Dota 2, The International – what is it?
Withdrawn from “Dota 2” game
Lid
Dota 2 is one of the most popular games in the world in the MOBA genre (literally “massive multiplayer online battle arena”) created by Valve, which also includes, for example, the cult Half-Life and Counter-Strike. The 2000s grand strategy Warcraft III: Frozen Throne from Blizzard was based on an amateur map modification – this was actually the first Dota, which began to be gradually replaced by Valve’s “pro” product in 2011.
To explain all the intricacies of the game, it would be necessary to publish at least three volumes, so we will limit ourselves to the most basic information. Each Dota 2 match features two teams of five; The winner is the first to destroy the opponents’ so-called throne (the main building at the base). Players control one of 124 characters with unique abilities and traits, and the game also features over 100 different items that enhance these heroes. Dota’s complexity is both its main bane (not every new user is willing to spend the conditional 50 hours for the most minimal mastery) and its main advantage: it sounds dubious, but it is a largely cartoonish game with its crazy variability and complex structure. Millions of subtleties that are, in principle, closest to professional sports. For example, as in football, there is a clear division of roles here – in each team there is a core (roughly speaking, attackers; divided into carriers and midfielders), offensive players (roughly speaking, midfielders) and supports (roughly speaking). Defensive players (those who carry the piano more than playing it), there are many coaches, psychologists and managers in the professional clubs here. By the way, the leader of the Russian national football team, Alexander Golovin, is a fan of Dota 2.
All things considered, the professional Dota scene is the most developed of all eSports disciplines: regularly held tournaments with millions of dollars in prizes are watched by hundreds of thousands of fans simultaneously. The main event of the year in the Dota 2 universe is The International, that is, the world championship. It will be held for the 12th time in 2023.
Russian sports are being “cancelled” en masse, why are there so many Russians at The International?
virtus pro
Let’s make a reservation right away: although The International is considered the Dota world championship, there are clubs instead of national teams (competitions of national teams in this e-sports discipline are practically not held). The professional scene in Dota 2 is traditionally divided into several regions (Eastern Europe, Western Europe, China, North America, South America, Southeast Asia); The best representatives of each reach TI through rating selection and qualifications. But first of all, as representatives of a specific region, and not of a separate country.
If the teams of Russia and Ukraine in the same football have not been able to play each other since 2014 due to the decisions of international federations, until February 24, 2022, the Dota scene was a rare example of absolute unity. The CIS organizations, the strongest of which were Russian and Ukrainian teams (that’s how the region was called then; later it was called Eastern Europe), met without problems in tournaments (including those held in Moscow and Kiev) and put pressure on each other. On the other hand, having a Russian player in the Ukrainian club (and vice versa) was a common occurrence. In 2021, when the Russian team Team Spirit sensationally became the champion of The International with two Ukrainians in its squad, the entire CIS region, without exception, rejoiced at this victory.
After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the situation has changed, but not critically. Yes, some Russian teams moved to Serbia and Armenia (but are still identified as Russian by everyone), yes, the composition of the domestic Virtus.pro was forced to temporarily perform under a different name due to its close ties with Russian business, yes, The same Virtus.pro was disqualified from one of the tournaments due to the fact that during a pause the player drew the letter Z on the minimap – but that’s probably all. By the way, both Virtus.pro (under its original label) and the same player – we are talking about Russian Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko – became participants in the initial TI.
The attitude towards Russian players and teams in professional Dota 2 is largely due to Valve and other major tournament organizers. Being private organizations, they never thought of removing dota players from Russia, they remained loyal to local organizations and in general supported the principle of “e-sports outside politics” in every possible way. By the way, the International Esports Federation (but has nothing to do with TI) this August removed the neutral status of the Russians, allowing the country’s representatives to compete under the flag of the Russian Federation.
As a result, there are still Russia-Ukraine teams in competitive Dota, Russian and Ukrainian teams still have head-to-head matches in tournaments, players representing the countries continue to communicate closely with each other.
Okay, so who should you support?
During the International Dota 2 Championships in Seattle, 2017
Elaine Thompson/AP
This year, 100 players will compete at The International, 19 of whom are Russian; this is the largest representation of any country in the tournament (the list includes Peru and China with 15 and 9 players respectively). For the first time in history, Eastern Europe will be represented by four teams (BB, 9Pandas, Team Spirit and Virtus.pro, all actually Russian), with such an impressive number.
It is considered the strongest team in the region and one of the favorites of the tournament. Team spirit — The 2021 champions (the CIS have just two TI wins overall) have only replaced one player on their roster since then, a surprisingly rare occurrence in Dota. “Spirits” consists of three Russians and two Ukrainians, including the world’s strongest carry, Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk.
B.B. – Similar to Doter’s Real Madrid in the mid-2000s. Although the team consists of Russian superstars and is individually the strongest team in the world, it has not been able to achieve the expected results for a year.
9Pandas – The “dark horse” of the tournament, which showed an unstable game throughout the season – from awards in the best competitions to outright failures. The “Pandas” team includes Russian Gleb “Kiyotaka” Zyryanov, perhaps TI’s strongest midfielder. And also the most well-known Russian enthusiast, Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, who was once the face of major food and beauty brands and also appeared on the covers of glossy magazines.
virtus pro Before the start of the tournament, he was considered the weakest of the Russian representatives. According to analysts, the success of the team will be to reach the play-offs (16 out of 20 teams will advance from the group stage to the next round).
Russians will also perform at The International as part of clubs outside Eastern Europe. Here, the team of Anton “Dyrachyo” Shkredov, currently the most popular Russian player, receives special attention – Gaimin Gladiators from Western Europe. “Gladiators” won almost all major tournaments this season without luck, slowed down a little just a few months before TI and is frankly considered one of the main favorites.
Another Russian will play for the American team at The International TSM (Ilyas “Kasane” Gainullin) and Western European Presence (Vladislav “Kataomi” Semenov). Both teams go to the tournament in the middle peasants rankings.
Date, format and where to watch
Climate Pledge Arena
Ted S. Warren/AP
The International 2023 will take place between 12-29 October. The 20 teams were divided into four groups; Only four of them will not make the play-offs in the tournament. TI itself will be held in Seattle, USA; The final games will take place at the Climate Pledge Arena, which has a capacity of more than 18 thousand people.
You can watch all games remotely (and for free) on the Twitch platform; Matches will be broadcast by both the official Russian studio and individual popular broadcasters.
Source: Gazeta
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.