Dota 2
Dota 2
Hard support Faceless Void is taking over the Chinese meta
William Davis
The latest weird support pick of patch 7.29d is one of the hardest carries in the game. Royal Never Give Up defeated reigning DPC major champion PSG.LGD 2-0 with a support Faceless Void in the i-League 2021 playoffs. The final pick of game one’sdraft was a completely unexpected Faceless Void, which Ru “RedPanda” Zhihao played masterfully. Support Faceless Void looked predictably foolish in the early laning stage of game one. …
Dota 2
4Z.Gunnar shows off how broken Templar Assassin is in 7.29d
William Davis
4 Zoomers captain Nico “Gunnar” Lopez recently demonstrated Templar Assassin’s insane attack range between matches on his Twitch stream. Templar Assassin’s passive ability Psi Blades lets her attacks pierce through targets and hit anything behind them. Psi Blades also grants 230 bonus attack range at level four. With a level 10 talent and Dragon Lance, Templar Assassin’s attack range is 630, tied with Pugna and barely within tower range. Attack …
Dota 2
Team Secret blasts OG and Alliance for NFTs, Gorgc chimes in
Steven Rondina
NFTs are a controversial subject but that isn’t stopping a number of esports teams from trying to cash in on them. Various esports organizations including Dota 2’s OG and Alliance have attempted to get fans to buy into the company through NFTs. That isn’t sitting well with Team Secret, which threw a few barbs at their rivals about it on social media. In today’s hot takes… Word from our CEO …
Dota 2
WePlay talks about the process behind its wild themed events
Steven Rondina
ESL and DreamHack have carved out a niche in Dota 2 with their clean and professional events. Beyond the Summit has done the same with more casual tournaments. But newer contender WePlay Esports has taken a different approach, putting on some of the biggest shows in esports and doing so with great flair. Events such as Omega League and WePlay Mad Moon have stood out based on their elaborate stages …
Valve asks fans for help in fixing Dota 2’s lag problems
William Davis
Dota 2
Valve is famous for its secrecy, but a senior developer has asked the Dota 2 community for help on a new feature. On July 15, a Valve senior software engineer named Jeff Hill made a public social media post asking fans for feedback on a new Dota 2 feature. New anti-lag compensation features have been added to Dota 2 but Valve needs user feedback to develop it further. Direct communication …
EternaLEnVy and Gunnar reuniting on new team after ugly breakup
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It’s no surprise that Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao is set to land with a solid stack after failing to qualify for The International 2021. But what comes as a massive surprise is who he’s teaming up with. During a recent stream, EternaLEnVy announced the lineup for a new team that he will play with for an upcoming Dota 2 tournament hosted by Beyond the Summit. Among the list of teammates is …
Vikin.gg cuts Dota 2 roster after flop in TI10 qualifiers
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Vikin.gg has released its Dota 2 team. The European organization that was one of the standout performers of 2020 is stepping away from Dota 2. Vikin.gg announced the news on Twitter with very little explanation: We made the hard decision to part ways with our current roster: @boomdota, @Shad_Dota, @KheZu, @AramisDota2, @Seleri4096 and @ImmortalFaithd. We’re proud of everything we’ve achieved together and we wish them nothing but the best.Thank you …
Stockholm mayor fights federal esports rulings after TI10 changes locations
William Davis
Dota 2
Stockholm political leader Anna König Jerlmyr has sent a letter to multiple Swedish governing bodies asking for federal recognition of esports. The request comes weeks after a Swedish federal decision ruled that esports players were not elite athletes, denying them legally defined special privileges. Consequentially, The International 10 officially relocated out of Stockholm to Bucharest, Romania. Dota 2 players would not be able to acquire Swedish visas for the $40 …
MoonMeander blasts EternaLEnVy over breakup of previous team
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao has made a lot of enemies during his time in professional Dota 2. Among them is David “MoonMeander” Tan. The Undying player blasted his former teammate in a recent Twitch stream. MoonMeander reflected on his time with EternaLEnVy on the Fighting PandaS team in 2019 and harshly criticized EternaLEnVy for how he departed the team at the time. “One day before we had the signing with CR4ZY, …
TSM FTX to host Dota 2 event, Undying hints at sponsorship
William Davis
Dota 2
TSM FTX is testing Dota 2’s waters with a $100,000 charity tournament between TSM, its cryptocurrency partner FTX, and other cryptocurrency companies. Esports organization TSM FTX will host an eight-team charity Dota 2 tournament with $100,000 in total donations set to be awarded. The FTX Foundation Dota Tournament will begin on July 17th at 8 am PDT. INTRODUCING THE FTX FOUNDATION CHARITY TOURNAMENT!Teams of employees from @FTX_Official, TSM FTX and …
Winter Wyvern mid is finally viable, here’s how to build it
William Davis
Dota 2
Tundra Esport’s mid Winter Wyvern almost landed the team a spot in the $40,000,000 The International 2021. Though Tundra came a game shy of making it to the event, the character can still get you some MMR. Leon “Nine” Kirilin’s mid lane duels against Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen were the literal centerpiece of Europe’s TI10 qualifier grand finals. Tied at 1-1, Tundra drafted a very mysterious eighth-pick Winter Wyvern for game …
Does a Saudi prince own the most expensive Dota 2 Steam account?
William Davis
Dota 2
One of Dota 2’s biggest spenders could be a prince from Saudi Arabia. The claimed Saudi prince has become an urban legend in the Dota 2 and Steam community. In the Steam Name section, the account’s owner introduces himself as (His Royal Highness) Prince Abdullah bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The profile is currently named “♥️Pls watch my Dota Anime! Thx♥” but the mysterious owner appears to go by …
Here is why off-laners need to stop buying starting items
William Davis
Dota 2
Helm of the Dominator is one of the least-bought items in Dota 2, but Tundra Esports off-laner Neta “33” Shapira loves rushing it. According to Dotabuff, Helm of the Dominator has been purchased in only 0.06% of public matches over the past month. It has a bottom-tier 46.86% win rate, but a new off-lane build centers around the item’s solid stats and infinitely useful active. 33’s Tidehunter build notably rushes …
OG wins TI10 qualifiers, will have chance to defend title
William Davis
Dota 2
The International 2018 and 2019 champion OG has secured the 18th and final slot at The International 2021 with a 3-2 victory over Tundra Esports. TI10 will be OG’s fifth consecutive year attending The International. The two-time championship squad have continued the streak of qualifying as underdogs. The battle for over $40,000,000 will take place in Bucharest, Romania starting October 7. OG’s perilous upper bracket run ended with a 0-2 …
Elephant takes China’s last spot at The International 10
William Davis
Dota 2
Despite struggling in both Dota Pro Circuit seasons, Xu “fy” Linsen’s superteam Elephant has qualified for The International 10. Elephant dominated the upper bracket until a close loss to EHOME in the winner’s final. Elephant earned a rematch in the grand finals where they opted for team fight-focused drafts. They will compete against 17 other teams for more than $40 million in Bucharest in October. Elephant is the fifth Chinese …
Team Nigma out of TI10 qualifiers, KuroKy’s TI streak ends
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
One of the greatest streaks in esports history has been broken. Team Nigma has been defeated by OG in the lower bracket finals of The International 2021’s qualifiers. This means that Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi and his team will not be competing at the event this year, ending KuroKy’s streak of competing in every installment of The International. Team Nigma eliminated from The International 2021 qualifiers Congratulations to @OGesports on …
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.
Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2
