Dota 2
Dota 2
OG defeat Evil Geniuses once again, make top 3 at TI9
Steven Rondina
OG continues to have the upper hand on Evil Geniuses. In the most hotly anticipated match of The International 2019 thus far, the rival squads faced off in round two of the upper bracket. Once again, OG got the better of Evil Geniuses, taking a 2-1 victory to advance to the upper bracket finals. Game one was an almost perfect performance from Evil Geniuses. Syed “SumaiL” Hassan rolled over Topias …
Dota 2
OG’s ana griefs N0tail on TI9 main stage, and OG wins anyway
Steven Rondina
Lots of teams say that they just want to play to have fun at important tournaments. OG actually means it. Despite having tens of millions of dollars on the line, the reigning champions have taken a stunningly casual approach to The International 2019. The greatest example of this came during their first series on the main stage opposite Newbee. On the tail end of an engagement in the second game, …
Dota 2
Fan reactions split on Chinese crowds at The International 2019
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Some Dota 2 fans haven’t been too happy with how The International 2019 has been going thus far, and it’s mostly due to the fact the tournament is being played in China for the first time and is as such catered toward the Chinese domestic audience. With the start of the main event, those complaints turned towards the live audience. With the TI9 main event starting on August 20, the …
Dota 2
Virtus.pro eliminated early from The International 2019
Steven Rondina
One of the top contenders to win The International 2019 has already been eliminated. Virtus.pro was swept by Royal Never Give Up in round two of the lower bracket. The Russian squad entered the tournament as a strong candidate to take first place, but wound up on a plane home just two days into the main event. The series itself saw all of the negative perceptions regarding Virtus.pro come to …
Dota 2
Natus Vincere, Alliance among losers at The International 2019
Steven Rondina
The first big eliminations of The International 2019 have occurred. Alliance, Fnatic, Keen Gaming, and Natus Vincere lost their best-of-one series in the opening games of the lower bracket. The four teams are going home as a result. Alliance was handed a disheartening loss from Royal Never Give Up. Their game was a close one, with the net worth and experience leads bouncing back and forth throughout. With both teams …
Dota 2
Alliance eliminated after wrong hero chosen during draft at TI9
Steven Rondina
Alliance’s game against Royal Never Give Up was going poorly before it even started. In the last round bans before their game in the lower bracket of The International 2019, the European squad timed out before selecting their final ban. This was followed by an instantaneous Gyrocopter pick as their last hero. This immediately had fans speculating that the team had accidentally last-picked Gyro, something which was later confirmed by team …
Dota 2
Team Secret and PSG.LGD thrive, Liquid struggles in TI9 group stage
gabhernandez
China’s best hope for bringing home the Aegis of Champions isn’t who most were expecting. PSG.LGD looked exceptional in the group stage of The International 2019, taking first place with a 13-3 record. The team is in a strong position to avenge its loss in the grand finals of The International 2018, where it suffered a heart-wrenching 3-2 loss at the hands of OG. PSG.LGD has been solid throughout the …
Dota 2
OG, Vici Gaming, Evil Geniuses looking strong ahead of TI9 main event
gabhernandez
The International 2018 champions look poised to take another Aegis. OG were the standout performers of The International 2019’s group stage, taking first place in Group B with quirky drafts and well-executed strategies. The team won six series and defeated strong competition including Evil Geniuses and Virtus.pro, amassing a 14-2 record. That score beats out Group A’s top team, PSG.LGD, who finished at 13-3. Although OG started the group stage …
Virtus.pro wear cool new jerseys at The International 2019
William Davis
Dota 2
Virtus.pro aren’t playing their best at The International 2019, but they are looking better than ever. Ahead of the event, the team revealed a new look for their Dota 2 team inspired by China, which is serving as the host country for TI9. Virtus.pro is looking to connect with the crowd in Shanghai and engage with their local fans in a whole new way. The Russian organization swapped its signature polar …
The International 2019 main event schedule, bracket revealed
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The group stages to The International 2019 are now complete and with that, the bracket for the main event has been decided. Dota 2 community manager Wykhrm Reddy revealed the opening matchups for the tournament on Twitter and there are a lot of intriguing games to look forward to. Day one of the main event is an interesting one, as it kicks off with PSG.LGD vs. Virtus.pro. PSG.LGD has …
OG play carry Io to win series at The International 2019
