Dota 2
Dota 2
Valve asks fans for help in fixing Dota 2’s lag problems
William Davis
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 …
Dota 2
EternaLEnVy and Gunnar reuniting on new team after ugly breakup
Steven Rondina
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 …
Dota 2
Vikin.gg cuts Dota 2 roster after flop in TI10 qualifiers
Steven Rondina
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 …
Dota 2
Stockholm mayor fights federal esports rulings after TI10 changes locations
William Davis
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 …
Dota 2
Does a Saudi prince own the most expensive Dota 2 Steam account?
William Davis
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 …
Dota 2
Here is why off-laners need to stop buying starting items
William Davis
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 …
Dota 2
OG wins TI10 qualifiers, will have chance to defend title
William Davis
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 …
Dota 2
Elephant takes China’s last spot at The International 10
William Davis
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 …
Chen is Dota 2’s best support hero right now, N0tail proves
William Davis
Dota 2
OG scraped by Nigma in the qualifiers to The International 2021 thanks to two surprise Chen picks by captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein. After a tumultuous victory over Vikin.gg, OG was set to face Team Nigma in the semifinals of the upper bracket. Thanks to an excellent performance at the AniMajor, Nigma was the favorite to earn Europe’s final The International 10 slot. In their classic style, OG leaned on a …
New date and location confirmed for The International 2021
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2021 has a new date and location. After weeks of uncertainty following Valve’s inability to get the event running in Stockholm six weeks away from the start date, the company has figured out a time and a place for the largest Dota 2 tournament of the last two years. We are thrilled to announce The International 10 – Dota 2 Championships will be held this October in Bucharest, …
2021 Summer Call to Arms delivers some amazing new Dota 2 skins
William Davis
Dota 2
Source model artists have gone all-out for the Summer 2021 Dota 2 Call to Arms. Valve’s annual announcement has brought some of the most beloved Dota 2 hero sets into the game. Valve will decide which sets to make official while keeping an eye on the votes gathered in the Steam workshop. Here are just a few of the awesome sets made for the Dota 2 Summer 2021 Call to …
A placeholder item description might have spoiled the next Persona
William Davis
Dota 2
The next Dota 2 persona cosmetic may have been spoiled by a programming error on the new Davion of Dragon Hold set. Davion of Dragon Hold’s set preview page has a button to open your Dragon Knight cosmetic loadout. Strangely, it appears to glitch out and leave the persona slot empty if you already have a set equipped. Hovering over the empty persona slot reveals a description that’s likely a …
Valve may be quitting on Dota 2 esports, but what does that mean?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Competitive Dota 2 seems to be in a bad spot at the moment. While that’s not an unusual circumstance, as the game has been seemingly doomed on a number of occasions, a number of indicators suggest Valve is ready to completely drop out of the game’s stalwart esports scene. Even at the best of times, Valve is distant, disinterested, and bumbling when it comes to handling Dota 2 esports. But …
How N0tail, ana, Ceb, SumaiL and more have shaped the OG roster
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
OG’s victories have been so grand that people have forgotten the team’s defeats, but at this point it’s getting hard to remember the team’s wins as more and more struggles pile up. Since winning The International 2019, OG has been in a constant state of uncertainty. Roster changes have been frequent, and competitive performance has been shaky. That has landed OG into a precarious position with the team needing to …
Undying clinch spot in The International 2021 in NA qualifiers
William Davis
Dota 2
After a flawless run through the upper bracket, North American upper-division mainstay Undying has earned a spot at The International 2021. Undying entered the qualifiers as the favorites after Kim “DuBu” Doo-young led the team to a bronze finish in both Dota Pro Circuit seasons. The squad entered with some momentum from their championship at BTS Pro Series Season 6, where they defeated 4 Zoomers 3-1 for the trophy. Undying …
Fnatic qualify for The International 10 with reverse 3-0 over TNC Predator
William Davis
Dota 2
After losing two games in the grand finals, Fnatic dug deep to reverse sweep TNC Predator at The International 10 Southeast Asia qualifier. Fnatic’s victory has earned them a spot at The International 10 later this year. Fnatic bested their regional rivals TNC Predator 2-0 in the winner’s finals and 3-2 in the final decider. TNC dominated the first two games, but a stellar performance from Fnatic carry Marc Polo …
Is Nature’s Prophet the worst Dota 2 hero in the 7.29 meta?
William Davis
Dota 2
Nature’s Prophet monthly win rate currently sits at an abysmal 42.41%, the lowest of any Dota 2 hero in patch 7.29d. That extremely low win rate extends to every skill bracket, dropping lowest in Divine and Immortal to 40.2%. His best bracket is Ancient, where he wins just 42.5% of matches. One reason for Nature’s Prophet’s decline is the Dota 2 metagame shifting towards map mobility and wave control. Nature’s …
These are the best sites for tracking your in-game Dota 2 stats
William Davis
Dota 2
The idea of poring over hundreds of previous matches may sound boring to many gamers, but dedicated Dota 2 players are not your average gamers. Dota 2 fans love looking back through their years with the game, rediscovering memorable moments and revisiting their best and worst performances. Tons of websites have popped up to help Dota 2 players track their stats, but a few stand out thanks to their awesome …
Despite fan outcry, Nemestice Battle Pass sells over 800k copies
William Davis
Dota 2
The Nemestice battle pass has received a lot of criticism, but that hasn’t stopped at least 840,000 players from picking it up. Dota 2 stat tracker and grinding tool STRATZ is recording the number of users who have purchased the Nemestice battle pass. The website tracks both the number of battle passes purchased and the amount of money spent on additional levels. While there’s still time for that number to …
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.
