Dota 2
Dota 2
TI10 Secret Shop opens with new exclusive Dota 2 merch
William Davis
Valve has finally revealed the official merchandise line for The International 10. The International 10 Secret Shop is now available online for Dota 2 fans around the world. This year’s collection includes several community contributions presented on clothing, water bottles, pins, and more. Valve has also created a small collection of official TI10 sportswear, including a full tracksuit. There are two different TI10 Secret Shops, one for the United States …
Dota 2
Thunder Predator becomes 1st team eliminated from TI10
Steven Rondina
Thunder Predator is the first team eliminated from The International 2021. The South American squad couldn’t survive the third day of groups and will be heading home from TI10 as a result. After starting the group stage with a 0-10 record, the team was put into a do-or-die match against Team Aster where it needed a 2-0 sweep in order to stay alive in the tournament. Thunder Predator lost the …
Dota 2
Twitch leak reveals who the richest Dota 2 streamers are
Steven Rondina
An enormous Twitch leak has rocked the world of streaming, and the realm of Dota 2 wasn’t left out of it. Tens of thousands of streamers had their earnings revealed after a 120-gigabyte leak revealed private emails, user data, and even Twitch’s source code. Much of the focus of these leaks was on the million-dollar annual salaries of streaming personalities including Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Turner “Tfue” Tenney, but it …
Dota 2
OG eats 1st losses at TI10 from Team Aster, Virtus.pro
William Davis
After a lackluster day one, Team Aster is looking like a contender in the The International 2021’s group stage thanks to a win over OG. Team Aster just handed OG its first series loss at TI10, which also stands as OG’s first losing series at The International since 2018. OG won tied or won all its group stage matches at TI9 and cleared the upper bracket en route to winning …
Dota 2
Borax’s jungle Pudge makes Evil Geniuses bleed at TI10
William Davis
Everyone hates seeing a support Pudge in their ranked games, but Aster’s soft support made it look like a decent idea. In the opening round of The International 2021, Team Aster went for an experimental pick against Evil Geniuses. In the second phase, Aster captain Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng drafted Pudge for Ye “Borax” Zhibiao, previously known as “BoBoKa.” While it wasn’t enough to defeat the North American titan, it definitely …
Dota 2
Here’s who to pick for your TI10 fantasy lineup
Steven Rondina
With the groups for The International 2021 finally confirmed, Dota 2 players can start confidently setting up their fantasy lineups. While the best approach to Dota 2 fantasy games is no secret, fans need to know the schedule before they can really feel good about their picks. It might sound strange, but picking the right teams is more important than picking the best players for a fantasy lineup in Dota …
Dota 2
The International 10 opening day betting picks and analysis
William Davis
Ready to use Dota 2’s most lucrative tournament to your advantage? The International 10 is finally upon us in all of its $40 million glory. Valve took its sweet time with releasing the group stage details, but now we know exactly which matches will take place on October 7. The best-of-two format means three possible results, leading to higher odds and bigger payouts. Here are the best betting opportunities at …
Dota 2
TI10 groups, schedule revealed just 20 hours before tournament
Steven Rondina
The group stage matches for The International 2021 have finally been revealed. Valve has confirmed the matchups and schedule details for the first leg of The International 2021. Unlike certain Dota Pro Circuit events of the past, the groups are evenly distributed when it comes to teams from the same region and neither group is unevenly loaded with teams from one region. The group distribution breaks down as follows: https://twitter.com/wykrhm/status/1445638928220901386 …
Team Aster will compete online at The International 10
William Davis
Dota 2
The conditions for teams at TI10 may not be great, but at least Aster is getting room service. Team Aster will compete online at The International 10. The squad will connect to the group stage over the internet The announcement was revealed through the team’s Chinese-language social media. Fans expressed doubts about Aster’s participation after several of its players had fallen ill and required quarantining. In late September, Team Aster …
Who is Ephey? The soft-spoken analyst that’s heading to TI10
William Davis
Dota 2
One of Dota 2’s breakout stars will be behind the analyst desk at The International 10. Mira “Ephey” Riad is a Dota 2 caster and analyst who recently debuted on the professional scene. Her big break at the WePlay AniMajor captured the attention of thousands of fans. She’s since made appearances at OGA Dota PIT Season 5 and ESL One Fall Bootcamp Edition. She’s now slated to appear on the …
TI10 teams forced to practice in tiny rooms with no internet
