Drafting Practice Mayhem: A quick evaluation of many drafts

Okay, so I saved up some drafts from awhile ago, and there are enough of them that I can't remember which side was me, so I can hopefully give a less-biased evaluation of the drafts.

I'm keeping it short, because there are FOURTEEN drafts.  Feel free to disagree.

#1: http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=ZY4a4Q0M1p2ZH1Zo2S2ZJ0O2&ban=KZkZfZaZIYZCZmZdk

Lanes fairly even.  Aggro tri from Dire would force defensive tri from Radiant.  First blood could go either way.  Dire lacks counter to NP split push, although Batrider may be able to mitigate that with ganks on NP once Blink Dagger is up on Bat.  I favour Radiant slightly in the draft, but could go either way.

#2: http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=Zk0Za1q1ZI1ZJ2a2K2D2d0za1&ban=ZdZfZCZoMZYYZmLZL

Radiant won't be able to run the aggro tri, and will be forced to defend their Invoker bottom.  Mirana will stay vs. Elder Titan, and lanes will be stable, though Kunkka might have trouble vs. a smart Razor if static link cuts down Kunkka's damage enough to harass him out of lane.

The Dire-side teamfight combo looks good - Song of the Siren or Earthshaker initiation into Earthsplitter from Titan, as well as a Ghost Ship from Kunkka.

Radiant will have to win earlier against the farming Naga, as their cores are weaker late game.

#3: http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=r&pick=Zm1ZC2ZG0ZA2Zw2Zf2K2k0q1Zh2&ban=ZkZJZYZoZLZdLZIZxZE

Interesting match-up here.  It's all about who can get farm for their cores first. 

Dark Seer mid will do well against Brewmaster, as Ion Shell will make it very hard for Brew to get farm.  Yet, Brew will still get levels, which will make him very dangerous at Level 6, similar to Lycan.

Void will farm so-so against Mirana, but will take a lot of harass.

Radiant's aggro tri might actually do well, since it's against a 2-melee tri-lane.  Lycan should have a bit of trouble farming, and Undying and Shadow Shaman both need some levels to be aggressive.  Both teams have decent push and will rely on big cooldowns for fights.

4 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=Zt1q1m0k0Zo2K2Y1T2f0Zb2&ban=ZmZdZaZYBZfZkZIZJZg

Radiant has some good lanes - Brew + Wisp will do well mid, although might not kill DK, who will get some farm with Dragon Breath + Bottle.   Mirana + Bane should be able to zone out Tidehunter decently well, although they might not have enough burst to kill him, even with an Arrow (Tide is just stupidly tough).    Viper will have a very bad day bottom, but Bane could rotate down to help out a bit, as could Wisp, though the aggro tri is very strong from Dire.

I favour Dire's line-up because of teamfight and push.

5 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=r&pick=ZJ2K4O4L0e1Zf1ZY0Zv1g2Za4&ban=ZkYZHZofZdZmMZCk

The lanes as shown seem fairly stable, with slight advantages on one side here or there, but Radiant can afford to roam an additional support, and both are ranged, so that might tip the balance.

Both teams have push and split-push, and decent burst and disables, but I favour Radiant's line-up slightly for teamfights, although their challenge will be to survive the burst from a Clockwerk initiation, followed up by Skywrath and Lion.

6 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=Zk2a2ZY2ZJ0W1K1M3ZD0p1e2&ban=ZfZIZxZdkZCYLSZm

Lanes will need some re-arranging from Radiant.   Most likely, Razor will stay bottom solo, and SS and ES will rotate to kill Pugna, NP, or mess with the opponent's safelane duo.  Both teams have decent push, anti-push and teamfight, but if NP gets going, Dire's pushing power is far superior, and also has more split push.

The game will depend on whether Pugna and NP can get enough farm and levels to be effective.

