FISSURE Universe Episode 8 Meta Recap: Support Season

After a brief window where cores were the main focus of the meta, the FISSURE Universe Episode 8 Meta Recap brings back the support season. We will take a quick look at the most picked heroes during the tournament and check how they performed.

In the meantime, we will also check the most disputed heroes and the Shadow Meta in search of a pattern that might point us in the direction of the next meta shifts. This is a good opportunity to find new heroes to practice or maybe bring back comfort picks to climb the ranks.

FISSURE Universe Episode 8 Meta Recap

Jakiro Back to the Top

Our meta recap starts with the most picked heroes in the Top 5. Shadow Demon takes fifth place with an underwhelming 40.74% win rate across 27 games.

In fourth place, Hoodwink has the best performance among the most picked heroes with a 53.57% win rate in 28 matches. She is followed by Tusk as the third most picked hero, who also delivered the worst performance with an abysmal 35.48% win rate in 31 games.

Second place brings a welcome surprise, with Tiny posting a perfectly balanced 50% win rate across 34 matches. Tiny has been missing for a while after a massive string of nerfs that started with Phylactery and ended with the removal of the Avalanche/Toss combo.

Finally, Jakiro is the star of the tournament with a respectable 51.35% win rate in 37 matches. Rubick used to be the comfort support pick, but Jakiro seems to have taken this role completely over the last couple of years.

Shadow Meta: Cores Showing Up

The tournament had around 100 matches when considering both the Play-In and the main event. We will consider heroes that took part in at least 10 games as part of the Shadow Meta, using the 10% cut as usual.

Starting with the 70% win rate and over category, we have four heroes highlighted:

• Razor (73.33% WR in 15 games)
• Shadow Shaman (73.33% WR in 15 games)
• Ancient Apparition (72.73% WR in 11 games)
• Invoker (70% WR in 10 games)

Despite the continued support dominance, Invoker and Razor also show up on this list. Razor is a very versatile hero but has mostly been used as an offlaner, with strong results.

Invoker has been considered too strong for a while now and despite minor nerfs, good Invoker players still manage to perform very well in most matchups.

In the 60% win rate and over category, we have a wider variety of heroes, led by Dark Willow:

• Dark Willow (68.75% WR in 16 matches)
• Centaur Warrunner (66.67% WR in 15 matches)
• Ember Spirit (65.22% WR in 23 matches)
• Treant Protector (64.29% WR in 14 matches)
• Largo (62.96% WR in 27 matches)
• Muerta (61.11% WR in 18 matches)

The biggest surprise on this list is definitely Largo. Despite his fast tracking into Captain’s Mode, the hero performed very well, which might be due to a general lack of knowledge on how to deal with him.

Treant Protector is also an interesting contender. After the gameplay changes in patch 7.40, Treant is standing in a very unclear position, but whatever he turned out to be, it worked very well in the FISSURE Universe Episode 8.

Most Contested Heroes

Finally, the list of most contested heroes features a familiar name returning after being mentioned at the end of 2025. Shadow Fiend was either picked or banned in 96% of the tournament’s matches.

Hero	Pick and Ban Rate	Win Rate
Shadow Fiend	96%	52%
Treant Protector	91%	64%
Shadow Demon	84%	40%
Viper	78%	58%

Out of the remaining names, only Viper was not mentioned previously. He was either picked or banned in 78% of the matches and achieved a strong 58% win rate whenever he was allowed through.

 

Closing Thoughts

The FISSURE Universe Episode 8 Meta Recap offers plenty of interesting insights, starting with the return of support heroes as safe picks. Jakiro sits on top, but Shadow Shaman and Ancient Apparition stand out as the best options in terms of performance.

If you are looking at consistent results, Tiny seems well balanced and should not be targeted by nerfs in upcoming patches. In the meantime, Shadow Fiend remains the most contested hero, while Razor and Invoker delivered impressive performances in the offlane and midlane.

The BLAST Slam VI will definitely shake things up, especially considering that stronger teams tend to make different choices compared to the smaller teams that took part in the FISSURE Universe.

For now, we have a general idea of what to expect, a list of potential contested heroes, and a solid set of recommendations for your matches across all positions if you check all the lists featured in this article.

If you want to stay informed about the BLAST Slam VI, other upcoming events, the next metagame changes, and much more, check out our news page on the Strafe website!

Featured Image Source: FISSURE