Dota 2
Dota 2
Could Keeper of the Light be the best mid laner in Dota 2 7.30?
William Davis
Keeper of the Light has everything you want in a soft support, but those tools now make him one of 7.30’s strongest mid laners. Mid Keeper of the Light is one of the wildest builds to emerge in Dota 2’s patch 7.30 meta. Top players have used mid KotL to win pub games and even pro matches in ESL One Fall. In fact, Keeper of the Light is the second …
Dota 2
How to play Lycan, the rising bogeyman of patch 7.30
William Davis
After enduring several patches in the bottom tier of both win and pick rates, Lycan is quickly becoming the terror of 7.30. Patch 7.30 paid special attention to heroes from the “zoo meta” that dominated patches 7.25 through 7.28. Lycan got a ton of cool buffs which skyrocketed his win rate from 43.32% to 54.75%, easily landing him in the top tier of heroes. That 11% win rate increase is …
Dota 2
ESL One Fall Bootcamp group stage opening round betting picks
William Davis
ESL One Fall on patch 7.30 is guaranteed to be entertaining, but its group stage format could make it even more lucrative. The group stage of ESL One Fall Bootcamp Edition is best-of-two with a point system. In addition to fun storylines created by ties, that means higher odds and bigger payouts for savvy Dota 2 bettors. This tournament is your last chance to bolster your funds before The International …
Dota 2
Worst bug in Dota 2 history? Meepo can create infinite clones
William Davis
Meepo is one of the glitchiest heroes in Dota 2 history, but patch 7.30 has seen things hit new heights. By combining Meepo’s new Aghanim’s Shard ability with other spells and items, Dota 2 players can create Meepo clones of their own in patch 7.30. The issue stems from Meepo’s ultimate Divided We Stand being given an active ability. Valve will likely fix the issue in the near future, but …
News
Find out how toxic you are in-game with your Dota 2 word cloud
William Davis
Want to see exactly how positive or toxic you really are in Dota 2? All-chat word clouds have become a hot topic in the Dota 2 community. The service allows players to view their all-chat language over the course of their account’s full history, which can say a lot about a player and their behavior. To see your own Dota 2 wordcloud, go to OpenDota and log into the platform …
Dota 2
Complete guide to playing Bounty Hunter in Dota 2
Steven Rondina
Invisibility-based heroes have long struggled to maintain relevance outside of the public matchmaking setting. Unfortunately, Bounty Hunter is no different. There’s still plenty of fun to be had with the hero being capable of fun trickshots as a support and nuking enemy heroes as a core. Here’s how to tackle Bounty Hunter in Dota 2. Generally speaking, Bounty Hunter has been a solid hero in casual play while being generally …
Dota 2
Dota 2 updates hero leg counts, reignites fan controversy
William Davis
Dota 2 players are obsessed with weird stats. The number of legs each Dota 2 hero officially has is one of them, strangely enough. In a recent Dota 2 update, Valve has once again made adjustments to the canonical number of legs each hero has. Players expecting balance patch 7.30 were understandably disappointed. Instead, the update reignited the community discussion around how many legs Dota 2 heroes have. To clarify, …
Dota 2
Dota 2 pro proves that carry Pudge can work in your pub games
William Davis
For PSG.LGD’s matchup against developmental team Aster.Aries, top carry Wang “Ame” Chunyu chose to have a little fun. WePlay AniMajor champion and The International 2021 favorite PSG.LGD has won two games in OGA Dota PIT China with a hard carry Pudge. PSG.LGD has drafted the traditionally awful hero four times, including against Vici Gaming and Elephant. Superstar carry Wang “Ame” Chunyu has averaged an 11.50 KDA with 809 gold per …
Hidden Dota 2 files suggest 3 majors for next DPC season
William Davis
Dota 2
Details for the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit season may have been leaked as part of an update for Dota 2. In a small update for Dota 2, new strings were added to the game’s files that hint towards the future of the Dota Pro Circuit. Based on placeholder names, Valve appears to be planning a three-season year for the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit. That could mean three Dota 2 majors …
We answer all of your questions about DOTA: Dragon’s Blood
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
DOTA: Dragon’s Blood has caught fans’ attention and piqued the interest of those who don’t even play the game. But months removed from the initial premiere of the series, fans still have a lot of questions about what actually happened on the show and why. With that in mind, it’s worth giving answers to some of the frequently asked questions surrounding DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. Whether it’s related to the production …
Natus Vincere’s awful season ends with Ramzes, RodjER leaving
William Davis
Dota 2
