Dota 2
Dota 2
The best week 1 upgrades to take for Aghanim’s Labyrinth
William Davis
Aghanim’s Labyrinth upgrades make Dota 2’s toughest PVE game easier for everyone. In normal Dota 2, grit, skill, and teamwork are the only paths to victory. In Aghanim’s Labyrinth, winning or losing depends a lot on what buttons you press in the main menu. Aside from the draft, arcane fragments and the upgrades they purchase are the biggest factors for whether your run goes belly-up or ends with a dead …
Dota 2
How to rank up quickly in Dota 2 over the holidays
William Davis
The holidays are the perfect time to rank up in Dota 2. In between all the Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s festivities, there’s tons of free time to play your favorite game. Dota 2’s player base surges during the holidays, which means lightning-fast queues and lots of returning players who might just be a bit rusty. That means that right now is the perfect time to grind some MMR. …
Dota 2
You can now play Dota 2 with a controller, and this is how
Steven Rondina
The Aghanim’s Labyrinth: The Continuum Conundrum Battle Pass has added controller support to Dota 2, and setting it up can be an absolutely awful experience. But we can help. While PC gamers of all sorts have scoffed at the idea of playing certain genres on a controller, that may be an outdated notion. The days of unwieldy and poorly optimized ports of games like StarCraft on the Nintendo 64 and …
Dota 2
All the new Dota 2 skins in The Continuum Conundrum
William Davis
New skins are the most exciting part of any new Dota 2 battle pass and the Aghanim’s Labyrinth: The Continuum Conundrum Battle Pass is no different. Dota 2 was due for a big update after The International 2021 and Valve has delivered. Fans get to enjoy a brand new battle pass chock full of new ways to play the game including the return of the titular custom game mode. The …
Dota 2
DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Book 2 release date revealed in trailer
Steven Rondina
A new trailer for DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Book 2 has dropped and it shows that things are going very poorly for Davion, Mirana, and their friends. Netflix revealed the next look at the Dota 2 animated series’ second season, and it seems that almost every plot thread in the first season has taken a turn for the worse after the finale. Each of the main characters are touched upon and …
Dota 2
The lore behind every Dota 2 arcana and persona
William Davis
Arcanas and hero personas are the biggest lore development for almost every Dota 2 hero and they also add lore to each hero. Dota 2’s most prestigious sets show a brand new side of their hero. Hero personas and arcanas completely rework a hero’s look and present a new twist on them. Each one comes with its own backstory for how the hero earned their flashier form. Here’s the story …
Dota 2
Arkosh Gaming’s Dota 2 roster is now officially revealed
Steven Rondina
The identity of the Arkosh Gaming roster has been a mystery and a constant source of rumors since the Dota 2 team was first announced, but fans finally know for certain which players are behind the squad’s demonic characters. Ahead of the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit season, Liquipedia began linking out to the actual player profiles for five past and present North American pros. Arkosh Gaming hasn’t officially acknowledged these …
Dota 2
PSG.LGD to investigate coach xiao8 for throwing TI10 draft
William Davis
If PSG.LGD’s xiao8 investigation leads to anything, it could potentially result in the biggest scandal in Dota 2 history. PSG.LGD has suspended its Dota 2 coach Zhang “xiao8” Ning for 30 days. It has also launched an internal investigation related to his performance at The International 10. This is most likely related to several poor draft decisions that resulted in Team Spirit winning 3-2 in the grand final. If foul …
Dota Plus Winter Update adds new skins and unusual courier
William Davis
Dota 2
Thanks to the Dota Plus Winter Update, Dota 2 fans have a new set of items to spend their shards on. Valve has released a new Dota 2 update that brings changes to Dota Plus. The seasonal update adds a new Wintry Treasure with brand-new skins to collect and a very rare unusual courier. It also added a new set of Winter 2021 quests to complete. Lastly, Dota 2 fans …
Zai wants to move the Roshan pit, but where should it go?
