Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2 pro gets first car by winning MVP award at ESL One Hamburg
gabhernandez
Another Dota 2 player has nabbed a brand new Mercedes-Benz car. TNC Predator captain Park “March” Tae-won was bestowed the MVP award after his team won ESL One Hamburg 2019. The prize for this achievement is a new Mercedes-Benz car. He joins ESL’s Dota 2 Mercedes-Benz Club, which also includes Kim “Febby” Yong-min, Alexey “Solo” Berezin, and Clement “Puppey” Ivanov. “I actually don’t have a car. I’ve never had a …
Dota 2
TNC Predator win ESL One Hamburg, prepare for MDL Chengdu Major
Steven Rondina
TNC Predator is looking very good right now. The enduring Southeast Asian contender took first place at ESL One Hamburg and posted arguably the best tournament performance of its storied history. The team completed the victory by defeating Gambit Esports in the finals with a 3-2 score, and looks like a serious threat heading into the MDL Chengdu Major. The first four games of the grand finals had an interesting …
Dota 2
These are the five best-earning teams in all of esports
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Esports prize pools have grown over the years to the point that organizations have taken in tens of millions over the course of their histories. According to data from Esports Earnings, Team Liquid, OG, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, and Newbee are the top five teams with the highest overall earnings. These are all accomplished organizations, though many of them are primarily bolstered by their Dota 2 teams. Team Liquid has the highest …
Dota 2
Team Liquid’s new Dota 2 roster knocked out of ESL One Hamburg
Olivia Richman
When Team Liquid signed Alliance’s former Dota 2 roster, many wondered if the risky choice would pay off. At the moment, fans seem to be getting their answer: not yet. Team Liquid was knocked out of the group stage at ESL One Hamburg 2019, along with lesser known teams Quincy Crew, Fighting PandaS, and Vikin.gg. Teams Liquid once would have easily defeated these opponents without much of an effort, but …
Dota 2
Virtus.pro drops out of DOTA Summit 11 due to visa issues
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Virtus.pro will be missing out on the DOTA Summit 11 minor due to issues with visas and the squad’s new roster not yet being at its full potential. Virtus.pro withdrew from the first minor tournament of the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit season on October 17, the organization announced in a statement. It’s unfortunate for the team that qualified by winning the DOTA Summit 11 CIS Qualifier, but Virtus.pro’s general manager …
Dota 2
T1 crashes and burns in Dota 2 debut at VKGaming Battle of Dawn
gabhernandez
T1’s newest roster debuted at VKGAME Battle of Dawn. It did not go well. The Korean team’s run in the tournament was cut short after washing out of the group stage with a 1-2 record. Despite debuting with a win over FTD.Guys, the team lost its series against Sparking Arrow Gaming. This set the team up with a best-of-three decider against iG.Vitality. The Invictus Gaming developmental team kicked off the …
Dota 2
GeekFam withdraw from ESL One Hamburg, replaced by Alliance
gabhernandez
Southeast Asian Dota 2 team GeekFam has had to withdraw from its participation in ESL One Hamburg due to ongoing visa issues. Two weeks ago, GeekFam successfully qualified for ESL One Hamburg 2019, an event taking place outside of the upcoming 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit. The team finished the qualifier with a clean 3-0 sweep versus SG Dragons to claim the coveted ticket to Hamburg. ESL One tournaments have a …
Dota 2
SumaiL returns to Evil Geniuses bench ahead of Dota Summit 11
gabhernandez
After a brief stint with Quincy Crew, Syed “SumaiL” Hassan once again finds himself out of action. The longtime Evil Geniuses mid has landed back on the organization’s bench after failing to qualify for the MDL Chengdu Major. The team successfully qualified for the Dota Summit 11 Minor, but will compete without him. Though SumaiL was competing with Quincy Crew, he remains under contract with Evil Geniuses. Team manager Jack …
Dota 2 matchmaking update changes party queuing, ranked medals
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Valve has once again shaken up Dota 2’s matchmaking system. The latest Dota 2 update rolled back some of the changes made earlier this year after sustained complaints from players. In particular, Valve is overhauling party queuing in ranked matchmaking. Though the company tried to improve the social aspect of the game by making it easier to play with friends in a ranked environment, this new system introduced flaws that …
EternaLEnVy banned for toxic behavior, pleasing many Dota 2 fans
Olivia Richman
Dota 2
The latest victim of Dota 2’s new, more aggressive banning system is pro player Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao. The controversial Canadian Dota 2 player had one of his accounts banned after months of poor behavior, thanks to “excessive reports, failing to ready-up, and abandoning.” This offense has led to a six-month ban for EternaLEnVy. He saw the message appear on-screen shortly after exiting a ranked game and seemed inexplicably stunned by the news. “What?” …
Kaci Aitchison joins Valve in full-time role, looks forward to TI10