After one last disappointment in The International 2021 qualifiers, Natus Vincere’s Dota 2 squad is falling apart at the seams. Renowned offlaner Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev and support Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian have both officially left Na’Vi. The squad’s long-term coach Andrey “Mag” Chipenko has also left the organization. The announcement comes two weeks after the roster was officially switched to inactive. Natus Vincere failed to earn the region’s final TI10 slot …
We now know the end date for Dota 2’s Nemestice event
William Davis
Dota 2
Nemestice ends in just a couple of days, but Dota 2 fans can leapfrog their way to big rewards with the new Nemestice Battle Level Bundle. Valve’s tradition of offering a last-minute discount on Dota 2 battle pass levels has continued into 2021. The Nemestice Battle bundle includes steeply discounted levels and treasures and can be purchased twice by every user. The release of the Nemestice Battle Level Bundle comes …
Valve announces likely release date for Dota 2 patch 7.30
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 players have been desperately waiting for patch 7.30. It turns out they won’t have to wait much longer. Alongside an announcement on the launch of a Battle Level Bundle for the Nemestice Battle Pass, Valve teased a release date for patch 7.30. According to the blog post, patch 7.30 “will be arriving after the Battle Pass ends.” Valve also clarified “we’re working on it.” Nemestice is set to …
Team Undying launches crowdfunding campaign for TI10 boot camp
William Davis
Dota 2
North American Dota 2 team Undying has opened a crowdfunding campaign for its camp before The International 2021. On August 3, David “MoonMeander” Tan Boon Yang issued a statement through social media talking about his experience with Team Undying. In it, he discussed the difficulty of playing with an international roster and the trials faced by the squad. He accompanied the statement with a link to a GoFundMe page asking fans …
How to play Lifestealer: Dota 2’s relentless safe lane carry
William Davis
Dota 2
Once Dota 2’s mind-controlled ghoul gets his claws in you, it’s almost impossible to escape. N’aix the Lifestealer is a melee strength hero almost exclusively played as a safe lane carry. His kit is designed to counter tanky opponents and chase down backline heroes. True to his name, Lifestealer steals a percentage of his victim’s health with every attack. His health gain is the lowest of any strength hero in …
The best way to build and level Dragon Knight in Dota 2
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dragon Knight has become Dota 2’s main character since the reveal of the DOTA: Dragon’s Blood animated series. That’s appropriate, because Davion has long been a solid hero that is friendly for new players while still remaining viable in high-level play. There are a number of different ways to play as Dragon Knight in Dota 2, with a classic mid-lane build that turns him into a formidable core hero or …
mason banned for 5th time from Twitch, unbanned 4 hours later
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Update- August 3, 9:50 p.m. ET Mason’s ban from Twitch was overturned just a few hours after being put in place. The unban was quickly announces by Streamer Bans on Twitter, then corroborated by mason: and I am unbanned. Will stream tomorrow probably. Let’s all be the best we can be in-game and out of game :) — mason (@masondota) August 3, 2021 –End of update– One of Dota 2’s …
Team Aster vs. Royal Never Give Up: Dota PIT S5 China betting analysis
William Davis
Dota 2
OGA Dota PIT Season 5: China will start with a hotly contested match between Royal Never Give Up and Team Aster. This matchup will pit the reigning i-League champion against the most exciting team in China. While Aster is heavily favored at first glance, RNG’s meta-breaking strategies could lead to a lucrative upset. OGA Dota PIT Season 5 China will split a $150,000 prize pool between eight of the best …
PSG.LGD vs. Vici Gaming: Dota PIT S5 China betting analysis
William Davis
Dota 2
OGA Dota PIT Season 5: China isn’t saving the heavyweight matchups for last. PSG.LGD versus Vici Gaming will cap off the first day of games. The rivalry between Vici Gaming and PSG.LGD has persisted beyond complete roster changes. It dominated the online era before and after the fall shuffle. The two teams finished within one game of each other in both seasons of the China Dota Pro Circuit upper division. …
Dota 2 player count up 4 months in a row, 1st time since 2016
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 is enjoying sustained growth in its player count for the first time in years. According to Steam Charts, Dota 2’s average player count rose 0.39% in July relative to June. While that’s a minor improvement on its own, it marks four consecutive months of player count growth for Dota 2, something that hasn’t been true since the game’s prime. The last time Dota 2 enjoyed four straight months …
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.