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Defending champions OG stomped Ninjas in Pyjamas with a wildly unconventional draft. In the first game of its series against the European rival, OG drafted Shadow Demon, Treant Protector, Io, Axe, and Windranger. Fans and Dota 2 experts were surprised over the lack of a carry hero on the team, but were absolutely shocked when OG opted to put Anatham “ana” Pham on Io for the game. The biggest stunner …
Ninjas in Pyjamas eliminated from The International 2019
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Ninjas in Pyjamas are out of The International 2019. The Peter “ppd” Dager-led team came in ninth place in Group B. As a result, they will not compete on-stage and will go home alongside Group A’s ninth-place team, Chaos Esports Club. While NiP was not expected to do especially well at TI9, a group stage elimination is still a surprise. The team but has looked fairly solid during the 2018-2019 …
The International 2019’s first elimination is Chaos Esports Club
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The first elimination of The International 2019 has been decided. European qualifier winner Chaos Esports Club is mathematically guaranteed to be eliminated from the group stage. The team’s current record is 2-12. Chaos Esports Club entered TI9 as an intriguing dark horse. Formed shortly before the start of the qualifiers, the team brought together a number of respected European veterans including Rasmus “MISERY” Filipsen and Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen. The …
OG relive win at The International 2018 in new documentary
gabhernandez
Dota 2
OG’s historic victory at The International 2018 has been chronicled in a whole new way. Red Bull’s Against the Odds documentary looks back at OG’s championship journey and tells their story in great detail. It also stands apart from Valve’s own Dota 2 documentary, True Sight, as it prominently features a number of popular casters and analysts to delve into the history of OG and the significance of their crowning …
Team Secret cruising through The International 2019 group stage
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Team Secret’s trip to Shanghai for The International 2019 started in memorable fashion. The top team in the Dota Pro Circuit showed why it’s the favorite to win The International 2019 in its opening series of the event. Facing Alliance, Secret kicked off the group stage with an explosive comeback victory. In its first TI9 series, Team Secret managed to rally from an 8-25 deficit in kills. Max “qojqva” Bröcker’s …
Team Secret off to great start at TI9 after mega creep comeback
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Team Secret’s trip to Shanghai for The International 2019 started in memorable fashion. The top team in the Dota Pro Circuit showed why it’s the favorite to win The International 2019 in its opening series of the event. Facing Alliance, Secret kicked off the group stage with an explosive comeback victory. In its first TI9 series, Team Secret managed to rally from an 8-25 deficit in kills. Max “qojqva” Bröcker’s …
Virtus.pro struggling at The International 2019 after rough day
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Virtus.pro has a longstanding tradition of looking great in the winter and spring and then fizzling out as the summer brings The International. This year isn’t looking much different. After two days of The International 2019 group stage play, Dota 2’s top CIS team is not really living up to that billing. The team has a modest 3-5 record record and went 0-4 in day two. The first series is …
Evil Geniuses trampled by OG in The International 2019 groups
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
OG dealt Evil Geniuses a tough loss. In the opening series of day two of The International 2019, the reigning champions swept Evil Geniuses 2-0 in their group stage showdown. The series adds another lopsided chapter to one of Dota 2’s hottest rivalries and puts Evil Geniuses into a precarious position for the remainder of the group stage. The series started with an excellent performance from OG. While Syed “SumaiL” …
The International 2019 sees technical errors throughout first day
Olivia Richman
Dota 2
The International 2019 started off with a handful of technical issues that impacted spectators’ viewing experience. With a total of five different streams taking place simultaneously, fans began to notice that some of the streams didn’t have visible gamertags. This was first discovered when TNC Predator and Keen Gaming played out their entire series without their names being displayed. Fans thought the teams were joking around at first but it …
Before TI9, these are the ten highest earning esports organizations
gabhernandez
Dota 2
The International 2019 has a prize pool of over $33 million and climbing, and is set to dramatically shake up the list of the best-earning teams in the history of esports. With the competition now getting underway, we’ve assembled a list of the highest-earning esports teams to date and explained how they got to their lofty positions prior to TI9. The Team Liquid organization dates back to its original …
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.
