Icefrog is a busy man. What a lot of Dota 2 players don’t realise is that Icefrog continues to support the original Dota, born from inside Warcraft 3. The most noticeable support is in the recent 6.77b patch, that has updated a selection of unreleased heroes.
Valve have released a 20 minute long documentary summarising the highs and lows of The International 2012, their Dota 2 world championship that took place in Seattle earlier this year. It focuses, for the most part, on the teams and the players who make up those teams rather than on the technical nitty-grit of the game itself. That is to say, it's perfectly intelligible for those who've never touched a MOBA. It's intelligible for any human who understands the fundamental concept of competition. 'Intelligible' is perhaps underselling the documentary though, this is obscenely well produced, high-tension drama, a service to broadening the appeal of e-sports. Watch.
Magnus is a gigantic magnoceros. He’s also the newest addition to Dota 2’s roster. With a passion for dominating team fights, whenever the enemy picks up Magnus, things get a little tense. I see “Magnus missing”, I start to fear the fog of war. At any moment a huge, behemoth of death could be charging through the trees and give me a quick trip back to the fountain. Played correctly, Magnus could be the best initiator in the game.
Here’s why.
The original Dota mod for Warcraft 3 has received a gigantic update from longtime contributor, now Valve resident, Icefrog. Unlike its slighter recent predecessors, the 6.75 update contains two brand new heroes - Zet the Arc Warden and Auroth the Winter Wyvern. And the rest is just as big - a myriad of ability and items balances that will surely shake up the meta game.Our Spotlight units plug content our journalists have made, that our advertisers want to promote. Sometimes the promotion is paid for, but the content they go to is always independent with no client oversight or approval.
In all of the chaos of the International, it was easy to miss the centerpiece of it all; the trophy. Over on the Dota 2 blog Valve have detailed the impressive Aegis of Champions, the shield upon which the names of the winners for years to come will be engraved. It was made by Weta, they of Lord of the Rings fame, and it’s a mighty impressive bit of craftsmanship.
Speaking at a panel at the Valencia eSports Congress, a group of the most prominent figures in eSports, both on the tournament and team side, discussed the increasingly large prize pools that tournament owners like Valve and Riot are putting out, and whether having one tournament, with one massive prize pool, is helping the eSports scene.
With the International over, Valve are back into the swing of things and adding heroes left and right to Dota 2. Or, adding one hero many times. Meepo is coming to Dota 2, and he’s multiplying. Because that’s what he does.
Update: Valve have changed the way the pause timer works so that it is still 30 seconds before the opposing team can unpause if a player disconnects, which removes most problems with reducing the timer.
After a disappointing showing during the International a few weeks ago where they didn’t manage to make it past the first stage of the tournament, mTw has decided to clear the roster of its Dota 2 team, leaving behind only SyndereN, the captain. There’s an official statement on the team’s page, but it seems like that’s only half the story.
After iG’s big win at the International this year, and their subsequent party, it wouldn’t be a huge leap to imagine that Dota 2 might become a bit of a big deal in China. That’s exactly what’s happened, with pop stars and snooker players all starting to pay attention to Valve’s latest title.
Wang Sicong, owner of Invictus Gaming and son of the 11th richest man in China, Wang Jianlin, is more than a little pleased with his team winning this year’s International, and decided to throw them a party in celebration. And when you’re the son of the 11th richest man in China, that means you’re going to make it a proper party. With balloons and probably even a clown.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stay up til 8am watching Dota. My mind was willing, but my body is weak and frail and far too pale to surrender sleep to the day. And so I’ve been relegated to watching replays, like some sort of plebeian. Regardless, this is it, the game that we’ve spent the last week looking forward to. The last year, really. Natus Vincere against Invictus Gaming.
After that game against Na’Vi, you can’t help but feel a little sorry for LGD. Not only did they have to slog it out with one of the best over three matches, now they’ve got to slog it out with another of the best, over another three matches, and win. And even if they do that, they’ve got another five matches to play against Na’Vi. Again. It’s enough to make you feel tired. Actually it’s 3am, so I feel pretty shattered right now anyway.
Here we go, the main event, the big kabosh, the rumble in the jungle, and the lanes, and in that bit of water around Roshan. This is the final day of the Interantional 2012, where we will find out, once and for all, who the best Dota 2 team in the world is. Until next year when we’ll find out all over again. Things kicked off with iG vs DK to decide who’ll be heading into the Loser’s Bracket final, with iG losing the first game, before coming back with two solid victories to secure them the place.
You’ve got a little time left. Just a little, before the finals start to emerge, these thrashing, unruly beasts that could go either way, in matchups that no one could really have predicted, a week ago. The International is wide open, and last night the Semi-Finals pretty much rewrote everything I thought was going to happen in this tournament. 
My eyes drifted southwards, heavy with the knowledge of so many teamfights, burdened by the weight of so many ganks. The brilliant back and forth of EG vs iG. The utter devastation of LGD against Orange. The incredible prescience of Zenith’s Iceiceice with every Sunstrike against CoL. I had to sleep. I didn’t have 3am spectatorship inside me. It was just a game too many.
Second only to LGD in terms of the sheer strength of their lineup and their performance so far, Invictus Gaming came out of Group B with a single loss to their name, and thirteen lovely wins. Evil Geniuses, on the other hand, weren’t quite so indomitable, instead emerging out of Group A with a respectable eight wins to six losses. 
We’re onto the second match, slotting Zenith, second place in Group A, against Complexity Gaming, who did awfully well in Group B. While both teams have had some losses (only LGD have a lovely unbeaten streak), they have both performed above the curve. America’s Complexity was on the Radiant side, where Zenith creeped into the Dire. 
We’ve been through the preliminaries, coming out of the other end bleary eyed, tired, shivering just a little bit and wondering what it all means, whether warding really is all that important and if anything can stop China from becoming the most powerful Dota force known to man. After a two day break, the International is back, and it’s kicked off in just about the biggest way possible, with LGD, the unbeaten champions of Group A, going up against Orange, one of Group B’s stronger teams. 
Relentlessly, Cyborgmatt isn’t slowing down, posting more and more of Valve’s secrets. Soon there will be only one left, and then he will step into a room deep in the heart of Valve Headquarters and take a picture of Gabe dancing around in an HEV suit. For now, he’s snapped a shot of the catalogue for the Secret Shop, Valve’s Concession Stand for the International. 
Like a spy that you invite inside your home, if you take Cyborgmatt to Valve Headquarters he’s going to start snooping. Which is exactly what Valve have done, flying the intrepid patch note explorer to Seattle for the International. And while he’s there, he’s only gone and snapped some shots of what look like upcoming Dota 2 trading cards. As if I didn’t spend enough time looking at my Dota backpack and sighing forlornly already.
