Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2 fans will love these Christmas gift ideas
William Davis
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 …
Dota 2
ana reportedly looks to make Dota 2 return, but not with OG
Steven Rondina
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 …
Dota 2
OG reveals shocking all-new Dota 2 roster for next DPC season
Steven Rondina
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 …
Dota 2
JerAx returns to pro Dota 2 to lead new Evil Geniuses roster
Steven Rondina
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” …
Dota 2
Alliance reveals new roster with AdmiralBulldog as sub
William Davis
Alliance has announced a shocking new roster for the 2022 Dota 2 season. The storied organization is heavily overhauling its roster for the next Dota Pro Circuit season. Alliance has announced three new players in the mid, offlane, and soft support positions. The team has also announced the official return of TI3 off-laner Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg as an official substitute. The godfather of split-pushing will step in if any players …
Dota 2
SumaiL officially joins Team Secret for next DPC season
Steven Rondina
The rumors have proven to be true as Syed “SumaiL” Hassan is officially being tabbed as the new mid laner for Team Secret. The organization confirmed the news in its latest short comic, which has been used to reveal the new lineup and position shuffles that will take effect next season. With the addition of SumaiL, Team Secret’s lineup for next season will be: Michał “Nisha” JankowskiSyed “SumaiL” HassanDaryl Koh …
Dota 2
Paparazi passes Yatoro for highest MMR, forms new team
William Davis
The new highest MMR player in Dota 2 has redeemed himself after a rough run at The International 10. Chinese mid superstar Zhang “Paparazi” Chengjun is now the highest MMR player in the world. After a long final stretch, he achieved his goal of surpassing Team Spirit’s TI10 championship-winning carry Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk on the Western Europe leaderboard. Shortly after taking first place, a Chinese Dota 2 insider revealed that …
Dota 2
Fly leaves Evil Geniuses, leads Talon’s new SEA Dota 2 team
Steven Rondina
Tal “Fly” Aizik is leaving Evil Geniuses and heading to Southeast Asia to helm a new Dota 2 team sponsored by Talon Esports. The organization best known for sponsoring League of Legends’ PSG Talon squad is entering the competitive Dota 2 scene. The brand is making a splashy entrance into the new title by putting together an intriguing squad of SEA talent with the surprising X-factor of one of Dota …
MATUMBAMAN is leaving Team Secret and SumaiL may replace him
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen is departing from Team Secret and that has some big implications for Syed “SumaiL” Hassan. Clement “Puppey” Ivanov’s organization announced the news of MATUMBAMAN’s departure on Twitter. It is unclear what is leading to the carry player’s departure and both sides seemed to lament his leaving on the team’s official website. “I’m staring at this notepad and I’m a bit at a loss for words. Writing pleasantries for …
New Natus Vincere Dota 2 roster for 2022 DPC announced
William Davis
Dota 2
A new Natus Vincere Dota 2 roster has formed after a season of scandals. According to the team’s official Dota Pro Circuit registration, a new Na’Vi lineup has been confirmed. The squad includes several famed Eastern European players including Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko and Alexey “Solo” Berezin. It also brings the unexpected return of offlaner Viktor “GeneRaL” Nigrini. In the wake of Team Spirit’s $18,208,300 championship at TI10, the CIS region is …
What’s the average rank in Dota 2? Player chart reveals all
William Davis
Dota 2
The average rank in Dota 2 may be lower than you think. A new graph has been released through Chinese social media that claims to reveal the exact distribution of ranks in Dota 2. The chart does not specify exact MMR, instead grouping players by medal. Based on this information, the most common rank in Dota 2 is Crusader 2, which is around 1800 MMR. In addition to the average …
Dota 2 account buying leads to accusations at Virtus.pro, gpk
William Davis
Dota 2
The most high-profile case of Dota 2 account buying is playing out right now. A ranked player is currently running rampant in European Dota 2 pubs. The account was ranked within the top 50 when he acquired it, but it has quickly dropped down the ladder. The player has barely won any matches since he started playing, at one point falling down a 17-match losing streak. He has also chosen …
This is how to get free skins in Dota 2
William Davis
Dota 2
New Dota 2 players can jumpstart their armory with a few free skins, all courtesy of Valve. As part of early 2021’s learning experience update, Dota 2 players now have a simple way to earn a bunch of free skins in the popular MOBA. By completing intro quests, players can earn individual cosmetic pieces for many different heroes. Even experienced Dota 2 players might find it worthwhile to run the …
Saksa, SumaiL leaving OG after disappointing run in TI10
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
OG is set to look very different in 2022, with the organization announcing that Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and Syed “SumaiL” Hassan are set to leave the Dota 2 team. OG had a relatively disappointing run in The International 2021, with the team finishing in eighth place. That flop has led to a major shakeup in the team, with SumaiL and Saksa both departing. The organization stated that both SumaiL and …
The Dota 2 player count is rocketing up in late 2021, but why?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 suffered a brutal player count drop in September, but it has rebounded brilliantly in October. Dota 2 posted one of its strongest month-over-month gains in the game’s long history in October, with enormous jumps in terms of both average and peak player counts according to Steam Charts. This comes following an action-packed month for the game at both the professional and casual levels. Throughout the month, Dota 2 …
Is Dota 2 really better with a high behavior score? We found out
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
There’s a lot of talk among Dota 2 players when it comes to behavior score and what impact it has on the playing experience. Only those who have been at the top and at the bottom of the game’s behavior score brackets can really give definitive answers on the differences between having a high and low behavior score. I’m a player that’s been in the trenches of Dota 2 with …
zai transferred from Team Secret to Team Liquid for 2022 DPC
William Davis
Dota 2
Roster shuffles are inevitable after The International, but there’s a big one kicking things off with Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg leaving Team Secret to join Team Liquid. According to both teams’ official social media, the transfer is finalized. The Swedish offlaner will join Team Liquid, though it’s unclear where he will fit into the team. zai first joined Secret in 2018 and was an instrumental part of cementing Team Secret as …
Dota 2 is no longer the most toxic game, but it’s close
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 players may still be as toxic as ever, but they’re not actually the most toxic in gaming anymore. The Anti-Defamation League has released a 2021 follow-up to its past studies on toxicity in online gaming, which tracks players’ experiences in various prominent games. Studies on the subject began in 2019, with Dota 2 being the worst-rated game in both the inaugural rating and the 2020 edition of the …
Stats say Marci isn’t OP, but here’s why the stats are wrong
William Davis
Dota 2
In DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, Marci is lightning quick and untouchably strong. Her Dota 2 incarnation is equally powerful. Since her release with patch 7.30e, Marci has quickly become one of the most polarizing Dota 2 heroes. Her high mobility and extreme damage output have frustrated hundreds of thousands of players. Marci’s ability to reposition enemies and punch them into oblivion makes her seem overpowered, but the stats suggest there’s a …
Inspired by Team Spirit, EternaLEnVy might leave pro Dota 2
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
AIllya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk has inspired Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao to do something. But what exactly he’s inspired to do is unclear, and fans are feeling very confused. EternaLEnVy took to Twitter to praise The International 2021 winner Yatoro, but he did so in a strange way. The free agent player praised the skill and savvy of the TI10 winner and stated that he feels he’s no longer up to scratch as …
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.
