a reason. It allows the professional scene to self-moderate, if there are problematically balanced characters in the patch. Frequently, they are also used to target a specific player on the enemy team, making sure that they don’t get their signature hero.
Both of these types of bans will solve the potential Kez and Ringmaster problem, if they turn out to be overpowered and too strong in a competitive environment. What it will also do, is create openings for otherwise highly banned heroes to squeeze in.
Considering it is Dota we are talking about, this could potentially result in a chain reaction, with other heroes joining the fray, simply because heroes who they are good against are allowed to get through the first phase of the bans.
This could potentially allow the professional scene to discover new approaches to the game, or force the teams to adapt with unique strategies of their own. Again, given how the current meta is getting kind of stale, this is definitely a positive thing.
In fact, we believe that the worst case scenario, and perhaps the likely scenario, is that these new heroes are going to be ignored by the pros. We genuinely don’t think these heroes are in any way overpowered in their current state, so competitive play ignoring them could be a reason to buff them slightly, which, again, is a good thing, as it could expedite the balancing process.
And even if they are ignored by the pros, we are not going to be any worse off as spectators — we will just watch the same professional meta with occasional small developments, like we are watching it now. Dota is an ever-evolving, complex and deep game and teams will naturally come up with new ideas to showcase and win with. Eight months into the patch, it is getting a bit stale, though.