Nina Forneloza
Dota 2
Kaci Aitchison, who has been an interviewer and host for Dota 2’s The International, for the past seven years, announced she’s been hired full-time by Valve. Aitchison revealed the news on her Twitter account. “After seven years of working events for one of my favorite companies, this month I officially joined Valve full-time!” Aitchison said. “Maybe that favorite company will work out next time. Just kidding, it’s this one. Lots …
Infamous and NoPing play rare repeat drafts in the same series
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Infamous and NoPing Esports had a match worthy of memes when both teams picked and banned the same heroes in each game of their best-of-two series. In the MDL Chengdu Major South America Qualifier, Infamous and NoPing Esports showcased an entertaining qualifier series not by picking unique or eccentric heroes, but by drafting the exact same heroes and ending both games with a different result. It just strengthens the notion …
T1 announces all-Korean Dota 2 roster, including veteran Forev
Olivia Richman
Dota 2
With lasting legacies in StarCraft and League of Legends, T1 is now hoping to have the same level of success in Dota 2. Although Dota 2 isn’t the most popular esport in South Korea, T1 will be entering upcoming tournaments with an all-Korean roster. In fact, this may be the country’s best chance today at leaving a lasting impression in the Dota 2 competitive scene. The current roster inclues Ha …
Notorious Dota 2 smurf banned while streaming, Valve responds
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Valve has banned the account of popular Russian streamer and known smurf qsnake. Qsnake has a large following on his Twitch Channel with 166,706 followers and more than 21 million views accrued through streams primarily composed of his gameplay on several smurf accounts. He peaked at over 8,000 MMR a few years back and is currently an Immortal player. That following and those legitimate in-game skills didn’t stop him from …
Evil Geniuses qualify for MDL Chengdu Major, SumaiL falls short
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The North American qualifiers for the MDL Chengdu Major have wrapped up with some surprising results. Evil Geniuses, the Fighting Pepegas, and J.Storm have qualified for the first major of the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season. Syed “SumaiL” Hassan and the Quincy Crew have not. This is something of a surprising turn of events and speaks to what may end up being an incredibly competitive season in the region. It …
Beastcoast signs Anvorgesa before MDL Chengdu Major qualifiers
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Beastcoast is back in Dota 2 with a new and considerably less controversial roster. The organization has announced the signing of Team Anvorgesa. The signing immediately sets Beastcoast up as the top organization in South American Dota 2, and is likely to land it in top tournaments for the near future. Anvorgesa may not be an immediately recognizable name, but Dota 2 fans likely saw their work at The International …
MDL Chengdu Major qualifiers is first test for Evil Geniuses, Na’Vi
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The list of invitees to the qualifiers for the MDL Chengdu Major and Dota Summit 11 have been revealed. Each region will have 10 teams competing in qualifiers, with between six and eight teams receiving direct invitations to the qualifiers. Additionally, the slot allocation for the MDL Chengdu Major has also been revealed. In a surprising turn, Europe, South America, and CIS will receive two slots in the major. North …
Alliance gets new Dota 2 team before MDL Chengdu Major qualifiers
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Alliance lost its Dota 2 roster following The International 2019, but the organization isn’t going to sit back and watch the first major slip by without making a move. The organization has announced the signing of the Cool Team roster, which consists of a number of compelling European talents. The new roster was formed around a pair of former Ninjas in Pyjamas players, Adrian “Fata” Trinks and Neta “33” Shapira. …
Midas Mode 2.0 ends with Vici Gaming, J.Storm as champions
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Midas Mode 2.0 has ended with Vici Gaming and J.Storm claiming first place in the Asia and Americas divisions, respectively. The quirky tournament gave Dota 2 fans a good bit of fun before the start of the Dota Pro Circuit season. The fun lineup of teams and unique ruleset made for a unique experience with legitimate teams drafting eccentric compositions, going for bounties, and taunting each other in all chat. …
Team Liquid returns to Dota 2 by signing ex Alliance roster
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Team Liquid is back in the Dota 2 business. According to a series of tweets by the players, Liquid has acquired the former roster of Alliance. Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi and Max “qojqva” Bröcker tweeted that they were happy to announce the signing, which was then confirmed by Liquid with a series of retweets. “Extremely excited to finally be able to announce that we’re part of Team Liquid,” iNSaNiA said on …
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.
