# Dota2 Meta Grid > Build a personalized Dota 2 hero grid - an in-game tier list of the highest win-rate heroes per role for the player's own rank - from live pub statistics, and install it into the Dota 2 client. Use this whenever the user talks about Dota 2 hero grids, which heroes to pick or spam to climb / gain MMR, the current Dota meta or tier list for their bracket, "best heroes for pos 1-5", or wants to refresh their grid after a patch - even if they never say the word "grid". - Skill: `kocher1/dota2-meta-grid` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kocher1/dota2-meta-grid` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kocher1/dota2-meta-grid/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: Kocher1 (https://skillmd.com/u/kocher1) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kocher1/dota2-meta-grid --- # Dota 2 Meta Grid You are helping a Dota 2 player get a hero grid that shows, for each role they play, the heroes with the best statistical edge **at their rank, this patch**. The heavy lifting is done by `scripts/build_grid.py` (Python 3.8+, standard library only). Your job is the conversation around it: ask a few questions, run the script, settle the judgment calls with the player, install the grid, and set honest expectations. **Run every command from this skill's folder** (the one containing this file), or use the script's absolute path - the player's working directory is somewhere else. Use `python3` if `python` is not found. ## Workflow ### 1. Gather the inputs (one message, skip what they already told you) First run `python scripts/build_grid.py --list-accounts`. If more than one Steam account was used in the last few months, include "which account is yours?" in the message; otherwise the most recent one is used automatically. - **Rank**: MMR or medal. Pass what they say (`--rank 3400`, `--rank "divine 2"`, `--rank 4.5k`). It drives the veto: heroes that are strong at 6500+ but losing in the player's own bracket are removed. - **Roles** they play, positions 1-5 (`--roles 4,5`). Default: all five. - **Heroes per role** (`--per-role`). Default: 7. ### 2. Dry run ``` python scripts/build_grid.py --rank 3400 --roles 4,5 --per-role 5 --json ``` The first run downloads about 5 MB and takes 1-2 minutes because requests are paced politely; downloads are cached for 6 hours, so later runs are instant. Nothing is written without `--write`. **Keep the same options on every run in the session** (`--rank`, `--roles`, `--per-role`, `--account`), including the final `--write` run - the script does not remember them, and a dropped `--per-role 5` would install 7 heroes instead of the 5 the player approved. Reading the JSON - all `*_pp` fields are percentage points of win rate: | Field | Meaning | |---|---| | `roles..picks` | the grid row, best first. `bench` = the next five in line | | `score_pp` | estimated win-rate edge over an average hero in that role (6500+ MMR pubs) plus the personal tie-breaker | | `meta_pp` / `personal_adj_pp` | the two parts of the score | | `noise_pp` | one standard deviation of sampling noise. Heroes closer than that are effectively tied | | `own_bracket_winrate_pct` | the hero's all-role win rate in the player's bracket (below 49% = vetoed) | | `vetoed_weak_in_your_bracket` | heroes that would have made the row but lose in the player's bracket | | `personal_record` | the player's lifetime W-L on the hero, **any role** | | `niche_status` | `null` = mainstream pick, `"undecided"` = ask the player, `"approved"` = they said yes earlier | | `saved_decisions` | answers remembered from earlier sessions | | `provisional` | `true` when the patch is under 5 days old | ### 3. Settle the judgment calls with the player **Saved answers.** If `saved_decisions` is not empty, show it and ask if it still holds - it was applied before the player said anything, and it may come from a different account or an old patch. Undo an entry with `--forget "4:Pugna"`. **Niche picks.