Dota 2
News
EternaLEnVy is getting a lot of crazy Dota 2 tattoos
Steven Rondina
Anybody that has followed the career of Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao knows that he loves Dota 2 more than most people love anything. Now, he’s making sure that people who don’t follow him know it, too. The North American journeyman has been chronicling his latest adventure with the game on his suddenly active Instagram. That adventure is getting a Dota 2-themed double-sleeve tattoo. EternaLEnVy is in the middle of having his …
Dota 2
10 years ago, Valve announced Dota 2’s development
Nina Forneloza
It’s been 10 years since the announcement of Dota 2. On October 12, 2010, Valve revealed the development of its ground-breaking MOBA. The announcement ended speculation within the community that the famed game developer will soon offer a standalone version of the popular Warcraft 3 custom map Defense of the Ancients. 10 years ago on this day, Dota 2 was publicly announced by Valve with the first promo images and …
News
Team Secret CEO profanely blasts 4AM over Sylar controversy
Steven Rondina
Team Secret and Four Angry Men most likely won’t play each other any time soon, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t already a rivalry forming between the two teams. Secret CEO John Yao released a blistering social media post about the 4AM organization, according to AFK Gaming. In a move made to ensure controversy was whipped up, the Team Secret organization then translated the post and published it on top …
Dota 2
Dota Summit 13 Online announced, event supported by Valve
Nina Forneloza
Valve will support Dota Summit 13 and boost its prize pool significantly. The game developer has proven true to its word. It is now supporting online events to fill the game’s gaps in the esports calendar. Dota 2 Summit 13 is one of the online events that will be financially supported by Valve. ???? SOUND THE SIRENS ????A new event is headed towards us.INTRODUCING…Dota Summit 13 Online, a Valve supported, …
Dota 2
N0tail claps back at Team Secret after smack talk towards OG
Steven Rondina
The OG vs. Team Secret rivalry is getting better every day. During ESL One Germany, Johan “N0tail” Sundstein was asked about the social media shade Team Secret has been sending his way over the last few months. N0tail was generally dismissive of the matter and basically said that the record between the two teams speaks for itself. “I would say there’s always been a build-up every year…especially after [The International …
Dota 2
TI10 final prize pool clears $40 million minutes before closing
Steven Rondina
The International 10 Battle Pass is officially closed. After 137 days, the TI10 Battle Pass generated an enormous sum of cash, boosting the postponed event’s prize pool to $40,004,772. This shatters the previous record set by The International 2019, which had a prize pool of $34,330,068. That prize pool comes despite constant controversy around the battle pass among Dota 2 fans. Though the battle pass season is typically a highlight …
Dota 2
Forev joins Team Adroit as stand-in after stint with Fnatic
Fariha Bhatti
Filipino organization Adroit Esports has announced that it has parted ways with offlaner Prince Vince “Bensoy” Enriquez. He will be momentarily replaced by veteran Lee “Forev” Sang-don, who will serve as a stand-in. “Today, we will be releasing Prince Vince “Bensoy” Enriquez. We thank him for his time and dedication given to the team. We wish him good luck in his future endeavors. To fill in the void of the …
Dota 2
Team Secret vs. Yellow Submarine ESL One Germany betting analysis
Steven Rondina
ESL One Germany is a breath of fresh air in what has been a fairly stagnant Dota 2 scene over recent months. Every week, the same group of teams made up of the same groups of players competed against one another in round robins with no real stakes or intrigue. There was a bit of spice added with events such as Omega League and some hot up-and-coming teams including 4 …
Dota 2 pros discuss facing death threats for losing games
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Being a pro Dota 2 player is difficult, but so-called fans don’t always make it easier. Ninjas in Pyjamas offlaner Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek took to Twitter to vent his frustration with an interaction he had on social media. The direct message from an individual with an apparent burner account invites SabeRLight- and his family to “please die.” While this could have been chalked up as a strange occurrence with one …
North America has no sponsored Dota 2 teams after CR4ZY release
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Desperate times are calling for desperate measures when it comes to esports organization CR4ZY. The European brand has announced the release of its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 rosters. CR4ZY says this stems from a downturn in business. “CR4ZY has terminated the contracts with all of its esports teams on the 30th of September in order to prepare for the upcoming year. Although this feels like a loss, we …
4AM cuts Dota 2 veteran Sylar after just 24 hours to sign Eurus
