Dota 2
Dota 2
Team Secret goes on crazy winning streak after loss to Alliance
Nina Forneloza
Team Secret is back to its winning ways. The team now records a 14-0 recent record after a dominating run at OGA Dota Pit 2020 Online Europe and CIS. Team Secret has secured the grand finals spot at OGA Dota Pit 2020. But before that, the team claimed the championship title in the huge charity event Gamers Without Borders. In OGA Dota Pit, fans expected Team Secret to top its …
Dota 2
OG, SumaiL just took a big loss to Team Secret in OGA Dota PIT league
Steven Rondina
OG is still alive in the OGA Dota PIT Online league, but the team is not in good shape. OG took an utter drubbing at the hands of Team Secret in the upper bracket finals, leading to a 2-0 series loss. The first game was incredibly bad for OG. In the first 10 minutes, Sebastian “Ceb” Debs died four times as Dark Seer. That was offset to some degree as …
Dota 2
Abed becomes first to reach 11,000 MMR, tops Dota 2 leaderboards
Nina Forneloza
Abed “Abed” Azel L. Yusop is the first player to reach an MMR of 11,000. Once again, the Filipino player has made history by breaking the record for highest MMR in the history of Dota 2 and raised the bar on the Dota 2 leaderboards. 11k :) pic.twitter.com/mzWRYqLo3L — Abed (@abedyusop) May 13, 2020 Abed became the first Dota 2 player to reach 10,000 MMR in June 2017, with that …
Dota 2
The International 2020 Battle Pass “coming early next week” says Valve
Steven Rondina
A Valve employee has given a strong tease regarding the release date of The International 2020 Battle Pass. A Dota 2 developer took to Reddit and stated that “FROM THE GHASTLY EYRIE I CAN SEE TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD, AND FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT I DECLARE WITH UTTER CERTAINTY THAT THE BATTLEPASS IS COMING EARLY NEXT WEEK!” That isn’t a definitive release date, but Valve traditionally likes to …
Dota 2
Valve reveals Artifact 2.0 closed beta details and invite system
Steven Rondina
Artifact publisher Valve has updated the game’s blog to give some details on the game’s closed beta. Long story short, it’s coming very soon. According to the blog post, keys for the “Artifact 2.0” beta will be sent out next week. No specific date was given, but this is likely welcome news for fans that were left wondering when it would be time to duel. Unfortunately for fans that want …
Dota 2
Team Secret looking scary with big Gamers Without Borders win
Steven Rondina
If Team Secret was having any kind of issues with the move from live Dota 2 events to online tournaments, those issues appear to have been resolved. Clement “Puppey” Ivanov and company posted a very strong performance in the Gamers Without Borders 2020 Dota 2 tournament. The team ran through the competition and locked up first place, earning $750,000 to be donated towards charity. Team Secret took to Twitter and …
Dota 2
HellRaisers vs. Alliance OGA Dota Pit Online betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
For the first time ever, HellRaisers and Alliance will face off in Dota 2. OGA Dota Pit Online boasts top teams from the Europe and CIS regions. With $150,000 in prize money at stake, the upper bracket spots are highly coveted. On the last day of the group stage, HellRaisers will face Alliance in a high-stakes match. HellRaisers is still looking to carve out a spot while Alliance has been …
Dota 2
VP.Prodigy bested Virtus Pro at Epic Prime League Grand Finals
Nina Forneloza
Despite the team being just two months old, VP.Prodigy has claimed four tournament titles. Virtus.pro’s academy team is dominating the CIS region. VP.Prodigy stomped its sister squad in the grand finals series of the Epic Prime League. The team of prodigies finished the tournament with an impressive 3-0 score. Virtus.pro was pitted against its academy team in the upper bracket finals. The first game swung back and forth with neither …
Invictus Gaming vs. Vici Gaming DPL-CDA Pro League betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
DPL-CDA Professional League is a merger of two prominent online leagues in China. The Dota 2 Professional League and Chinese Dota 2 Professional Association have decided to join forces after the sudden rise of online leagues in the region. The eight members of CDA were directly invited to the event while two other squads completed the lineup of participating teams. DPL-CDA Professional League is now in its third week of …
Former TI champion Newbee receives lifetime match fixing ban in China
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
Newbee and its five players have received a lifetime ban from all Chinese Dota 2 Professional Association (CDA) and IMBA TV events. The esports organization was removed from the CDA alliance. Newbee is one of the founding members of CDA along with top Chinese Dota 2 teams. Newbee’s team leader Feng “Feng” Yiqing was also included in the punishment. All CDA members are prohibited to collaborate with Feng in any …
Kyle vs. AdmiralBulldog: A fight over Dota 2 streaming rights
