Dota 2
Dota 2
How far can a Dota 2 overlay go before it becomes cheating?
William Davis
How much info can a third-party Dota 2 client give before it becomes straight-up cheating? Stratz+ is a free draft assistant available from Stratz, a prominent Dota 2 stat-tracking service. After downloading it for free, Stratz is able to instantly scan your opponents’ profiles and give you tips on how to beat them. Programs like these only use public information that any Dota 2 grinder can access, but they still …
Dota 2
Here is how Dota 2 hero bans work
William Davis
You have the perfect Dota 2 hero pick planned yet they’re inexplicably banned when you go to pick them. We’ve all been in that situation, so why do some Dota 2 heroes randomly get banned in each match? Dota 2’s ban system is a strange mechanic that’s never fully explained in-game. Players can nominate one ban each, only for a completely different set of characters to get removed from the …
Dota 2
Valve dev debunks Dota 2 players’ “forced 50% win rate” theory
William Davis
Dota 2 players have always speculated that the matchmaker forces a 50% winrate, where a five-game winning streak will inevitably be followed by a five-game losing streak. But a Valve developer has finally debunked that theory. Dota 2’s matchmaking system is an extremely complicated series of algorithms designed to give players the fairest match possible, adjusted for queue time. Fans have spent years discovering some of its criteria through experience …
Dota 2
TI10 Compendium arrives in Dota 2 client with new team card packs
Steven Rondina
There is no The International Battle Pass in 2021, but there is a TI10 Compendium. The TI10 Compendium has arrived in the Dota 2 client and it is free to all players. It will feature most of the facets that fans would expect from it including the fantasy mini-game, predictions, and the bracket. Not many of the features are currently operational however, but players can start opening player card packs. …
Dota 2
Is Dota 2 the hardest MOBA to play? We have the answer
William Davis
Dota 2 veterans with thousands of games under their belt often still call themselves noobs. Why? Because Dota 2 might just be the hardest MOBA to play, and one of the hardest competitive games overall. Esports fans love discussing which game is the most difficult to play. Some argue that a game’s difficulty should be judged by how long it takes to learn. Others say that pro-level gameplay should be …
Dota 2
Mason discovers Weaver Shard bug that breaks Shukuchi
William Davis
Of all 121 heroes in Dota 2, it makes sense that the time-warping beetle would be one of the buggiest. Dota 2 players have discovered a glitch on Weaver that causes his new Aghanim’s Shard ability to break Shukuchi. The extra attacks bouncing at Swarm-affected enemies will end Shukuchi’s invisibility early. Popular Dota 2 streamer Mason “mason” Venne discovered and tested the unfortunate interaction on a September 12 stream. The …
Dota 2
TNC Predator drops Dota 2 roster before The International 2021
Steven Rondina
TNC Predator looks ready to start over in the Dota 2 space after missing out on The International 2021. The Southeast Asian organization fell just short of qualifying for TI10, losing to Fnatic in the finals of the SEA qualifiers by a 3-2 score. As is often the case in Dota 2, missing The International is being met with a complete roster purge as the organization announced the entire team …
Dota 2
The jungle just got a big nerf in Dota 2 update 7.30c
Steven Rondina
Valve is still smoothing out Dota 2 update 7.30, which has yielded the second big overhaul with version 7.30c. The patch boasts a long list of changes with most being smaller balance tweaks to specific heroes and items. That said, there are several significant changes that will redefine the meta at both the pro and pub levels. The biggest change wasn’t to a hero or item. It’s a change to …
How does buyback work? Dota 2 lets you cheat death for a price
William Davis
Dota 2
When the enemy team starts storming your base in Dota 2, one mechanic can be the difference between winning or losing. Buyback is a Dota 2 mechanic that allows players to cut their respawn timer short and immediately spawn back into the game. Buyback costs a varying amount of gold as the game goes on, starting at just 200 but quickly growing to four-digit amounts. This mechanic is unique to …
PSG.LGD vs Team Spirit Dota PIT Invitational betting analysis
William Davis
Dota 2
Make the Dota PIT grand finals even more exciting with a wager on the reigning major champs or a rising underdog challenger. The last massive Dota 2 tournament before The International 10 is coming to a close. Chinese juggernaut PSG.LGD will face Eastern European TI10 qualifier Team Spirit in a best-of-five series. The Dota PIT champion will earn $114,500, nearly double the second-place prize. Both teams want to end the …
These removed spells are the strangest in Dota 2 history
William Davis
