Draft

The hero pick-and-ban phase before each Dota 2 game.

The draft is the strategic pre-game phase where teams alternate banning and picking heroes. In Captains Mode — used in all professional play — banned heroes cannot be picked by either side, and no hero appears on both teams. The draft is the most strategically complex phase of professional Dota 2. Teams prepare custom strategies targeting opponents, exploiting weaknesses, or counter-picking predicted lineups.