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
When a Dota 2 tournament is happening, it isn’t just the actual tournament organizers that are airing the event. A slew of streamers, pro players, and other personalities also air the same games, at the same time. While this might sound ludicrous to traditional sports fans, and even some esports fans, many within Dota 2 enjoy the competitiveness this breeds between streams and the ample options for viewing that it …
Dota 2 pro players, teams react to The International 2020 delay
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
Dota 2 personalities took to social media to react to the official postponement of The International 2020. As expected, the biggest event of the year had to be delayed, with Valve indefinitely delaying The International 2020. Dude to the ongoing global health situation, the developer was forced to move the tournament that was scheduled for August. Dota 2 fans and experts had already anticipated this decision. However, they are eager …
CSGO star s1mple is showing off his Dota 2 skills on stream
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player in the world. CSGO isn’t the only game he plays, though. The Natus Vincere star has been branching out on his Twitch channel lately and one of the games he’s been dabbling in Dota 2. Though his skills in the tactical shooter may or may not actually translate to the MOBA, he has looked pretty darn good in his Dota …
Gamers Without Borders hosts $1.5M Dota 2 event with OG, Secret, more
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a slew of charity events in esports, but the biggest one is yet to come. Gamers Without Borders is set to host a series of charity esports events, boasting $10 million that will be awarded to various charities. Included in that is a Dota 2 tournament with a $1.5 million prize pool, boasting some of the best teams in the game. The full list of …
Virtus.pro vs. FlyToMoon Epic Prime League playoffs betting analysis
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The group stage of the Epic Prime League has wrapped up and the playoffs will begin soon. The more interesting matchup now set is Virtus.pro vs. FlyToMoon. The two teams have had an interesting rivalry over the last few months, a rivalry that has changed as often as the two teams’ rosters. They now face off once again in a fairly high-stakes matchup that will set the stage for the …
Topson announces return to competitive Dota 2 after disappearing
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It seems like Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen will be getting back in action before long. OG’s star mid laner took to Instagram and released a post that suggested he will be returning to the team in the near future. The caption for the post reads “soon back in action #DreamOG. Stay strong everyone.” OG has been incredibly active over recent months, taking part in a number of online Dota 2 …
Kyle criticizes “dull” Dota 2 meta, wants roaming to return
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Dota 2’s meta isn’t in an especially good place right now. That’s something that players of all levels are agreeing on, but former Complexity Gaming captain Kyle Freedman is giving voice to that at the professional level. The Dota 2 caster spoke out on the slower pace of games right now, and he left no wiggle room for how he feels about the current state of the game in an …
ONE Esports Singapore Major cancelled, ends 2019-2020 DPC season
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
PGL has announced the official cancellation of the ONE Esports Singapore Major. The decision did not come as a surprise for Dota 2 fans. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a pause on the entire Dota Pro Circuit calendar and online tournaments are filling the gap. One Esports Singapore Major was previously the last major tournament before The International 2020, and would have finalized the 12 direct invitees to the event. …
Winstrike Team sued by multiple teams for Dota 2 transfers
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Winstrike Team is not especially popular amongst its esports peers right now. The CIS organization is under fire from a number of other teams based in the region after allegedly not following through on agreed-upon terms for player transfers. Most of the allegations stem from Winstrike’s Dota 2 team, which has undergone a slew of changes over the last two years. Virtus.pro, Gambit Esports, HellRaisers, and forZe issued a joint …
Team Secret vs. Na’Vi WePlay! Pushka League playoffs betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
WePlay! Pushka League boasts top Dota 2 teams from the Europe and CIS regions. The group stage of WePlay! Pushka League has ended and it’s time to see teams from both regions vie for the tournament title. Indeed, exciting matchups in the playoffs are in store for viewers. Team Secret finished strong as the top seed of Group A while Natus Vincere barely made it out alive of Group B. …
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.
