Dota 2
Dota 2
Evil Geniuses unveils another new logo after fans decry 2019 rebrand
Steven Rondina
Evil Geniuses has a new look. Again. The enduring organization has unveiled a new logo that stands as a modernized take on its classic “EG” crest. The letters are a bit easier to decipher than the original, with an extra flair that conjures up the image of a hurricane. Today dawns a new era—one with a nod to our legacy and a bold eye to the future.Welcome to the new …
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
Kyle vs. AdmiralBulldog: A fight over Dota 2 streaming rights
Steven Rondina
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
Dota 2 pro players, teams react to The International 2020 delay
Nina Forneloza
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 …
Dota 2
CSGO star s1mple is showing off his Dota 2 skills on stream
Steven Rondina
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 …
Dota 2
Gamers Without Borders hosts $1.5M Dota 2 event with OG, Secret, more
Steven Rondina
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. …
VP Zayac is showing us how to play Techies like a Dota 2 pro
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
For years on end, Techies has been a meme character in Dota 2. The demolitionist hero has been a tool for frustrating both enemy and ally in public matchmaking, but little else. Over the last few months, pro players have started taking him in tournament games, as was seen with Evil Geniuses’ Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen taking him during the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore. And in …
Dendi’s team B8 has the longest losing streak in pro Dota 2 history
Olivia Richman
Dota 2
Danil “Dendi” Ishutin is having a historically rough time with current team B8, and signs are that it could get worse before it gets better. When Dendi left Natus Vincere after an eight year career with the team, the Dota 2 community felt a wave of sadness wash over them. It felt like the end of an era. Dendi has long been one of the most popular professional Dota 2 players …
PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming top their groups in OGA Dota Pit China
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
After finishing as top seeds in their groups, PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming secured spots in the second round of the upper bracket playoffs of OGA Dota Pit China, an event that features top Chinese teams fighting over a $60,000 prize pool. PSG.LGD seems to have recovered from its disastrous start to the season. The team has showed great results after major roster shakeups, role swaps, and the addition of Ren …
These are the most likely options for The International 2020
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The International 2020 has taken a big hit. The event was delayed indefinitely by Dota 2 publisher Valve last week due to the uncertainty facing the world due to the ongoing pandemic. The combination of travel restrictions and policies on group sizes proved to be too much to confidently handle so far in advance. Valve suggested that it is considering other possibilities and will make definite plans at a later …
BLAST Bounty Hunt features dynamic prize pool, fan prediction game
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
BLAST Bounty Hunt boasts top Dota 2 teams vying for the lion’s share of a $150,000 prize pool. RFRSH Entertainment has announced its expansion into the competitive scene of Dota 2. BLAST Bounty Hunt is an offshoot of RFRSH’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events, which have quickly gained prominence within the scene. In addition to a strong lineup of teams, the tournament features a unique way for teams to grow their …
Juggernaut gets Omnislash buff as Dota 2 update 7.26c changes talents
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
A slew of heroes had their talents changed with Dota 2 update 7.26c. Version 7.26b delivered sweeping changes to talents, with the majority of them being reduced in effectiveness by about 20%. Dota 2 update 7.26c tweaks the heroes that were either effectively ruined by this, or remained overpowered. Most of these changes are fairly straightforward in nature, with heroes receiving straightforward changes to their stats or abilities. Rubick’s level …
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.
