Dota 2
Dota 2
How to play Sniper and dominate both the game and the map
Steven Rondina
Sniper has long been a favorite hero in Dota 2 pub matches, despite never being popular in pro play. The gunslinging hero has peerless range on his attacks, making him tricky to deal with for any team that doesn’t have strong coordination. There aren’t too many effective counters either, with just a few heroes standing as serious checks. Because of that, it’s worth taking a look over how to play …
Dota 2
Team Nigma stomped in Singapore Major, kicked with T1, Gambit
Steven Rondina
The wildcard stage of the ONE Esports Singapore Major has wrapped and three teams are heading home. Team Nigma, T1, and AS Monaco Gambit are all heading home empty-handed. The three teams are set to receive zero dollars for their efforts and no Dota Pro Circuit points. Team Nigma’s immediate elimination was the shock of the wildcard stage. But the team was at a serious disadvantage due to Ivan Borislavov …
Dota 2
Natus Vincere and beastcoast withdraw from Singapore Major
Steven Rondina
The buildup to the ONE Esports Singapore Major was already rocky, and it continues to get worse as teams and players are forced to drop out. beastcoast announced that its Dota 2 team will not be attending the Singapore Major. This comes after Steven “StingeR” Vargas was exposed to someone with COVID-19 and proceeded to make contact with the rest of the team. beastcoast broke the situation down in a …
Dota 2
Release date for the new Dota 2 hero and update 7.29 revealed
Steven Rondina
In its blog post about the game’s updated new player experience, Valve delivered massive spoilers for the next big Dota 2 update. The developer announced that the next big update is coming on the Friday after the ONE Esports Singapore Major. This will include both Dota 2 update 7.29 as well as the previously teased new Dota 2 hero. “After that, we’re aiming for the Friday following the Singapore Major …
Dota 2
Why is MinD_ContRoL out of the Singapore Major for Team Nigma?
Steven Rondina
Team Nigma will not be playing at full strength in the ONE Esports Singapore Major. The organization announced that Ivan Borislavov “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov will not be able to compete in the event after testing positive for COVID-19. The offlaner was unable to attend the team’s boot camp in Jordan due to illness, with a test coming back positive. “Earlier today, MinD_ContRoL’s test came back and he tested positive…he is doing …
Dota 2
MidOne kicked from OG, but is ana returning to Dota 2?
Steven Rondina
Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng is out of OG’s Dota 2 roster. The two-time The International champions missed out on the ONE Esports Singapore Major after an unremarkable run in DreamLeague Season 14. The team is hoping a new carry player will improve its chances, which prompted the release of MidOne. “Competitive synergy is something very unique and complex. Yeik is one of the best players we have played with, and …
Dota 2
A game-breaking bug lets Lone Druid keep Divine Rapier forever
Steven Rondina
Lone Druid has always given Dota 2 developers fits, as the hero constantly seems to be the source of serious game-breaking bugs. Things are no different these days, with another new bug popping up. A serious new bug has been discovered with Lone Druid’s bear that makes the summonable unit wildly overpowered. A strange oversight allows the Spirit Bear to equip a Divine Rapier in its neutral item slot. Not …
Dota 2
Gorgc qualifies for DreamLeague Season 15 with Team Bald
Steven Rondina
Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski is primarily known as a streamer on Twitch, but he’s set to make a name for himself as a pro player as well. The Swede has successfully qualified for the upcoming DreamLeague Season 15 lower division, setting Gorgc up to compete in the Dota Pro Circuit. He will do so as a part of Team Bald, a squad which boasts the following roster: Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski Steve …
Outbreak forces Na’Vi to make substitutions at Singapore Major
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Natus Vincere is dealing with some serious troubles ahead of the ONE Esports Singapore Major. The popular organization suffered a viral outbreak in its Dota 2 team, forcing Andrii “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko and Bogdan “Iceberg” Vasilenko off the roster for the event. As a result, the organization has tapped Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev and Andrey “Mag” Chipenko to stand in for the tournament. This means that Na`Vi will compete with the following …
Dota 2 fans just raised $28,000 to make a new player tutorial
Olivia Richman
News
Dota 2 content creator Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner and a team of developers are asking for the community’s help in funding a new player experience tutorial for the notoriously tricky game. SirActionSlacks announced the Dota 2 tutorial on February 20, launching a crowdfunding campaign to support the endeavor. The minimum goal of $10,000 was more than doubled. Over 700 backers ended up raising over $28,000, which would help SirActionSlacks and his …
