Dota 2
Dota 2
The best way to play the new Sideshop in the TI10 Battle Pass
Steven Rondina
One of the most surprising additions to Dota 2 in this year’s battle pass, and one of the most poorly explained, is the new Sideshop mini-game. Sideshop might look familiar for those who played Dota Auto Chess or the various knockoffs it inspired, such as Dota Underlords or Teamfight Tactics, but it’s going to be a mystery to everyone else. Even for those who actually play auto-battlers, there’s no real …
Dota 2
TI10 Battle Pass already breaking records after one day
Nina Forneloza
The International 10 Battle Pass has broken the 24-hour sales record. Once again, the Dota 2 community proved its loyalty and passion for the game. The TI10 Battle Pass generated $32.6 million in 24 hours, and consequently bumped TI10’s prize pool to $8.1 million. First 24 Hours — TI9 shattered pretty much every record but somehow the Dota community manages to shatter even that crazy record with another new one. …
Dota 2
Alliance completes roster by adding Gambit Esports’ fng
Jared Wynne
After standing in Alliance for the past month, Belarusian support and Gambit Esports captain Artsiom “fng” Barshak has officially joined the Swedish team on a 2-month loan. Artsiom will be playing his usual hard support role for Alliance, but it still remains unclear if he will be taking over captaining duties from current in-game leader Gustav “s4” Magnusson. fng has been one of the CIS region’s most successful captains in …
Dota 2
The TI10 Battle Pass launch is delaying rewards, crashing servers
Steven Rondina
When The International 10 Battle Pass launched in Dota 2, fans of the game were stoked. Players have been calling for an early release for months now and even though it actually arrived behind schedule, it had enough cool new features to make it feel like it was worth the wait. Naturally, that had fans scrambling onto their Dota 2 client in order to purchase the battle pass. Though the …
Dota 2
Na’Vi changes Dota 2 roster ahead of ESL One Birmingham online
Steven Rondina
Natus Vincere is pinning its hopes on a former Vega Squadron captain. But not the one they’ve been playing with for the last few months. The organization announced the signing of Vitaliy “so bad” Oshmankevich to a trial contract with the team. He replaces Semion “CemaTheSlayer” Krivulya after just two months on Na’Vi’s roster. Though CemaTheSlayer has performed well, logistical difficulties and an inability to properly boot camp were pointed …
Dota 2
Aster vs. Sparking Arrow Gaming DPL-CDA Pro League betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
The DPL-CDA Professional League has given fans some great Dota 2 competition to watch, but the tournament is in its final week of competition. Although EHOME has secured the top spot, four teams remain on the battlefield to fight for seeding. The matchup between Team Aster and Sparking Arrow Gaming will mark the last series of the tournament. Who will claim the last victory? …
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 …
Abed becomes first to reach 11,000 MMR, tops Dota 2 leaderboards
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
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 …
The International 2020 Battle Pass “coming early next week” says Valve
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
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 …
Wild NiP vs. OG match kicks off OGA Dota PIT Online EU playoffs
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The 2020 OGA Dota PIT Online league European and CIS division’s playoffs are now set. The group stage has wrapped up, with eight teams advancing and two being eliminated. With the seeding finalized, the opening matchups have been revealed, and there’s a lot to be excited for. Here are the matchups set for the first round of the playoffs: Upper bracket: Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. OG Upper bracket: Team Secret …
Match fixing in Dota 2 reminds us of long-running problem in esports
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
One of the biggest Dota 2 organizations in the world is in even bigger trouble. The International 2014 winning team Newbee is facing accusations of match fixing from a number of prominent figures in the Chinese Dota 2 scene. The Chinese Dota 2 Professional Association and ImbaTV have both barred the organization and its players from competing in future events. This could be extended further, as Valve and Dota 2’s …
Evil Geniuses unveils another new logo after fans decry 2019 rebrand
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
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 …
Valve reveals Artifact 2.0 closed beta details and invite system
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
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 …
Team Secret looking scary with big Gamers Without Borders win
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
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 …
HellRaisers vs. Alliance OGA Dota Pit Online betting analysis
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
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 …
VP.Prodigy bested Virtus Pro at Epic Prime League Grand Finals
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
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 …
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.
