Dota 2
Dota 2
TI11 Battle Pass launch gets huge delay as Valve changes plan
Steven Rondina
A major change is coming to The International Battle Pass for TI11, and that’s going to see the battle pass get a significant delay. The International Battle Pass has traditionally been a summer event, dropping in May and then running through The International in August. In theory, it’s meant to wrap immediately after the conclusion of the event but server outages and various other controversies usually see it last for …
Dota 2
Dota 2 avoid player feature improved, as long as fans pay up
Steven Rondina
Dota 2 players get to enjoy an improved avoid player feature, but only if they’re willing to pay up some shards. The Dota 2 7.31d update came with a long list of extra features. Instead of just featuring a balance update that buffs or nerfs a variety of heroes and items, a number of additions were made to the actual Dota 2 client with a particular focus on Dota Plus. …
Dota 2
These hidden Dota 2 mechanics separate noobs from veterans
William Davis
A few key hidden mechanics can make a very big difference in your Dota 2 matches. Dota 2 is a complicated game. With 123 heroes to choose from and more than 200 items available to buy, it’s easy to get lost in this sea of information. But even after reading every ability and demoing each item, Dota 2 still has more hidden mechanics for players to discover. The most useful …
Dota 2
All the best graphics settings to raise your FPS in Dota 2
William Davis
Double-checking your graphics settings is the most efficient way to raise FPS in Dota 2. Dota 2 is a beautiful game, but between all the crazy arcanas and particle-packed immortals, it can be tough to run at full speed. The problem is even worse during big ultimates like Black Hole or Wukong’s Command. Luckily for players with lower-end PCs, Dota 2 is actually fairly easy to run on low settings …
League of Legends
Arcane season 2, DOTA season 3 may be revealed soon by Netflix
Steven Rondina
An event called Netflix Geeked Week will seemingly unveil Arcane season two and DOTA: Dragon’s Blood season three. Netflix Geeked Week is set to be a week of reveals for new content coming to the streaming service. This includes movies, TV shows, and highly-anticipated anime. Much of this has been previously revealed or announced including a Cuphead animated series and the Tekken: Bloodlines anime. But also included was confirmation of …
Dota 2
How to buy tickets for the Dota 2 Arlington Major
William Davis
Arlington, Texas seems like an unlikely spot for a Dota 2 Major, but tickets are on sale for fans to head out west. Fans can now secure their seats at the Dota 2 Arlington Major. Ticket sales are live with single-day options for the whole weekend. Tickets are being sold at a discount as of this writing, but could go up from here. Of course, it always helps to have …
Dota 2
Support Doom is the ticket to gaining MMR in Dota 2 7.31
William Davis
Soft support picks are usually ranged playmakers with lots of flashy spells, but Doom boils down the essence of position four into trading and securing kills. A new Doom support build is snatching MMR left and right in Dota 2 public matchmaking. While Doom is generally considered a bad hero with 45.70% win rate, pro players have developed a new build that puts him in an entirely new role. As …
Dota 2
Here’s the date and location for Dota 2’s TI11
Steven Rondina
Details regarding The International 2022 are finally coming out. This includes an estimated date and location for TI11. During the ESL One Stockholm Major, Valve confirmed that TI11 will take place in Singapore. This followed a few days of oddly cheeky posts on Twitter from Valve showing a number of small figurines of Dota 2 heroes. The locations and surroundings of the figures led many to believe that this was …
OG wins ESL Stockholm Major, but could it win TI11?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
While the old OG was defined by its inconsistency, the new OG is looking consistently great so far. OG are the champions of the ESL One Stockholm Major and are effectively guaranteed a spot at The International 2022. The first major of the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit concluded with OG taking a victory despite a handicap. Sebastian “Ceb” Debs and Johan “N0tail” Sundstein were forced back into action due to …
Tundra opens up on wild mid picks, DPC, and NA vs EU pubs
William Davis
Dota 2
The Stockholm Major is a return to live crowds for Dota 2 esports. For Tundra, this major is also a chance to claim its first Valve event championship. WIN.gg was able to interview Tundra Esports and learn the team’s thoughts on the Stockholm meta, regional pub differences, and why Leon “Nine” Kirilin keeps picking strange heroes. WIN.gg: Sneyking, you recently switched to the captain’s role. Were there any unexpected challenges …
Dota 2 has revealed the location of The International 11
William Davis
Dota 2
The location of The International 11 has been all but confirmed after Dota 2 social media went on a teasing spree. An official Dota 2 social media channel posted a set of images depicting small hero figurines at various locations. At first glance, it seems to just be a few promotional images for some new Dota 2 merchandise. But observant fans claim that it could be a hint towards the …
Dota 2 pro says he was kicked from team over mother’s death
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross says he was kicked from Team SMG in a particularly heartless fashion that had to do with the passing of his mother. The veteran support player was kicked from Team SMG on May 20, with the organization announcing the news on Twitter and other social media channels. The team had finished sixth in the SEA Dota Pro Circuit league’s second tour, and many other similarly positioned teams …
Team Secret kicks SumaiL, where will he go for push to TI11?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Syed “SumaiL” Hassan finds himself in an unfortunately familiar position. The carry player is a free agent after a split with Team Secret. Despite dominating European Dota 2 in the last three years, Team Secret fell short of qualifying for the ESL One Stockholm Major. That left the organization looking to shake things up for the final tour ahead of The International 2022. The odd man out in the equation …
Wraith Pact is the most OP Dota 2 item, Stockholm Major proves
William Davis
Dota 2
As often happens in Dota 2, a new item that everybody forgot about is now the scariest thing in the game. After quietly being added to the game in Dota 2 patch 7.31, Wraith Pact has become one of the most gaming-changing items at the Stockholm Major. Pro teams from all regions are rushing the item from multiple positions due to its insanely strong active ability and its powerful aura. …
