While they’re both coming from the same root, and almost every comments thread involves some sort of virtual genre penis competition, League of Legends and Dota 2 aren’t all that alike, as our guide to switching from one to the other demonstrates. However, in terms of Esports, they’re as rivally as can be, shooting vicious leers at one another whenever they’re in the same room. This year’s Electronics Sports World Cup is playing a dangerous game and favouring one over the other. And it’s not the absurdly popular one.
It’s just the pretty bloody popular one. Dota 2 is getting an official tournament at the event, while League of Legends is relegated to a ‘local team’ space.
This is a major victory for Valve’s MOBA opus, and for a game that’s not even out yet going up against Riot’s tens of millions of players, that’s pretty good going. Luckily, it’s not like this is anything close to a death knell for League of Legends, what with it continuing to dominate almost every other tournament going. It’s going to take a lot of crowbaring to unseat the current MOBA king, even if you do have the name of the progenitor emblazoned in your title.
As for Dota 2 itself, I’ve got a hunch that we’re going to get some big news near the end of August, around the time that the second International takes place, at PAX Prime. Things are gearing up, with constant UI updates, heroes and the item store getting ever more impressive.