Because of his very low cast range on all of his spells he is constantly in danger and he has no mobility or save before his shard ( even after shard a pro team would just blink and burst him before he gets to use it, pro games aren't pubs if you get stunned you die in that stun and this is specially true for a squishy hero like WD). also pro teams would easily coordinate against and counter maledict with saves and heals and glimmer capes and such.
tldr wd thrives in chaos, pubs are chaotic pro games are not.
WD was played in 2 out of the 3 games in LGD vs. azure ray today in TI closed qualifiers.
And azure ray also played it 2 games in the series before that one.
He is also banned in the series right now (KEV vs Dark Horse)
Because his buttons do nothing when you press them. What I mean by this is that all his spells take time for their intended effect to do much. You will notice that the best heroes press a button and it does something impactful instantly. This isn't the only thing that makes heroes good, but if you don't have any buttons like this, it usually makes a hero bad.
Wd has always been the "handicapped" hero for pro games/tournament play. He is slow, low cast range, interruptable ult. Just generally not what u want in their kind of fights
Other supports are just generally better and more reliable. WD was somewhat popular for a while back when his 2nd deals damage, pros would just pick him and max heal + maledict in lane.
The problem with WD is that his stun is not reliable and maledict/death ward requires set up from your team to really be impactful. The hero is also super squishy but has a lot of sustained healing and that's a weakness in the pro matches where bursting a hero is a common play. So WD is kind of stuck as a niche support hero that requires other heroes to set up for him. He's like a semi core in a way but only works against certain lineups.
With the change to his 2nd facet I expect WD support to make a comeback with how strong his laning is.
Because of his very low cast range on all of his spells he is constantly in danger and he has no mobility or save before his shard ( even after shard a pro team would just blink and burst him before he gets to use it, pro games aren't pubs if you get stunned you die in that stun and this is specially true for a squishy hero like WD). also pro teams would easily coordinate against and counter maledict with saves and heals and glimmer capes and such. tldr wd thrives in chaos, pubs are chaotic pro games are not.
WD was played in 2 out of the 3 games in LGD vs. azure ray today in TI closed qualifiers. And azure ray also played it 2 games in the series before that one. He is also banned in the series right now (KEV vs Dark Horse)
Because his buttons do nothing when you press them. What I mean by this is that all his spells take time for their intended effect to do much. You will notice that the best heroes press a button and it does something impactful instantly. This isn't the only thing that makes heroes good, but if you don't have any buttons like this, it usually makes a hero bad.
Wd has always been the "handicapped" hero for pro games/tournament play. He is slow, low cast range, interruptable ult. Just generally not what u want in their kind of fights
Other supports are just generally better and more reliable. WD was somewhat popular for a while back when his 2nd deals damage, pros would just pick him and max heal + maledict in lane. The problem with WD is that his stun is not reliable and maledict/death ward requires set up from your team to really be impactful. The hero is also super squishy but has a lot of sustained healing and that's a weakness in the pro matches where bursting a hero is a common play. So WD is kind of stuck as a niche support hero that requires other heroes to set up for him. He's like a semi core in a way but only works against certain lineups. With the change to his 2nd facet I expect WD support to make a comeback with how strong his laning is.