So the 5v5 Ban picks mostly seem to consist of Alpha, Tony, Taka, Krul, and Koshka. Maybe this is different in higher tiers, but I’m here to let everyone who isn’t scrutinizing this game beyond what’s ‘meta’, A.K.A. the ‘thing everyone says is the thing to do this patch’, in on some seemingly less known bit of info about this ‘meta’ of ours:
None of those heroes are instant banworthy for 5v5.
Some might already know why. Many might disagree.
I am here only to put this information out there, and whoever picks it up; hey, enjoy the heads up. I will go through every hero and explain why, as well as list all the heroes that ARE instant banworthy in 5v5, and explain why as well.
Disclaimer: Use and abuse at your own discretion (oh, and to the people who know about this already…sorry 
just spreading the strat love!)
I’ll start by explaining the non-instant-banworthy heroes and why it’s a true waste of a ban, to anyone who knows what’s really meta, to pick them, starting with Ms. Popular Scourge; Alpha.
Alpha is a great hero. She’s got survivability like very few, can stick to opponents like very few, and does have the potential to make life a living hell for many team comps when she shows up to a fight. Alpha, however, is not a candidate for instant ban. Here’s why: Alpha is a single-target assault hero for the most part. You will see this largely trend as the main issue with all these heroes in 5v5.
Alpha, while powerful, is most likely to be sticking to one enemy. She has massive push potential with tanky builds because of her sustain, I know (pro tip: it’s even worse when you’ve got her ult & reboot on an unimaginably low cooldown with Clockwork!), however Alpha is easily focused down by multiple enemies because none of her attacks are that massively damaging to take out one person fast enough to tear through a whole team in seconds, contrary to what many people seem to think. Yes, her ult is capable of this, but without CC from team support, enemies have ample time to escape it, plus it’s a give and take that saps her sustain.
To beat the ungodly Alpha, just don’t engage her 1v1 if you can! That’s all there is to it. Call a teamate. Call two. Tell your team in other lanes to fall back to turret cover while your teamates rotate to deal with her if they can. The biggest mistake I see players make is trying to push a kill on Alpha by themselves KNOWING she will gain all that health back, and they…won’t? It should be a bit more common sense y’all! Just fall back & let her come into turret range as well, or if you can’t, CC her and ignore her as a primary target in a teamfight: there’s no point, as everyone else on the enemy team will usually die faster than her and be more single-handedly damaging or more dangerous with strategic abilities. On to the next one. Promise this one will have a shorter explanation.
Tony. Pain. A bit dangerous to trade blows with. A largely one-trick pony. Tony can hassle single targets, taunt multiple enemies into dangerous situations, and his ult is stupidly powerful for blowing up grouped enemy strats when unexpected.
Only one of those things is a serious problem: the blowing up grouped enemy strats: when unexpected. Tony is largely made up of his ability to hassle single targets. His multi-target use is limited, as taunt, while minorly dangerous even for entire teams, is limited with visual cues and short duration. His main dangerous aspect in teamfights is his ult. Can it make life hell for grouped enemies or an important single target at the wrong time? Yes. But it’s the only ability with little warning that really can. He’s banworthy, but not instant-banworthy.
Next: Taka.
Proper vision. Map and enemy awareness.
Next: Krul.
Advice for krul is advice for Alpha. Krul is more dangerous, with his ult and Deadman’s Rush, however the general rules for my Alpha advice apply: don’t face him alone, draw him into turret range if possible, however one thing is different: DO focus Krul in a teamfight to try to get rid of him earlier. The sooner a Krul is gone, before almost ANYBODY else, the better. And of course, try to kite rather than trade blows. A Krul that isn’t hitting you isn’t healing, and a Krul that isn’t healing is going to have a bad day 
. And a bit of advice for his ult: if you know there’s a Krul around, you should be teamfighting, and have multiple CC’s ready. If one of your teamates gets hit by his ult, if he’s alone, as the not-the-best Krul have a tendency to be, CC him, and go to work until your teamate can, but if he’s not, CC him and DO NOT ENGAGE. I repeat, if Krul has backup, go for the backup. Try to CC him to help your teamate, but redirect your attention to the backup if you can, or retreat. Your better off doing some damage on a potentially non-lifestealing target than trying to hard-press the Krul to somehow save your teamate, only to be crushed by the enemy, and pushing his backup can potentially help redirect their attention from your painfully stunned teamate, and maybe you both get out alive, but if a teamate’s gotta make a sacrifice, a teamate’s gotta make a sacrifice. This is war.
On a lighter subject! Koshka, our final popular ban, has a mix of some basic advice from our basic fox-friend Taka and everyone else, and a very, very simple counter: map & enemy awareness is where we’ll start. Koshka’s tend to pounce from shadows or catch you over-extended, so have proper vision, and if you know there’s a Koshka nearby, don’t over extend! You want to try your best to draw Koshka into teamfights or force her to pounce right into your turret. Koshka’s most maligned feature, her ult, also has a secret.
It’s a huge secret. A massive secret. A secret SO earth-shatteringly secret, SO mind-meltingly secret, SO SECRETLY FREAKING SECRET, it just might break you to read it: be warned! 
It’s her biggest weakness in a teamfight. Just as much as it’s her biggest strength. When facing Koshka, have teamates around you. Don’t go out alone! When she ults, there is only one thing you guys have to do: focus. Focus her. Focus her hard. Focus her no matter whoever else is around if you can. That whole time she is performing her infamous long stun, she is effectively stunned as well. That’s the mind-trick of her ult: it doesn’t actually make her any safer except when YOU get caught alone or in a bad spot, so don’t do that!
So there you have it: a rundown on every popular ban and the simple ways to deal with them. I’m splitting this info-session into two parts to avoid the post being any longer, so look for part two, covering which heroes ARE actually instant-banworthy (A.K.A. which heroes to always pick until everyone else starts picking up on how OP they are for 5v5) soon.
I rarely do these long, informative posts so if you read it through, I hope it helps in some way when the ban picks terrify you.
P.S. I didn’t include SAW because…ranged ability heroes. Get one on your team today.