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It’s not just rampant health issues that are detracting from the build to The International 2021. There’s now an accusation of competitive disadvantages being levied against some teams in attendance. Team Spirit manager Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov posted a short video discussing the squad’s preparation for TI10, which includes a look at the training rooms. During the behind-the-scenes look, Team Spirit revealed that their training space was small, cramped, and windowless. …
Ceb returning to play at TI10 after emergency eye surgery
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Sebastian “Ceb” Debs will not miss The International 2021. Despite recently undergoing emergency eye surgery, the OG offlaner will be able to compete at TI10. OG announced the news alongside a mini-documentary on Ceb on October 4. Ceb’s status at TI10 was put into doubt last week when it was revealed that Ceb had suffered a retinal detachment that threatened to leave him blind in his left eye. This forced …
Ultimo GG launches free esports tournaments with cash prizes
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Ready to start your journey as a future pro esports player? Next-gen esports platform Ultimo GG has announced a new free tournament series with £50,000 in prizes. The lineup includes five of the biggest esports today, each with its own prize pool. The event is open to aspiring players and squads across the United Kingdom and Europe. Join the Ultimo GG Series through Challenger Mode for a guaranteed slot in …
Everything you need to know about miCKe, Ceb’s TI10 substitute
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Even though Team Liquid fell well short of qualifying for The International 2021, Michael “miCKe” Vu might get the chance to play at the event for OG. Earlier this week, it was announced that Sebastian “Ceb” Debs is indisposed due to an emergency eye surgery. The Team Liquid carry player has been boot camping with OG in his stead, prepared to replace him. While Ceb isn’t officially out of TI10, …
Dota 2 player count plunges after months of improvement
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 has had a very strong 2021, but almost all the gains the game has made in terms of player counts evaporated in September. The final numbers for September’s player counts are in and Dota 2’s average player counts dropped about 8% to 391,082 in September according to Steam Charts. This ends five straight months of average player count gains for Dota 2 and is the lowest tally seen …
Valve confirms there will be no crowd at TI10, issues refunds
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2021 will not have a live audience in attendance after all. According to an announcement from Valve, the largest Dota 2 event of the year will be played out in front of thousands of empty seats. This comes due to health and safety concerns in Bucharest, with Valve citing the need to protect staff, players, and event crew. Fans who have paid for tickets will be receiving refunds. …
These are the best predictions for the TI10 Compendium
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2021 Compendium has now seen its predictions section brought online. With its arrival, Dota 2 players can make their picks and look to earn some of the limited edition Lineage Treasure skins. Predictions are difficult any year, with six or seven correct picks being the best case scenario for many. It’s a mixed bag in 2021 as the extended layoff between the AniMajor and TI10 has offered a …
TI10 Compendium update turns it into second TI10 Battle Pass
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Update: Looking for advice on who to choose in your predictions? Check out our TI10 Compendium prediction picks. There are only five days left before The International 2021 begins, but that isn’t stopping Valve from shipping a huge update to the event’s compendium. Valve has effectively transformed the TI10 Compendium into a second TI10 Battle Pass, complete with a new set of rewards and skins available to win. Instead of …
This trick by Team Liquid’s qojqva makes Lone Druid OP
William Davis
Dota 2
You’ve heard of item drop regeneration, but Team Liquid’s mid-laner is pushing inventory management to the next level. During a training stream, Team Liquid’s Max “qojqva” Bröcker pulled off a series of absurd inventory swaps to outplay his enemy laner. Playing Lone Druid mid, he survived a gank attempt by swapping his boots back and forth between his hero and his Spirit Bear. By managing the active and passive stats, …
Shard Chen is the hot new Dota 2 build, here’s how to do it
William Davis
Dota 2
Chen’s Aghanim’s Shard is stampeding over patch 7.30. Here’s how to kill your enemies with a portable ancient stack. Warm up your micro skills, because Chen is making plays in Dota 2 matchmaking. Chen’s win rate has surged in patch 7.30d. The micro-intensive missionary’s win rate has jumped to a whopping 49.4% in Ancient matchmaking. That doesn’t seem strong, but it’s an extremely high win rate for such a micro-intensive …
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.