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 veteran Liu “Sylar” Jiajun seemed to be poised for an excellent 2020-2021 season with a new team. That lasted for just 24 hours. One day after announcing its inaugural Dota 2 lineup, Four Angry Men has dropped its carry player. This comes after other players on the lineup took a pay cut in order to cover the transfer fee of previously rumored carry player Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun. As …
4AM officially reveals new Dota 2 team with Somnus, fy, Yang
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
After months of rumors and speculation, Four Angry Men has officially unveiled its inaugural Dota 2 roster. The organization best known for its PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds squad has put together a super team of Chinese Dota 2 stars. Though the lineup for the team has been rumored for months, but 4AM’s debut lineup wound up being a bit different than what was expected. The debut Four Angry Men roster will be: …
Former FlyToMoon player Flow succumbs to cancer at age 25
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2 pro Alexander “Flow” Sazonov has passed away. According to Russian caster Vitalii Nikolaevich “v1lat” Volochai, the offlaner succumbed to cancer after a prolonged battle with the disease. He was 25 years old. The news was revealed by v1lat on Twitter. Rest in peace, Flow! Ты боролся до конца, но эта зараза оказалась таки сильнее…#fuckcancer — Vitalii Volochai (@v1lat) September 30, 2020 Maincast confirmed the news not long …
TNC Predator kicks March despite success in SEA region
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
TNC Predator had a very successful Dota 2 season, but that isn’t stopping the team from making some serious changes. The organization announced the departure of captain Park “March” Tae-won. This is the latest big move in what has been an active shuffle period for the Southeast Asian region, and the first major change to TNC’s lineup this year. “We would like to thank Park Tae-won for his efforts in …
EternaLEnVy says SumaiL is still the best Dota 2 player in NA
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
What’s Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao’s favorite food? What’s the meaning behind his nickname? Which does he love more between Dota 2 and anime? And who does he think are the best Dota 2 players in the world? These questions and many others were answered when the popular player sat down for a silly interview with Kim “Febby” Yong-min. Some of the queries were hearty fun while others were decidedly NSFW, but …
Dota Plus hasn’t been updated for one full year, is it dead?
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Valve is willing to take users’ money when it comes to Dota Plus, but the company isn’t especially keen on giving back. September 26, 2020 marks the one year anniversary of the last Dota Plus content update. This has many crying foul when it comes to Valve’s handling of the subscription service, and further strengthens Dota 2 fans’ skepticism regarding Valve’s commitment to the MOBA. The Dota Plus Autumn Update …
NiP vs. Vikin.gg BTS Pro Series playoffs betting odds, analysis
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Though it’s been overshadowed by the OGA Dota PIT League Season 3, BTS Pro Series’ Europe and CIS tournament has also delivered the goods for fans. The group stage has wrapped up and the playoffs are set to kick off this weekend. The second upper bracket match sees Vikin.gg and Ninjas in Pyjamas face off. This is a relatively fresh matchup despite both teams being very active of late, and …
Virtus.pro deactivates Dota 2 team ahead of ESL One Germany
Fariha Bhatti
Dota 2
After a string of poor results, Virtus.pro is looking to rebuild its Dota 2 division. The Russian organization announced that it will be skipping ESL One Germany 2020 as a result. The news comes only a couple of days after rumours surfaced that Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev would be re-joining the team, while Danil “gpk” Skutin joined sister team VP.Prodigy. It is currently unknown how drastic Virtus Pro’s roster revamp will …
KuroKy misses OGA Dota PIT Season 3 with injury, return unsure
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi will not be returning to Team Nigma’s starting roster quite yet. The team announced on Twitter that its captain remains out of commission due to ongoing medical issues. As a result, coach Roman “rmN-” Paley will continue filling in the No. 5 spot for the OGA Dota PIT Season 3 event. Our Captain is still recovering????@NigmaKuroKy is still going through his treatment and @rmN_dota will be …
The numbers say these are the best pro players in Dota 2 today
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Tracking the best Dota 2 players in the world is a difficult endeavor. But using a new algortihm, we can help. There are six regions that operate in unison almost year-round, with 2020 seeing them compete in a nonstop grind of regional leagues. There’s just too much Dota 2 for any one person to keep up with, never even mind sorting through who the best individual players are. That’s why …
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.