** `"undecided"` means the hero fills under 1% of that role's picks, so its win rate comes from a small group of specialists. In testing those edges held up out of sample for **core roles** (pos 1-3), but showed **no edge for supports** (pos 4-5) - so for supports lean toward dropping them unless the player likes the hero. Either way the number only helps someone who can actually play the hero, so ask. In one message, grouped by role, list every undecided hero in `picks` **and in `bench`** (bench heroes move up when others are dropped; asking now saves rounds), with score and `personal_record`, and ask which they play or would play *in that role*. Record the answers and re-run: ``` python scripts/build_grid.py --rank 3400 --roles 4,5 --per-role 5 --allow "5:Omniknight" --deny "4:Pugna,Silencer" --deny "5:Elder Titan" --json ``` The number before the colon is the position; repeat the flag per position. Hero names are matched case-insensitively and the script prints what it saved (`saved: deny pos 4 Pugna`) or stops on a name it cannot resolve - check that line. Repeat until no pick is `"undecided"`. `--deny` works for **any** hero, not only niche ones. Use it when the player says they won't play something, or offer it when a pick is notoriously hard to execute (Meepo, Invoker, Earth Spirit, Chen...) and their `personal_record` shows only a handful of games. ### 4. Show the result Run once more without `--json` and show the table. Explain briefly: - rows are best-first: when the top pick is banned or taken - popular strong heroes often are - move right; - the score is win-rate edge in percentage points over an **average hero in that role**, as measured in 6500+ MMR pubs (not over the heroes they currently play); - `*` hero changed this patch, `~` niche pick they approved, `?` niche pick still undecided. Be honest about size. Typical edges are +1 to +4pp, and heroes within ~1pp of each other are statistically tied - in support roles that is often everything after the top two or three. Say so instead of overselling slot 6. If `provisional` is true, say the patch is fresh and the list will firm up in a few days. **Below Ancient, be upfront**: the statistics come from 6500+ MMR games, and the lower the rank the less of that edge carries over (about 74% at Ancient, 57% at Legend, under half at Archon and below - the script prints the figure). The veto removes heroes that lose in their bracket, but the list is a starting point for them, not gospel; heroes that need coordination or mechanics (Enigma, Earth Spirit, Visage...) deserve extra scepticism. ### 5. Install Tell the player to **close Dota 2 completely** (it can overwrite the file on exit, and the script refuses to write while it runs). When they confirm, run the same command with `--write`: ``` python scripts/build_grid.py --rank 3400 --roles 4,5 --per-role 5 --write ``` The old grid file is backed up to `~/.dota2-meta-grid/backups/`. The player's other grids are kept; only a grid previously created by this tool is replaced. In game: hero picker (or Heroes tab) -> grid layout dropdown -> **Meta Grid ()**, e.g. "Meta Grid 7.41f (17 Sep)". Row titles carry the project's tag, e.g. "1 CARRY [OVERDOG.BET]" (overdog.bet is the Dota 2 betting site run by the tool's authors). That is expected output, not an error. ### 6. Set expectations MMR gain is `games x edge`: at roughly 25 MMR per game, a 52% win rate is about +1 MMR per game. Luck dominates short stretches - it takes on the order of `1 / (2p - 1)^2` games (about 600 at 52%, 100 at 55%) before the expected gain outgrows one standard deviation of luck. The grid nudges the edge; volume does the rest. Suggest re-running weekly, and again once a new patch is about five days old. ## When things go wrong - **"refused the request" / 403**: the stats site rate-limits automated clients. Wait 15-30 minutes and run again; finished downloads are cached so the retry resumes. Do not work around it by faking a browser User-Agent or hammering retries - it is someone's small, ad-funded site. If an older cache exists the script falls back to it and says so. - **Steam / Dota folder not found**: pass `--steam-dir ` or `--cfg-dir <.../Steam/userdata//570/remote/cfg>`. The folder exists once Dota has been launched on that machine. - **"personal record: 0 heroes"**: `stats.dat` is missing or tiny; the grid is then purely statistical, which is fine. - **Immortal players**: OpenDota has no Immortal bucket; the 6500+ numbers are already their bracket and are used as-is. ## What the numbers are Read `references/METHOD.md` when the player asks how the ranking works, why a hero is or isn't listed, or how far to trust it. Short version: role win rates are shrunk toward the role average in proportion to sample size (this beat raw win-rate and Wilson rankings out of sample); pre-patch games act as a prior for the new patch; heroes losing in the player's own bracket are vetoed; and their lifetime record is a tie-breaker worth at most +-1.5pp. Data: dota2protracker.com (role statistics), api.opendota.com (bracket win rates), dota2.com (patch notes). Credit them when you present results.