Dota 2, the most open battle with the most participants
In recent years, several video games have set out to shatter all existing records in the market. One of the most successful in this endeavour is Dota 2, considered one of the most played titles of the moment. In fact, the prestigious Guinness World Records recognised this game some time ago as the most popular game on the net, with more than 40 million players at the same time (an absolute record on the Stream platform). At the same time, its main tournaments award millions in prizes every year, while the best recorded games have hundreds of thousands of views each. It is a global phenomenon in every sense of the word.
What are the main competitions in Dota 2?
As we have already mentioned, Dota 2 has been the source of some of the most followed events in the eSports universe. Some analysts even consider it to be an elite game, as it has many professional players and the learning curve is highly demanding. As such, its tournaments are synonymous with excitement and profitability, given the numerous betting options available.
The International
The International is the largest Dota 2 competition and one of the most popular in eSports. It is a world championship involving a selection of the best teams from the Dota 2 Pro Circuit and specific qualifying tournaments. It is common for these finals to be played in a large capacity venue to accommodate the large crowds that physically come to watch the games, such as the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. Of course, the fights are followed by millions of fans on the internet. Most bookmakers allow betting on this great event.
Dota Pro Circuit
The Dota 2 Pro Circuit offers an incredible amount of games at the highest level in the different leagues and tournaments that are organised on each continent. There are specific sections for North America, South America, Europe, China and Southeast Asia. The main events on the circuit are known as Majors and are held in a specific city on the continent in question. Some of the most important Majors are the DreamLeague (now in its thirteenth season), the ONE eSports Major and the MDL Chengdu Major, each with a grand prize of one million dollars.
New Bloom 2020 and other one-off tournaments
In parallel to the regular circuit championships, top Dota 2 players are periodically called up for one-off tournaments. One of the most recent was the New Bloom 2020, coinciding with the Lunar New Year (and Chinese New Year). The Valve Corporation, developer of Dota 2 (and other titles such as Counter-Strike and Left 4), is behind most of the events.
What is Dota 2?
Dota 2 (Defense of the Ancients 2) is a video game belonging to the combat or battle arena genre (popularly known as MOBA). It was released in 2013 through the Stream platform, to enable online multiplayer games. Conventionally, each game has two teams of five players, with a base of operations at either end of the battle arena. The ultimate goal of the game is to reach the other team’s base and destroy it.
Obviously, achieving this goal is no easy task, both because of the resistance of the enemy and because of the other “surprises” that appear during the combat. Thus, each team has to fight against the other but also has to deal with the neutral creeps that also threaten their base. The teams also have heroes, who level up as they gain experience (by defeating other heroes or taking over rival buildings, for example).