NBA Jam announcer pack for Dota 2 up for vote on Steam Workshop
William Davis
Dota 2
If fans want it badly enough, Dota 2 players could soon have their games commentated by the legendary announcer from NBA Jam. A new Dota 2 announcer pack based on NBA Jam is now up for voting on the Steam Workshop. The fully-voiced sound pack is a joint effort between Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner and Shannon “SUNSfan” Scotten of DotaCinema. The pair announced the project on May 11 just before the …
Here are the skins you can earn from Dota 2 major fantasy game
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Valve hasn’t given either casual or pro Dota 2 players much reason to care about any event outside of The International, but that’s changing with the ESL One Stockholm Major as the Fantasy Challenge returns. Rewards for watching esports are the standard across every major esports title. League of Legends, Overwatch, and almost every other major esport have some sort of reward for regular viewers of their top leagues. Valve’s …
The best level 25 talents that you’re not picking in Dota 2
William Davis
Dota 2
Level 25 talents are flashy, but the better-looking choice doesn’t always have the best win rate in Dota 2. Level 25 used to be the limit for how strong Dota 2 heroes could get, but now it’s just the start. Final talents are a massive upgrade to every hero, offering fancy new abilities, game-changing passives, or huge upgrades. Choosing which one to get is usually easy, but some good choices …
What’s in the TI11 Battle Pass, and when’s its release date?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International Battle Pass typically arrives in May. So what’s to be in the TI11 Battle Pass, and will it release soon? The International is in limbo when it comes to its scheduling. Though the event happened in either July or August each year from 2012 to 2019, the cancellation of The International 2020 turned the Dota 2 esports scene upside down. Things got worse in 2021 when the event …
Here’s the max damage Phantom Assassin can do with one crit
William Davis
Dota 2
Phantom Assassin can crit for thousands of damage in a real Dota 2 game, but that’s nothing compared to the biggest possible crit. While PA can deal huge damage under any circumstances, what if logic and proper builds are thrown to the wind in favor of dealing the most possible damage. The answer is well over 20,000 damage. Naturally, the build starts with a level 30 Phantom Assassin with a …
Topson is planning a return to pro Dota 2, but for what team?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen will seemingly return to pro Dota 2, but what team will he play for? The two-time The International champion was hinting at retirement ahead of The International 2021, and seemingly ended his career after OG’s top-eight run at the event. But now after a six-month break, the competitive itch has seemingly returned to the star mid-laner. In a recent stream, Topson stated in fairly certain terms …
Few games have proven to have the resilient popularity enjoyed by Dota 2. The multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA for short, has been among the biggest and most successful projects released by gaming giant Valve, and it continues to enjoy great popularity to this day.
That popularity has endured despite a great number of changes that have been made to both the game itself and to the communities surrounding it. The competitive title’s history reaches all the way back to another game created and published by another developer, but with Valve now leading the way, Dota 2 seems primed to last well into the future.
From Blizzard to Valve, Dota 2 continues to evolve
While know today as one of Valve’s key game properties, Dota 2 has its origins in a real-time strategy game developed and published by famed video game company Blizzard. One of the franchises that keyed Blizzard’s success and reputational growth in the games industry is WarCraft, which today is best-known for the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft.
But prior to the success of World of Warcraft, the high-fantasy franchise was experienced through a series of RTS games. The third main title in that series, WarCraft 3, provided players not only with a great experience right out of the box, but also with the opportunity to heavily modify the game and its functions, and to play modified versions of the experience as custom games online with other players.
The most popular of these custom game modes was arguably Defense of the Ancients, or DotA for short. This custom game mode saw two teams of players face off against each other with strong individual champion characters, as opposed to building out complex home bases and developing broad armies of diverse units.
It was an entirely different way to play the game, and it proved so popular that would eventually give birth to an entirely new genre of video games: the MOBA genre.
The continuation of the original DotA became Dota 2, a project developed under the guidance of famed developer and publisher Valve. Flush with success from online marketplace Steam and its own franchises including Half-Life and Portal, Valve was more than willing to invest in this new and innovative game type.
The International sets Dota 2 apart
While there have been many other competitive games created and released since, including other popular MOBAs such as Riot Games’ League of Legends, Dota 2 has stood apart for remaining true to its roots and for massive competitive events like The International. First held in 2011 for the purpose of bringing together disparate competitive teams from all around the world with more than $1 million on the line, the esports tournament quickly grew into the biggest such event of each calendar year.
One of the main drivers behind that immense growth was the upwards trajectory of the tournament’s prize pool. Partially funded by Dota 2 players and esports fans, the prize pool for The International began increasing in 2013 and eventually ballooned to a massive total of over $40 million by the time 2021 rolled around. For the groups of players and coaches who climbed this mountain and won its top prize, it was a truly life-changing event.
For varied reasons, Valve eventually soured on running the event itself and on the idea of having so much money filtered into one specific event. Prize winnings were dropped significantly in 2022, and even further for the 2023 and 2024 events. But despite the prizes on hand no longer being quite so astronomical, The International still boasts a prize in the low millions, and it remains the biggest event on the Dota 2 competitive calendar and arguably on the greater esports calendar across all games.
