Dota 2
Dota 2
These are the most expensive cosmetic items in Dota 2
Steven Rondina
Valve’s multiplayer titles have spawned unique in-game economies featuring rare and expensive items. Dota 2 is at the top of this list, featuring several cosmetics that fetch top dollar on the market. The game has long encouraged players to customize their favorite heroes, and players are willing to throw down a lot of money on some rare skins. Over the years, several items have become highly sought after, which has …
Dota 2
Four Evil Geniuses players have now reached 10K MMR in Dota 2
Steven Rondina
There’s a debate to be had about who the best Dota 2 team in the world is. OG has possibly the most talented lineup, Team Secret looked dominant at the last major, but TNC Predator stands atop the Dota Pro Circuit standings. Evil Geniuses can also enter into that conversation on the merit that they likely have the highest combined MMR of any Dota 2 team in the world today. …
Dota 2
SumaiL returns to 10K MMR club after slipping down rankings
Nina Forneloza
Once again, Syed “SumaiL” Hassan is a part of the 10K MMR club. OG’s carry player reached 10,000 MMR after random picking in public games. The player is famed for his exceptional mechanical skill and consistently stellar plays. In his latest stream, he showed that his MMR value is 10,020. He clarified that this is not his first time reaching the 10,000 milestone, as he previously reached the 10,100 mark. …
Dota 2
Chinese Dota fans just got a special real-life Dota 2 battle pass
Steven Rondina
Dota 2 fans in Europe and North America have been calling for an early release to The International 2020 Battle Pass for a while now. With many locked up at home due to the spread of COVID-19, players want some sort of clear progression and reward system that doesn’t exist in Dota 2 outside the battle pass. Unfortunately, given the fact that The International 2020 is in limbo and Valve …
Dota 2
Team Aster players quarantined after contact with COVID-19 case
Nina Forneloza
Following an extended stay in the Ukraine, Team Aster is being forced into quarantine by government officials after coming into close contact with a person suffering from COVID-19. China has stringent precautionary measures on travelers from countries affected by the outbreak. In one of its connecting flights to China, Team Aster shared the plane with a passenger who tested positive for coronavirus. The team traveled back to its home country after …
Dota 2
The newest PSG.LGD roster is off to a great start
Nina Forneloza
PSG.LGD had a small redemption after its new roster debuted at WeSave! Charity Play. PSG.LGD revealed its new squad at the online charity tournament. Its underwhelming performance in the previous tournaments translated to a major roster shakeup. The team benched newly recruited carry player Li “ASD” Zhiwen. Legendary offlaner Yang “Chalice”‘ Shenyi replaced ASD as position 1. PSG.LGD also loaned Ren “eLeVeN” Yangwei from EHOME to fill the gap in …
Dota 2
Dota 2 scandal erupts surrounding ForZe’s roster releases
Nina Forneloza
ForZe dropped its Dota 2 roster after a public matchmaking scandal, but the story doesn’t end there. It all started when Egor “19teen” Lexutin trash-talked Russian Youtuber TraVoMaN in a public match. 19teen allegedly got particularly nasty with TraVoMan, which the YouTuber clipped and posted on his channel as proof. The clip made the rounds and LukOil, ForZe’s major sponsor, decided to take action by imposing a 1 million Ruble fine, …
Dota 2
JerAx discusses leaving OG, retiring from pro Dota 2 in video
Nina Forneloza
After three years, two major titles, and two The International championships, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka departed OG to retire from competitive Dota 2. The announcement came earlier this year, but OG just recently released a video featuring JerAx where he discussed his retirement and plans for the future. In OG’s January blog post, JerAx told fans that Dota 2, as a game, is an endless puzzle that offers you solutions, yet none …
TNC Predator adds ana as sub, loses anyway in WeSave! Charity Play
Nina Forneloza
News
Two-time TI champion Anathan “ana” Pham stood in for TNC Predator in WeSave! Charity Play’s southeast Asian tournament. TNC Predator tapped ana to replace Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte as its carry player. Gabbi experienced connectivity issues just before the match. The player even took to social media and asked fans if they knew anyone from the internet company who can resolve the issue. The issue was not resolved in time and TNC …
Dota 2 is posting big player numbers amidst coronavirus crisis
Nina Forneloza
News
Steam as a whole has enjoyed a swell of players since millions of people worldwide began self-isolating to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Dota 2 is no different. Dota 2 hit a peak player count of more than 700,000 early in the month of March and has had an average of over 415,000 players during the last 30 days, per Steam Charts. These are the best numbers the game …
Gabe Newell discusses Artifact 2, Valve promises update to game
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