William Davis
Dota 2
Roshan’s pit has been on the top side river since 7.00, but pro players think it needs to move. In an interview with his sponsor Team Liquid, Ludwig “Zai” Wåhlberg shared his thoughts on the current Dota 2 metagame. Zai mentioned a stale laning stage and a lack of new objectives as his primary concerns. He also stated his belief that the current Roshan situation needs to change. But even …
How to recalibrate your MMR in Dota 2
William Davis
Dota 2
You can recalibrate your Dota 2 MMR with just a few clicks, but be prepared for the most intense matchmaking experience of your life. All Dota 2 players have the option to recalibrate their matchmaking rank at any time. Whether you feel like you’re stuck in the wrong bracket or you’re a returning player looking to find fairer matches, the recalibration feature can help you to correct your matchmaking rank. …
New Dota 2 battle pass coming, likely with Drow Ranger arcana
William Davis
Dota 2
Drow Ranger could get the next arcana in Dota 2 if some upgrade strings are to be believed, and all signs point to it being part of a new battle pass. The recent Dota 2 update that brought back the fantasy challenge also added several new strings to the game’s files, including a reference to an upcoming arcana for Drow Ranger. The flashy new cosmetic will most likely launch with …
Fantasy Dota 2 returns year-round with new DPC fantasy challenge
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Fantasy Dota 2 is now a year-round affair with the mini-game no longer being a part of The International Compendium and now instead being integrated into the client in a more permanent way as a part of the Dota Pro Circuit. The news was revealed on the official Dota 2 blog, as was a thorough detailing of the new format. Because the new Dota 2 fantasy game will be attached …
Dota 2 fans will love these Christmas gift ideas
William Davis
Dota 2
Christmas gifts for Dota 2 fans can be as diverse as the game’s 122 unique heroes. It can be hard to find the perfect gift for gamers. Luckily for Dota 2 fans, independent artists, esports, and even the developer Valve have teamed up to give you plenty of options. Whether they love a certain hero or follow the esports scene religiously, here are three Dota 2 Christmas gift ideas to …
ana reportedly looks to make Dota 2 return, but not with OG
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It seems as though Anathan “ana” Pham isn’t done with professional Dota 2 after all, but he is done with OG. Prominent figures within the Chinese Dota 2 scene have stated that ana looked to make a return this season with Invictus Gaming, something the organization declined. This was discussed on social media, inspiring debate regarding whether iG had made the right call by turning the player away. ana possibly …
OG reveals shocking all-new Dota 2 roster for next DPC season
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It was already known that OG was set to have an all-new roster for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit season, but it’s still surprising how different the lineup is. The organization saw three of its players step away from the game and released two more, while insisting that it would still compete at the start of the next DPC season. That meant OG was hitting the reset button, a prediction …
JerAx returns to pro Dota 2 to lead new Evil Geniuses roster
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka is returning to action with Evil Geniuses. Two-time The International champion JerAx is ending his retirement in a surprising way. Evil Geniuses announced that the player is returning to lead an overhauled roster that also includes Virtus.pro carry Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko, formerly known as epileptick1d. The Evil Geniuses roster for the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit season will include the following players: Artour “Arteezy” BabaevAbed “Abed” YusopEgor “Nightfall” …
N0tail announces indefinite hiatus from professional Dota 2
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
For the first time in a very long while, Dota 2 esports will have to make due without Johan “N0tail” Sundstein. The OG captain announced that he is set to take at least a full year off from competitive Dota 2. This completes the dissolution of OG’s The International 2021 roster, with all the other players either stepping away from the game or being released. “I’m personally taking at least …
BSJ banned mid-game for smurfing after daring Valve to do it
William Davis
Dota 2
Popular Dota 2 streamer BSJ got a surprise ban from Valve after smurfing on a fan’s account. On November 19, educational Dota 2 streamer Brian “BSJ” Canavan was unexpectedly banned while playing on a viewer’s account. The speed of the ban implies that it was personally administered by a Valve employee. Not all smurfing is against the rules, but by sharing his account with a popular streamer, one unlucky player …
Topson steps away from pro Dota 2, may be retiring
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen is going to be gone from professional Dota 2 for a very long time, and possibly forever. OG Esports announced that Topson is looking to spend a lengthy block of time away from the game in order to spend time with his wife and young child. This comes as little surprise as Topson was openly discussing taking a break from the game ahead of The International …
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.
