Five Interesting Dota 2 Highlights In 2021

The year 2021 is coming to an end, so it's time to do a review. The passing year was rich in events for eSports in general and Dota 2 in particular. In the last 12 months, new great teams and talented players have appeared in the eSports discipline and have achieved unbelievable results. The game became known to people unfamiliar with modern computer games. At the same time, the system of selecting players in Dota 2 for the main tournament of the year, The International, completely changed. But at the moment, it arouses more criticism than praise. What interesting things happened in Dota 2 in 2021 and why this discipline is alive more than ever you will be able to find out in the article of Cybersport.Metaratings.ru.

Worth mentioning

For sure, in the year 2021, Dota 2 saw many more events. Below are just the main ones that influenced the whole discipline and its development. But there were a lot more curious events. Here are 15 interesting facts about the passing year.

• TI10 was rescheduled for the fall. The tournament took place without spectators;
• Solo and ArtStyle reunited. This time in Natus Vincere;
• Tundra missed TI10 but won the two biggest tournaments before and after it;
• ILTW replaced W33 in Nigma, but the team's results only got worse;
• Nigma itself turned into Nigma Galaxy;
• RAMZES666, RodjER, and 9pasha started to play together in the second CIS division;
• Virtus.pro transformed from the strongest team of the CIS into a tier-2 stack;
• Nightfall arranged a speedrun on RAMZES666's career;
• Evil Geniuses crashed TI10 and the first round of the new DPC season;
• China, as always, was the strongest throughout the year but then lost TI;
• Elephant's star lineup failed the season and was disbanded;
• After The International 10, Xiao8 was accused of 322 in PSG.LGD;
• Three teams from South America came to TI10. They took the worst places;
• Rapper IAMMIND bought Team Unique's lineup and named it Mind Games;
• ALOHADANCE came back to Dota 2.

An anime based on Dota 2 was shot

No matter how you look at it, Dota 2 is one of the best games in its genre in terms of detailed gameplay. At the same time, Valve does not develop and promote its creation in terms of marketing. So, in contrast to the League of Legends Dota 2 has no advertising (nowhere), lore, or any brand-name products for fans. In 2021, the first step in this direction was taken.

On March 25, 2021, two days before the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021, an anime series based on Dota 2, DOTA: Blood of the Dragon, premiered. The first season had eight episodes of 25 minutes each. The release of this anime was a complete surprise for the entire gaming community because there wasn't anything like that before.

The series turned out to be rather weak if you take it as a standalone unit. However, as an advertisement for the game, it is quite good. In addition, many Dota 2 fans were happy to see their favorite characters in the series. In general, DOTA: Blood of the Dragon coped with its task. Such an event is worth including at the top of the main events of 2021.

By the way, during the official broadcast of The International 10, Valve showed a trailer for the second season of the anime DOTA: Blood of the Dragon. The second part of the series will premiere in January 2022 on Netflix.

Dota 2 has a new DPC system

In 2021, the first season of the new DPC system, which was announced two years ago, took place. However, its "launch" had to be postponed because of the disruption of the previous season in Dota 2. We all know the reason for that. Nevertheless, all tournaments were held under the new system from the beginning of this year, which, unfortunately, can hardly be called perfect.

Dota 2 used to have a year-long season, and The International in August if you don't remember. Throughout the season, there were many different tournaments. During those tournaments, you could earn DPC points. The 12 teams with the biggest number of points would receive a direct invite to TI.

In 2021 the tournament system was replaced by the league system. Each region now had its own DPC league that lasted six weeks. At the end, the teams with the biggest amount of points went to the majors for the international competition. Points could be earned both within a regional league and in the majors. There were two such leagues in 2021, and next year there will be three, as originally planned.

With the leagues, cybersports have become more like traditional sports. Still, the new system has several problems that players complain about very often, for example, the misbalanced distribution of points in the league and the majors or the leagues being too long. Despite that, the new system is something that Dota 2 has been going for quite some time. Its launch is one of the highlights of the year.

The OG all-star lineup broke up

The main events in sports, including cybersports, are victories at major tournaments and new star-studded lineups. Everything else is just junk. So in the remaining paragraphs, we will talk about these changes.

Of course, we can't help but talk about the OG disbanding. In 2018 and 2019, this team won The International, making it the most legendary team in Dota 2 history. However, nothing lasts forever. After two wins at TI, Ana JerAx left the team. Although JerAx still decided to return two years later, they ended their professional careers, but on another team.

OG was testing other players for their positions and tried to swap the whole year, but nothing worked. In the end, the squad was somehow gathered, and the team was selected for TI10 but was not destined to win. OG stayed in the top 8, and after that, all its players went inactive and finished their careers (I'm talking about the original three). Along with them, the whole era left, as there were no such squads in Dota 2.

Instead of the legendary players in OG came the newcomers: the youngest is only 16 years old. It seemed that the team would fail with this squad, but it was not. It turned out that OG plays quite well, although it lacks combat experience. Currently, the team has the following players.

• Artem Yuragi Golubiev;
• Bozhidar Biziem Bogdanov;
• Ammar ATF Assaf;
• Tommy Taiga Le;
• Mikhail Misha Agatov.

The generational change happened in front of our eyes. Former OG players finished their careers and retired, and young lions hungry for victories came to replace them. This is a very significant moment for the cyber-sports organization and for Dota 2 in general.

The generation change took place in Dota 2

The change of generations occurred not only in the OG but also in the entire professional scene. The clearest example of this is the CIS region. Ten years ago in Dota 2, the first generation played: Solo, Dendi, Tails, and others. After that, a new generation gradually replaced the "old-timers". These players include RAMZES666, No[o]ne, Lil, and others. The same thing is happening, but with the third generation of Doters. Of course, the previous generations play too, but there are fewer, and fewer of them, and newcomers are taking the best places.

For example, in the CIS DPC season, the top three places are taken by Team Spirit, HellRaisers, and PuckChamp. These guys play in these teams, which were unknown to anyone two years ago. They weren't on the professional scene, and now they easily beat the legendary Doters. It's not a quick process; it happens gradually. This process seems to be over in 2021. After all, there are no old stars left in the CIS. All of them are trying to survive at the bottom of the tournament table or even in the second division.

Meanwhile, the young stars are shining. The same thing happens in other regions, not only in the CIS. A new era has begun in Dota 2.

Team Spirit is the champion of The International 10

Of course, the main event of the year is Team Spirit's victory at The International 10. No one could believe it, and some still don't. After all, after ten years, the team from the CIS has finally lifted the Aegis over their heads again. Team Spirit gathered a year ago and immediately showed good results but did not claim to be the strongest team in Dota 2.

In a year, the team got stronger and matured, but even so, no one expected that the team would make it to TI10 above the top-6 (that's the best case). However, the guys got mad and started to take out one top team after another. They didn't care about the status of the team or the level of the players. They just played Dota 2.

It turned out that this approach was the best one. With such an approach, Team Spirit reached the grand finals of The International 10 and defeated the strongest team in China - PSG.LGD is in a tough struggle. Before the start of the tournament, they were considered the main contenders. Team Spirit made a real sensation by defeating this monster. At that moment, all the Dota fans rejoiced, not only from the CIS but also from other regions, because people always like such stories. Finally, there is a new champion of The International 10 from the CIS. It's the best Dota 2 event of the last ten years.