7 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=d&pick=Zk1ZY4ZC0S4g2K2ZJ1w0Za2zd2&ban=LZfZdZoZHZmZIMQY

Drafts look fairly even, except that Dire is lacking a good teamfight initator (it will have to be WK, and he might die doing it), whereas Clockwerk is a more potent initiator, and doesn't need to farm a Blink Dagger to do so, which WK might have trouble doing.  Ember Spirit and TA will both do well against the squishy supports on the Radiant side.  Shadow Shaman may have issues getting into range of his targets, and might be mostly useful for his Serpent Wards.

8 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=Zd1ZY4L0k2a4Zf1K1ZJ0ZH2S1&ban=ZmZIZxPQZkZCMgT

I doubt Radiant will be able to roam their two supports, or else both Doom and Brew will lose their lanes and get little farm.  Tinker might have a bit of trouble against an Exhort Invoker (Forge Spirits), but should do well enough to counter some of Lycan's split push.  Batrider + Exhort Invoker would also be powerful for pickoffs on most of the Radiant heroes.

I like Radiant's early teamfight slightly better, if they can do well in the laning phase, but I like Dire's choices for pickoffs on split-pushers.  Dire's push is slightly stronger (Radiant really only has Tinker to push or anti-push), and Rubick has some good abilities to steal, so I favour the Dire line-up slightly.

9 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=r&pick=Zm1ZA0a4Zt2ZJ2Zd2ZY1Za1Zk1Zo0&ban=LYKMSZfZITWZC

I favour the Radiant line-up slightly, because Doom will have a hard time not getting picked off, whereas Faceless is more likely to survive to Time Walk away.  Viper should be able to dominate mid vs. Warlock, except that Radiant will be slightly more likely to be able to rotate supports to gank, while still zoning out their respective enemy offlaner.

This game will come down to who can gank better with roaming supports.

10 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=d&pick=Zd1W2l2ZF0B2ZJ1K2Za2q2L0&ban=YZkgMZLZfZIZYSZo

I favour the Dire line-up.  The aggro-tri looks good, Invoker should dominate Doom solo laning, and Leshrac solo will do decently against Tinker, but won't be able to shut him down, and Leshrac won't bring as much to the table with a few item upgrades as Tinker will.

I don't think this is an open-and-close game, where Dire will obviously dominate, but they have the slight upper hand from the draft IMO.

11 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=r&pick=Zk2ZD0D1W1Zv1Zm1ZY1F2ZE1ZV0&ban=YkZwZJzaVnQtZo

I favour Dire again.  I don't think the aggro tri from Radiant is strong enough, and Dire has the stronger lategame carries.  The multiple silences and Dazzle's heal are going to do good work, and I think Dire has more counter-initiation, even despite Song of the Siren (has long cooldown).

12 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=W2Y1S4Zi2I0ZA1ZY1Q0ZR2b1&ban=sMZmZkFZCLKZfG

Radiant has a stronger early and midgame, and Dire has a stronger lategame.  Will come down to how well the Dire supports can protect their carry, versus how well Radiant can get ganks and snowball.  Silencer's ult timing will make a great deal of difference in the teamfights, and getting him to use it early or at wrong times will be critical.

13 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=r&fp=d&pick=t1ZO1za2f0ZS1K1Zd2q1Zp1F0&ban=ZmZfZYhZkkZCoYZo

I think the teams and lanes are balanced.  The tri-vs-tri looks very interesting, too.  I slightly favour Dire because the Elder Titan, though he will do well against Doom, won't carry as hard as Doom will.  Also, Radiant's farmer is melee (Slark), compared to the all-ranged composition of the defensive tri-lane of Dire side.

14 http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?op=d&fp=d&pick=K2Zu2h1zd0Zo2ZH2q1S1L0x1&ban=ZdkZtZaZRZCZkZmZxZf

Slightly favour Dire.  Better disables and initiation, and some split-push from Tinker.  Rubick also loves to steal ALL of Omni's spells (no steal is bad).