After a year of silence, Valve is dusting off Dota 2-themed digital card game Artifact. Per Games Radar, Valve founder Gabe Newell sat down with Edge Magazine and had a frank conversation regarding what happened with Artifact. Though many assumed Valve had abandoned Artifact or simply forgotten about it, Newell stated that the studio still wants to see the game realize its full potential. “Artifact was an interesting failure in …
OG is playing with Madara and Ceb at WeSave! Charity Play
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
WeSave! Charity Play boasts a surprisingly strong lineup of teams including Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, Nigma, and Vici Gaming. OG is also competing at the event, and many fans were excited to see the star-studded roster compete. Unfortunately, the full team won’t be able to make it to the server with OG mid laner Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen and off laner Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng sitting out of the action. …
Na’Vi finalizes Dota 2 roster, coronavirus leaves future uncertain
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Natus Vincere may not be playing too much over the coming months, but fans now know the players that will be competing for the team in the immediate future. The organization has finalized its Dota 2 roster with the addition of Semion “CemaTheSlayer” Krivulya. That gives Na`Vi this lineup moving forward in the season: Vladislav “Crystallize” Krystanek Idan “MagicaL” Vardanian Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov Semion “CemaTheSlayer” Krivulya Ilyas “illias” Ganeev Na`Vi …
WeSave! Charity Play boasts top teams including Nigma, OG, Team Secret
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
WeSave! Charity Play boasts a star-studded group of teams including OG, Evil Geniuses, Vici Gaming, and many more. WePlay! is stepping up to host an online charity tournament for bored Dota 2 teams. WeSave! Charity Play features six four-team, single-elimination tournaments. All matches are best-of-threes. The tournament boasts a $120,000 prize pool that will be donated directly to GlobalGiving and CEPI funds. The organizers will also accept donations from viewers, and it …
Meepo and Ursa hit with big nerfs in Dota 2 update 7.25a
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
It only took Valve 24 hours to deliver a significant shakeup to Dota 2’s 7.25 update. Version 7.25a is now live, bringing a handful of changes to heroes. Though it’s only a modest shift from version 7.25, five heroes got changed for the second time in as many days. Visage received a big change to Gravekeeper’s Cloak. The passive skill now grants a flat 80% damage resistance buff, rather than …
T1 shakes up Dota 2 roster again, dropping Black and Xuan
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
T1 has dropped two of its players just two weeks after announcing its official roster. Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier and Yixaun “xuan” Guo have been removed from the team’s roster on the official Dota 2 majors registration page. T1 signed Black^ as its carry player while xuan played the hard support role. The iconic League of Legends brand has struggled to find its footing in the Dota 2 scene. The organization …
Dota 2 update 7.25 adds new Aghs upgrades, changes All Pick drafting
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The ESL One LA Major didn’t happen, but that didn’t stop Valve from putting out a huge post-major patch. Dota 2 update 7.25 has arrived, bringing a slew of changes to the game. While there are the normal roundup of tweaks to items and heroes, version 7.25 also brings big changes to other factors as well. The change that will be most obvious to players is a shakeup to how …
One Esports Jakarta Invitational rescheduled due to coronavirus
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
The coronavirus continues to rampage through Dota 2’s professional scene. One Esports has effectively cancelled one of its tentpole Dota 2 events. This will see the One Esports Dota 2 Jakarta Invitational moved from April 17 to 19 to November 23 to 29. The event will be merged with the previously announced One Esports Dota 2 Indonesia Invitational. It will be hosted at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition in Jakarta. 12 teams will brawl for …
Former DotA pro player Champi dead at 26 years old
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
A veteran of the Defense of the Ancients competitive scene has died. According to an announcement made on Facebook by TNC Events, part of the TNC Esports company that operates Dota 2 team TNC Predator, DotA 1 support player Mark Anthony “Champi” Gappi has died. He was 26 years old. “Champi was a Dota 1 legend. He was a former TNC Cup champion, and was highly regarded as one of …
WePlay! hosting charity coronavirus event with WeSave! Charity Play
Steven Rondina
News
The Dota 2 pro scene is left in a state of limbo due to a string of event cancellations, but WePlay! is looking to fill that void. The tournament organizer has announced WeSave! Charity Play, a 24-team tournament that will serve as a “charity marathon.” “The novel Coronavirus COVID-19 has spread across the globe in just a few months and shows no sign of stopping. Many are ill with even …
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.
