Dota 2
Dota 2
DPC champs NoPing booted from South American TI10 qualifiers
William Davis
Dota Pro Circuit regional champs NoPing e-sports were the favorites coming into the South American The International 2021 qualifiers, but fell out of contention. Heading into the qualifier, NoPing e-sports were ranked 15th on the Dota Pro CIrcuit leaderboard. They missed the cutoff for a direct invitation to The International 10 by just three spots. Their dominance in the South American DPC season hinted at a TI10 appearance, but two …
Dota 2
Here’s every Dota 2 hero remodel, and some that could use one
William Davis
Each of Dota 2’s 121 heroes has a distinct look, but Valve isn’t afraid to give out makeovers to their less-developed models. Hero remodels were a relatively common update in the early years of Dota 2, but they’ve become increasingly spaced out as the game has grown more popular. This makes sense, as fewer heroes require a remodel with each one released. Valve also needs to adjust several cosmetic sets …
Dota 2
Valve won’t have anything to do with TI10 qualifier broadcasts
Steven Rondina
The International 2021’s unknown date and location aren’t the only problems with the event right now. A number of personalities in and around the Dota 2 esports scene have confirmed that Valve is effectively playing no part in broadcasting the qualifiers for The International 2021 and is not actively partnered with any of the Dota 2 personalities or institutions that are broadcasting the event. This comes after Valve made nearly …
Dota 2
Na’Vi out of TI10 qualifiers, GeneRaL jabs at former team
Steven Rondina
Natus Vincere pulled off one of the most egregious cases of roster poaching in recent Dota 2 history, and now has nothing to show for it. The fan-favorite CIS organization suffered a swift elimination from the qualifiers to The International 2021 despite fielding a highly credentialed roster. This will see the black and yellow brand go unrepresented at the event. After defeating EXTREMUM in the upper bracket, Na`Vi faced HellRaisers. …
Dota 2
TI10 officially out of Stockholm, date and location unknown
Steven Rondina
The International 2021 will not be taking place in Sweden. The Swedish Esports Federation has confirmed that Valve is officially nixing plans to host Dota 2’s grandest tournament in Stockholm. No further information was given on when or where it might happen. This follows an announcement earlier this week from Valve that the event’s status was in doubt due to potential visa issues that could occur due to local organizers’ …
Dota 2
Nemestice adds new battle pass with Spectre Arcana, Davion skin
Steven Rondina
Nemestice has arrived in Dota 2 and it’s got a lot to offer to Dota 2 fans. The summer event is effectively offering up what fans would’ve seen from a new The International Battle Pass. Nemestice includes a battle pass, limited time game mode, and a variety of premium skins to players. It also has the same sort of progression system that fans saw from the battle pass in the …
Dota 2
Valve is leaving some teams out of Dota 2 Supporter’s Club
William Davis
The Supporter’s Club system is meant to help Dota 2 teams earn revenue outside of tournaments, but not all teams are getting equal treatment from Valve. In a social media statement, a member of No Bounty Hunter claimed that Valve has ignored their Supporter’s Club submissions for almost a month. They also claimed that many other unsponsored teams have been similarly dismissed. These complaints also give new insight into how …
Dota 2
Underlord is the best off-lane hero for racking up MMR
William Davis
Off-laners are often the deciding factor in close Dota 2 matches, but one hero is particularly good at closing out games. Vrogros the Underlord has maintained an impressively high 54.77% win rate in patch 7.29. That’s just .2% below metagame king Ancient Apparition. Underlord’s success boils down to his robust kit that compliments nearly every strategy. The most recent update included a few useful Underlord buffs. Firestorm’s radius is now …
Nemestice event may bring new Spectre arcana, Void Spirit lore
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Update: Nemestice has arrived, and it did bring the Spectre arcana as part of a battle pass. The International 2021’s date and location are unknown and the event is at risk of being cancelled entirely, but Valve has come up with a consolation prize for casual players. Packaged at the end of the blog post announcing uncertainty around TI10 was news that the previously teased June Dota 2 event is …
Who is Mushi? The Malaysian Dota 2 legend joins TNC as coach
William Davis
Dota 2
Philippino fan favorite TNC Predator has announced its new coach just over a week before The International 10 Southeast Asia qualifier. Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung is one of the most legendary Dota 2 players still active today. His fan nickname “M-God” stems from a run of dominance that spanned multiple years spend playing for multiple teams in the early days of competitive Dota 2. He’ll join the TNC Predator playmaking …
