Dota 2
Dota 2
TI11 gets a new format, venue and date officially revealed
Steven Rondina
The International 2022 is set to look very different from previous years. TI11 will be getting a new format and overhauled schedule that will turn the event into a four-week affair, with an official date being revealed. Valve has slowly, clumsily been reworking the Dota 2 pro scene to look more similar to that of rival MOBA League of Legends. That started with the league-based Dota Pro Circuit, but things …
Dota 2
A new highest Dota 2 GPM record set by .Ark on Medusa
William Davis
When it comes to the highest GPM record in Dota 2, there’s no such thing as too much farm. Yegor “.Ark” Zhabotinskii has set a new non-Alchemist record for gold per minute in competitive play while on Medusa with a GPM rate of 1,255. The match in question took place during a Dota 2 Champions League match where .Ark’s team KBU.US went neck-and-neck against Ooredoo Thunders. While this GPM is …
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
Tundra opens up on wild mid picks, DPC, and NA vs EU pubs
William Davis
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
Dota 2 has revealed the location of The International 11
William Davis
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
Dota 2 pro says he was kicked from team over mother’s death
Steven Rondina
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 …
Dota 2
Team Secret kicks SumaiL, where will he go for push to TI11?
Steven Rondina
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 …
How many playable heroes are in Dota 2 in 2022?
William Davis
Dota 2
Dota 2 has many heroes to pick from, but measuring exactly how many is more complicated than you might think. As of patch 7.31b, Dota 2 has 123 playable heroes in the game. Each hero has a unique set of abilities, stats, talents, Aghanim’s upgrades, and more. All heroes are completely free to play. While not all are available in the esports version of Dota 2, Valve continues to churn …
Why aren’t there Chinese Dota 2 teams at the Stockholm Major?
William Davis
Dota 2
Not seeing your favorite Chinese teams at The Stockholm Major? There’s a very important reason for that. Perfect World has announced that Chinese teams will not attend the Stockholm Major. The competitive region will instead have its own regional final starting on May 6. The choice is most likely related to ongoing health concerns in China. With one of the strongest regions absent from the event, The Stockholm Major has …
The Dota 2 Stockholm Major could bomb without a balance patch
William Davis
Dota 2
The PGL Stockholm Major could be one of the least-balanced events in Dota 2 history unless another patch comes through. Dota 2 patch 7.31b is meant to go out with a bang at The Stockholm Major, but the current state of balance could turn it into a flop. The most recent Dota Pro Circuit season showed just how unbalanced the game is, and the pro meta indicates that it’s getting …
You can borrow Dota 2 HUDs, announcers, more as shared content
William Davis
Dota 2
Dota 2 players can share their cosmetic content with their teammates thanks to an often-forgotten feature in the game. Here’s what it is and how to use it. Cosmetics are a big part of Dota 2, but the customization doesn’t end with your hero. HUD skins and announcer packs are a great way to jazz up an otherwise plain match. It’s okay to have your own favorites, but you can …
How to disable Dota 2 heroes talking, or just quiet them down
William Davis
Dota 2
Dota 2 heroes love to shout voice lines for everything from kills to last hits to moving, but there’s a way to make them a little less annoying. Every Dota 2 player has a certain hero who they just perfectly vibe with, but even the most iconic voice lines can get dull after thousands of hours. Luckily for irate players, there’s a way to tone them down. Here’s how to …
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.
