Dota 2
Dota 2
These are the groups at The International 2018
Steven Rondina
With The International 2018 kicking off in less than 48 hours, details on the tournament’s group stages have finally emerged. Wykhrm Reddy made the reveal on Twitter, announcing the groups and format for the first leg of the event. https://twitter.com/wykrhm/status/1029044785233842177Similar to last year, TI8 will feature two groups of nine teams playing in a round robin format with best-of-two series play. Teams placing first through fourth in each group will …
Dota 2
Virtus.pro’s Dota 2 Roster is sticking together through 2019
gabhernandez
As The International 2018 gets closer, fan favorites Virtus Pro commit to play with the same roster until the end of 2019. The top Dota Pro Circuit points earner remains a consistent and stable roster. With four major titles garnered during their DPC run, it is not a surprise that management for Virtus Pro fully trust their roster to conquer the competitive scene. The community will be seeing more …
Counter-Strike
Fans aren’t happy with new Virtus.pro uniforms
Steven Rondina
Virtus Pro is going to look very different heading into events like The International 2018 and the FACEIT Major: London, but not because of any roster moves. The Russian organization revealed a new jersey and logo, ditching its traditional black and orange colors in favor of a new green and purple look. Check it out: Initial reactions from fans were resoundingly negative, with many saying they missed the previous color …
Dota 2
Valve addresses complaints with TI Battle Pass
gabhernandez
Amidst rampant complaints from players, Valve has fixed the item drop rates for Immortal Treasures in this year’s Battle Pass. The anticipated Immortal Treasure III from The International Battle Pass was released on July 31. The Immortal items did not disappoint the community, as excited fans were quick to open their shiny new treasure chests. High leveled Battle Pass owners were saddened when they were not rewarded the ultra-rare items …
Dota 2
Dota 2 caster leaks info on Artifact card game
gabhernandez
A new leak has brought some of the first bits of information regarding the mysterious Dota 2 card game Artifact to light. Artifact is a card game based on Dota lore. There are 280 cards featured in the game, with 44 heroes besides. Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering, designed the cards. In a closed-door launch, Valve revealed that Artifact will create new content for Dota 2. New heroes …
News
EG add another Dota Summit title
Steven Rondina
Evil Geniuses are the new Dota Summit champions. Facing stiff competition at The Dota Summit 9, EG managed to halt a skid of poor offline results. More importantly, the “boys in blue” positioned themselves as a legitimate contender for The International. It was immediately clear that EG would be a force at the Summit 9, opening the first day of group play with a 3-1 run that included a sweep …
Dota 2
AI bots are trying to beat Dota 2 pros
gabhernandez
Bots will soon take to the big stage to try beating a team of professional Dota 2 players. OpenAi aims to impress professionals and fans alike in a show match at The International. Dota 2 fans are about to witness huge improvement in OpenAI. A team of five neutral networks, dubbed OpenAI Five, are playing 180 years worth of Dota 2 games every day. The bots use reinforcement learning at …
Dota 2
Registration opens for Aegis and Baby Roshan
gabhernandez
Registration for the most coveted item in The International Battle Pass is now open for eligible players. The Collector’s Aegis of Champions and Baby Roshan are rewarded to Battle Pass owners to celebrate the milestone of reaching the 1000 and 2000 Battle Pass levels, respectively. Since 2015, the 1/5th scale replica of the Aegis of Champions is given to Battle Pass owners who reach level 1000. The replica is made …
Let’s Do It Head to Dota Summit 9
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Polish team Let’s Do It have secured the BTS Summer Cup title and earned a direct invite to the upcoming DOTA Summit 9. After taking down Alliance in the loser’s finals, Let’s Do It faced tournament favorites Wind and Rain. The first game of the series was lopsided. Utilizing an early Helm of the Dominator on Natan “Exotic Deer” Michalewicz’s Broodmother, Let’s Do It quickly pushed through and destroyed Wind …
OG Qualifies for The International
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
OG needed to send a message in the European qualifiers for The International, and the team managed to do exactly that. Despite limping into the event with a recently rebuilt roster and numerous questions about what condition the squad was in, OG successfully earned a spot in Vancouver. Not only that, but it may have just re-established itself as a serious contender for the Aegis of Champions. After posting a …
Fnatic, TNC Predator Secure Slots at The International
gabhernandez
Dota 2
TNC Predator and Fnatic have earned a pair of coveted slots at the most anticipated Dota 2 tournament of the year. As expected, TNC Predator and Fnatic dominated SEA region’s best teams in the SEA Qualifier for The International 2018. The field of teams featured a number of up-and-coming squads, including TNC Tigers, Entity Gaming, and Battle Arena Elites. The result of the group stage affirmed the SEA region’s hierarchy. …
TI8 NA Regional Qualifiers
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The North American qualifiers for The International 2018 wrapped up on Monday and ended with the region’s strongest teams earning berths in Vancouver. Vici Gaming J Storm, Evil Geniuses, and OpTic Gaming earned invitations to the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year. They’ll join 15 other teams in competing for the biggest prize in esports. While these qualifiers were expected to be an almost academic affair, the most stacked …
Summer Season Brings New Dota Plus Update
gabhernandez
Dota 2
Dota Plus is being updated with the goal bringing more exciting features to players who subscribe to Valve’s monthly service. Earlier this year, Valve introduced the next evolution of the Majors Battle Pass, a new subscription service called Dota Plus. The premium monthly subscription unlocks exclusive perks for Dota 2 players. Non-expiring rewards are provided to celebrate the player’s achieved milestones, and a variety of additional stats are made available …
Breaking down the teams at TI8
gabhernandez
Dota 2
The International 2018 features the world’s top Dota 2 teams aiming for the biggest cash prize in all of esports. This most prestigious tournament brings together skilled players for a massive spectacle. We’ll now look at the top teams entering the event and the dark horses most capable of pulling off an upset. THE FAVORITES Virtus Pro Virtus Pro looks to be the strongest squad in the tournament with their …
Execration win MPGL Asian Championship
gabhernandez
Dota 2
After a failed journey in the Dota Pro Circuit, Execration have taken their first international tournament victory. The 2018 MPGL Asian Championship was held in Central Plaza Khon Kaen, Thailand, with participants including some of Asia’s most promising squads, such as EVOS Esports of Indonesia and Keen Gaming of China. Among this field of teams, Clutch Gamers and Execration emerged as the strongest and earned the right to fight for the …
Valve Announces New Dota Pro Circuit rules
gabhernandez
Dota 2
The new year in competitive Dota 2 will feature some significant changes in the Dota Pro Circuit. To introduce greater structure to the new competitive season, big changes will be made to the DPC. The revamped system affects DPC points adjustments, player regulations, team ownership, and schedule improvement. In the recently concluded season, top teams rarely changed their rosters since DPC binds qualifying points to individual players. This year, points …
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.