Dota 2
Dota 2 is a constantly evolving game, so it’s fun to look back on how different the game used to be. Dota 2’s heroes have been refined over more than a decade of balance. As the world’s first MOBA, Icefrog and the gang were making up the rules as they went along. Dozens of abilities have been replaced or reworked along the way. Considering how wacky some modern heroes are, …
The 3 best soft supports for grinding MMR in Dota 2 patch 7.30
William Davis
Dota 2
A good soft support can bully the enemy carry, make plays in the mid game, and set their offlaner up for success. A good position-four player can do all that while still scaling into a late-game threat. Patch 7.30 brought a ton of buffs to some of the typically overlooked supports in Dota 2. A round of buffs have brought a new batch of faces to the forefront in Dota …
Here’s why Silencer is now the most powerful hero in Dota 2
William Davis
Dota 2
Dota 2 players love heroes that can fill multiple roles. And in the case of Silencer, he’s broken no matter what lane he goes to. Silencer is currently the highest win rate hero in Dota 2 patch 7.30. He wins a whopping 54.90% of games across all skill brackets, with a high 15.82% pick rate. The hero’s success boils down to buffs from 7.30 and incredible lane versatility. But will …
Dendi’s team B8 pulls an Ancient backdoor at Champion’s League
William Davis
Dota 2
When all seems lost in Dota 2, remember that a single moment of teamwork and coordination can snatch a victory out of seemingly nowhere. B8 proved that lesson during a crucial match against Team Unique at Dota 2 Champions League Season 3. 65 minutes into game one, fan-favorite mid Danil “Dendi” Ishutin made the daring call to secretly invade the enemy base and destroy it before the enemy team could …
Who are the favorites to win The International 2021?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International looms large over the Dota 2 season year-round, and with the event now just over the horizon it’s hard to talk about anything else in the world of Dota 2. The competitive field for TI10 was finalized in July with no special “last chance qualifier” occurring since then. Instead, a number of tournaments have popped up offering both regional action and some international play between teams that have …
Did Arkosh Gaming just confirm the identities of its players?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Arkosh Gaming has become a fan favorite in the western Dota 2 scene, and the organization is looking to use that to grow further. The organization has announced the signing of a stream team that includes several of North America’s top Dota 2 personalities. The list includes Brian “BSJ” Canavan, Andrew “Jenkins” Jenkins, Jason “Newsham” Newsham, and Shaggy. The signings were announced in a post on Reddit. “These content creators …
The International 10 tickets are not on sale five weeks before showtime
William Davis
Dota 2
The biggest tournament in esports history deserves a live audience but plans are getting pushed back to the very last minute. On August 3, the official Dota 2 blog clarified the situation surrounding tickets for The International 10. Valve is still facing several uncertainties regarding travel restrictions and event safety. Tickets for TI10 are still intended to be sold at a later day. The $40 million tournament is still scheduled …
Can OG win TI10? They’re not the favorites, but it may not matter
William Davis
Dota 2
The reigning champions of The International barely scraped into TI though qualifiers this year after barely avoiding relegation throughout the year. For OG, that means everything is going according to plan. OG rocked the Dota 2 world after winning $11 million in a surprise victory at The International 2018. Winning $15.6 million and becoming the first repeat TI champion the very next year triggered aftershocks. But the highest-earning banner in …
Dota 2 has lag problems, and Valve needs your help to fix it
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 has been suffering from serious performance issues over the last month, and Valve is looking for your help with fixing it. The Dota 2 experience has been an unfortunately shaky one for some players, with lag issues dogging many games. While one might expect that a PC restart or modem unplugging would fix things, that has unfortunately proven not to be the case for many players experiencing these …
Dota Plus update pays tribute to “Lakad Matatag” caster Dunoo
William Davis
Dota 2
The latest Dota 2 update celebrates the life and work of beloved commentator Aldrin “Dunoo” Pangan by reintroducing his iconic voice lines to the game. On September 1, Dota Plus received its first update of the season with a new treasure and guild rewards. The new platinum-tier voice lines for the season are all taken from Dunoo, a popular Filipino Dota 2 caster who passed away late last month. The …
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.