Fan makes crazy Juggernaut sculpture, begins work on more heroes
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Valve has long leaned on the creativity of Dota 2 fans when it comes to creating skins and merchandise for the game’s marketplace, but a sculptor is taking that creativity to a whole new level. Twitch streamer Paindog has shared his latest creation, an elaborate sculpture of Dota 2 hero Juggernaut. The statue is the latest in an ongoing series, with Paindog intending to create a sculpture for each hero …
Dota 2 adds new report option for use against smurfs
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
For the first time ever, Valve is giving Dota 2 players a way of fighting back against smurfs. A new post-game report option has been added to the game. In addition to being able to report players for communication abuse, players can now be reported for matchmaking abuse. According to the description, matchmaking abuse encompasses “manipulating matchmaking, boosting, or similar behavior.” Though the matchmaking abuse option doesn’t explicitly hone in …
Can Valve fix smurfing before DOTA: Dragon’s Blood releases?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Smurfing has always been a hot issue in Dota 2, but it may be more important now than ever before. Dota 2’s new animated series, DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, is set to arrive later this month on Netflix, and that should make for a large number of new players trying out the game. If past is prologue, very few of those new players will stick around due to the lacking new …
iceiceice makes new tier list for Dota 2’s best SEA players
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, and that certainly goes for who the best Southeast Asian Dota 2 players are. The Evil Geniuses off laner created a tier list of the top Southeast Asian Dota 2 pro players, ranking a number of past and present names. iceiceice made a fairly comprehensive list that includes retired names such as Park “March” Tae-won and such active …
Is a new Dota 2 hero coming with new show DOTA: Dragon’s Blood?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
DOTA: Dragon’s Blood is set to premiere in less than three weeks, and people are wondering whether Valve has anything big set to launch in the game alongside it. And it might just be a new hero. Many theories have been put forward on this front, ranging from new skins for Mirana and Dragon Knight based on their DOTA: Dragon’s Blood looks to the long-awaited “new player experience” update that …
Valve officially kills Artifact development, makes game F2P
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 spin-off Artifact is officially dead. After 18 months of live development on Artifact 2.0, Valve is ending its attempts to salvage the digital card game. Both the original Artifact and Artifact 2.0, now renamed Artifact Classic and Artifact Foundry respectively, will remain playable, but no further updates will come for either version of the game. “It’s now been about a year and a half since the current Artifact …
T1 adds 23savage, kicks JaCkky ahead of Singapore Major
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
T1 made it to the ONE Esports Singapore Major and the team is wanting to make the most of that opportunity, even if that means making big changes. The team announced the sudden removal of carry player Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong from its active roster. Less than 24 hours later, T1 confirmed the signing of new carry player Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon on its Twitter account. As such, T1’s roster for the …
Team Secret makes huge gains in latest Dota 2 player rankings
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2’s player rankings underwent a bit of a shift back in January, but things are starting to look more normal now. And of course, this means that Team Secret is back on top. The European squad is retaking the top five once again, and a lot of top European players followed them up the ladder. Whether they can hold onto those spots is the big question, but here’s where …
Evil Geniuses jumps up Dota 2 team rankings, OG hangs on
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The 2021 Dota Pro Circuit winter season is largely finished, with every region except for China now in a holding pattern until the ONE Esports Singapore Major. That makes this a good time to check in on how teams currently rank on a global scale. A combination of roster stability over the last 18 months and a lower volume of games due to the rollout of the Dota Pro Circuit …
A new courier based on IceFrog is part of new Dota Plus update
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota Plus subscribers have some new content to enjoy with the arrival of the new 2021 spring update, and it comes with a small surprise. For the most part, the latest Dota 2 update is standard fare with a new treasure for Dota Plus subscribers, some updates to the rewards for members of top guilds, and small changes to the progression system. What makes this one stick out, however, is …
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.
