Dota 2
Dota 2
Pajkatt replaces ana for reigning TI champions
gabhernandez
The current TI champions will start their latest Dota Pro Circuit journey with a new carry player. OG took a quick break from the competitive scene following the team’s huge success at The International 2018. Without making an appearance in the first Minor and Major tournaments for the 2018-2019 DPC season, OG made a huge announcement when it was decided that Anathan “ana” Pham would be stepping away from the game. …
Dota 2
Valve steps in to ban Kuku from Chongqing Major
gabhernandez
Valve released their much anticipated decision regarding the Chongqing Major racism drama that has stirred up within the Dota 2 community. Recently, TNC shed new light regarding Carlo “Kuku” Palad’s alleged ban from the event. The SEA organization received sympathy from the Dota 2 community and from some Dota 2 personalities for the seemingly unfair terms imposed on TNC by tournament organizers in China. In a Twitter post, TNC outlined the consequences should …
Dota 2
Valve rolls back some 7.20 changes with quick updates
gabhernandez
Valve’s latest patch release has been quickly followed by a number of smaller updates to iron out changes that went too far. Patch 7.20 brought changes that were bigger than what Dota 2’s developer anticipated. Players and analysts had mixed reactions on the drastic changes incorporated with the huge new patch. 7.20b, 7.20c, and 7.20d were released in the days following 7.20. These updates including changes nerfing items and heroes …
Dota 2
OG, NiP fall in stacked Chongqing EU qualifier
Steven Rondina
The field is set for The Chongqing Major , and the European qualifier brought with it a few surprises. Following three days of intense competition, Team Secret, Team Liquid, and Alliance are all booked to compete in China. OG and Ninjas In Pyjamas, however, weren’t so lucky. The crowded EU field was halved in the group stage, with Swedish side The Final Tribe advancing to the playoffs alongside Secret, Liquid, and Alliance. Washing …
Community split over Chongqing Major bans
gabhernandez
Dota 2
The issue of racism in Dota 2 continues to pervade as the Chinese government has allegedly banned two players from competing in a major tournament. Dota 2 analyst Matthew “Cyborgmatt” Bailey confirmed that two Filipino players are barred from attending The Chongqing Major in China. Rolen Andrei Gabriel “Skemberlu” Ong and Carlo “Kuku” Palad were recently involved in a scandal for using racial slurs online. The Chinese community was enraged at …
N0tail goes from TI champ to Forbes 30 Under 30
gabhernandez
Dota 2
A TI8 champion notched another big win in 2018 by gracing the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Annually, Forbes collates a list of young visionaries in different categories that stood out throughout the year. Names are pulled from thousands of nominees, presenting 30 influential l individuals who excel in their respective fields. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein immortalized his name not just by winning the most prestigious tournament in esports, but also …
TI champion steps back from competition
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
OG is looking for a new carry player. The organization announced on Twitter that Anathan “ana” Pham is taking a break from active competition in Dota 2, and will no longer be a member of the main roster. “Our Australian prodigy, without whom nothing would have been possible, Anathan “ana” Pham, will be taking a longer break away from the game. He’ll remain a sub for OG,” the team said. Ana …
EternalEnvy leaves Complexity two months after joining
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
compLexity’s EternaLEnVy era is over almost as quickly as it began. Just two months after building a lineup around popular pro player Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao, the organization has announced a massive shakeup to its Dota 2 roster. EternaLEnVy and offlane player Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu have been released to free agency. Meanwhile, carry player Rolen Andrei Gabriel “Skemberlu” Ong has been benched pending his release to another team. The news was announced …
Virtus.pro claim another Dota 2 major title
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Despite entering the The Kuala Lumpur Major with some uncertainty, Virtus.pro’s Dota 2 team erased all doubt en route to another major championship. The Russian squad reasserted itself as one of the best in the world by taking the title at the first major tournament of the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season, defeating Team Secret in the event’s grand finals. It’s a massive victory given the strength of the competition, but …
Finnish president invites OG players to celebrate
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen are being recognized by the Finnish government for their stunning victory at The International 2018. The OG support and mid players have both received invitations to the Independence Day Reception in Helsinki. The sender was none other than the president of Finland. “I got invited to celebrate the Finnish Independence Day at Linnan Juhlat by the President of Finland!” JerAx said. It’s an …
A Bad Meme gets VP Staff Fired
gabhernandez
Dota 2
After posting and deleting an inappropriate meme, Virtus.pro have fired at least one of the esports organization’s social media managers. Virtus.pro’s Dota 2 team is currently aiming to take home a Mercedes-Benz that is up for grabs at a Dota 2 tournament sponsored by the car manufacturer. With this in mind, Virtus.pro’s social media managers posted a meme that was frowned upon by the community. In the tweet, a woman …
Tigers Qualify for Major after DreamLeague win
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Tigers triumphed as the DreamLeague Season 10 Champions and earned their spot at the Kuala Lumpur Major. After Tigers beat Natus Vincere in the first round of upper bracket playoffs, the Ukrainian team fought their way through the lower bracket of the tournament to secure a grand finals rematch. The first game of the best-of-five series was lopsided as Tigers was able to establish a consistent lead in both gold …
MinD_ContRoL fills in for NiP at Kuala Lumpur Major
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Ninjas In Pyjamas will be forced to send a substitute player with its Dota 2 team for the upcoming Kuala Lumpur Major. The organization revealed on its official website that offlane player Neta “33” Shapira would not be able to attend the event due to visa issues preventing him from traveling to Malaysia. Filling in for him is Team Liquid’s Ivan Borislavov “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov. While visa issues are sometimes an …
Dota 2 pro embroiled in racism controversy
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 10 Minor has erupted in controversy. During the pregame portion of a showdown between CompLexity Gaming and Royal Never Give Up, coL carry player Rolen Andrei Gabriel “Skem” Ong stated “Gl chingchong” in the game’s chat. RNG hosts a predominantly Chinese roster. Though RNG did not respond to Skem’s message while various members of both coL and RNG were exchanging “glhf” chats, the incident happened …
Team Secret win ESL One Hamburg
gabhernandez
News
At ESL One Hamburg, Team Secret showed the sort of exceptional play that’s worthy of a brand new Mercedes-Benz car. After topping the charts in the group stage, Team Secret faced powerhouse Virtus.pro in their first playoff series. The team fell short there and were made to fight their way out of the lower bracket with impressive sweeps of both Evil Geniuses and paIN Gaming. The lower bracket finals saw …
Dendi joins Lithium as Stand-In
gabhernandez
Dota 2
The most famous free agent in Dota 2 has found another temporary home. Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s recent stint with Team Secret at the Maincast Autumn Brawl was underwhelming, with Na’Vi eliminating Team Secret from the tournament in an upset. However, Dendi remains an active Dota 2 pro and will soon look to impress with another team. Dendi has announced that he will be playing for Team Lithium at the upcoming …
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.
Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2