TI10 date, location unknown after Stockholm government issues
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2021 is right around the corner but it’s suddenly unclear where it will take place. Despite having years to prepare for the event, it seems as though TI10 is likely not taking place in Stockholm, Sweden. A series of bureaucratic issues are making visas impossible to obtain for a number of competitors, with Valve placing the blame on Stockholm travel authorities. A statement was released on the official …
The 3 best Dota 2 heroes to play with in Ability Draft
William Davis
Dota 2
Ability Draft is a contest of who can get the most broken skill combo, but your randomly assigned base hero can make or break your skill draft. Even with their spells removed, Dota 2 heroes are very different from each other. Base stats, damage, armor, attack speed, attack animation, and regen all have a significant impact on the laning phase. Stat growth and attack type can greatly influence the late …
T1 cements itself as a TI10 favorite by winning ESL One Summer
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It was hard to be sure about T1’s strong performance in the WePlay AniMajor, but it’s abundantly clear just how strong the team is now. The Southeast Asian squad took first place in ESL One Summer 2021. On the final day of the event, T1 defeated Alliance 2-0 to earn a spot in the event’s grand finals. From there, T1 rematched Virtus.pro, out-lasting the CIS region’s top team to take …
The International 2021 qualifier dates, teams, how to watch
William Davis
Dota 2
78 teams across Dota 2’s major regions will get one last chance to attend The International 10. The regional qualifiers will decide the final competitors for the largest esports prize pool in history. Only one team from each major Dota 2 region will earn a spot at the $40 million event. The number of squads competing differs between regions. The start times for each region are staggered to prevent direct …
Hidden files hint at a new Dota 2 Battle Pass for spring 2021
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2021 is not getting a battle pass, but that may not mean that Dota 2 players will be going without some form of battle pass this year. A Dota 2 update dropped on Wednesday that added a predictions mini-game for the upcoming TI10 qualifiers. Packaged inside that update were hidden files that reference a Spring 2021 Battle Pass which were spotted by a Reddit user. This suggests that …
TI10 qualifier predictions open, here are the best picks
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2021 qualifiers are fast approaching and Valve is offering players the chance to get free shards. Players can now predict the winners to the six regional qualifiers. The reward for each region is 1,000 Dota 2 shards, which can be exchanged for skins, tools, and other prizes. Here is how to do it and the best picks for each region. Important TI10 news: SumaiL returns to OG for …
ppd out of Alliance despite team qualifying to TI10
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Peter “ppd” Dager’s controversial run with Alliance has come to a swift end. Following a short run in the WePlay AniMajor and with The International 2021 looming, Alliance has opted to make some changes. With that in mind, Alliance is removing ppd from the team’s coaching position. It is unclear who is set to take over the coaching job, but it may be opening the door for Alliance co-owner and …
aui_2000 joins Arkosh Gaming, replaces retiring G.O.A.T.
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Arkosh Gaming is being forced to make some roster changes ahead of the North American qualifiers to The International 2021. G.O.A.T. has been removed from the team on the official Dota 2 majors registration page, the system which Valve uses for handling Dota 2 esports rosters. Though it isn’t reflected on the major registration page, The International 2015 champion Kurtis “aui_2000” Ling is being shown as a member of the …
SumaiL returns to OG for The International 2021 qualifiers
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
OG is replacing Anathan “ana” Pham with Syed “SumaiL” Hassan. Again. ana is out of OG and seemingly set to retire from professional Dota 2 entirely. With that, OG has brought back SumaiL, a player that replaced him once before, for the European qualifiers to The International 2021. OG revealed the news on its website. Read more: ???? https://t.co/bERSEMkcME — OG (@OGesports) June 15, 2021 “SumaiL has played for OG …
Carry Axe is the newest Dota 2 nightmare in pub matches
William Davis
News
Off lane Axe rushing Manta Style was the build of the month before a massive nerf made it untenable. That doesn’t mean the strategy doesn’t work for carries, though. PSG.LGD’s championship run in the WePlay AniMajor was a total display of dominance. Their 3-0 grand finals win over Evil Geniuses included some innovative picks, but flex Axe was the scariest of them all. Wang “Ame” Chunyu’s carry Axe build helped …
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.
