Day 3 is starting

August 28, 2012 - Dota Team

Remember, day 3 is a shortened day with only a few more matches for teams to decide their fate. You can follow the games using the schedule page.
Yesterday’s most viewed game was Orange Vs Na’vi with over 59,000 spectators. Na’vi was also involved in our top rated match, Na’vi vs mTw with a rating of 96.7%. Did you know not only can you view the games and replays with full commentators in our Client, spectators can also vote on those games so others know what the hot games are to watch?
With that, load up the client and start watching games.

Round two of the Prelims is starting

August 26, 2012 - Dota Team

We have some great matches this round including returning champs Na`Vi going against iG. Last year’s second place finisher EHOME is back and starting their tournament against coL. The other games in this round are Orange vs Darer and mTw vs TF. You can watch them all here.
As we wander around the Valve offices snapping shots of the prelims, let us know on Twitter what you would like to see.
Remember if you don’t want spoilers – DO NOT READ THIS PAGE! Instead stick to The International schedule page where we hide the winners from you unless you choose to see them.

The Games Are Starting!

August 26, 2012 - Dota Team

Today starts the preliminary round.  This is where teams play two games against an opponent.  No one is eliminated during this round but these games will decide the seed for main event happening at Benaroya Hall this Friday.  The preliminary round goes through Tuesday August 28th.
You can watch all the action here and follow along throughout the day on Twitter
If you want to avoid spoilers, bookmark this page and whatever you do, don’t read this blog or Twitter because we are going to be spoiler filled – like this one, Timothy Green is an Alien.

Welcome mousesports

August 25, 2012 - Dota Team

The International started a day early!  Mousesports and World Elite played the first match, a qualifier, to see who would move from their backup spot to one of the coveted 16 seeds.
In three straight games, Mouz took the match and grabbed the open seat.  Not only do they win a place in the tournament, but they also win an early wake-up call Sunday for their first match of the prelims.  Congrats to Mouz and the rest of the 16.
You can find the games by following these links:
http://www.dota2.com/international/game/600
http://www.dota2.com/international/game/601
http://www.dota2.com/international/game/602
Games start tomorrow at 9am PST and are available to view in the Dota 2 Client or over at The International website.

MUFC

August 25, 2012 - Dota Team

There is a last minute change to this year’s International. MUFC ran into issues that prevented their entire team roster from making it to Seattle and will be unable to compete.
The two backup teams, Mousesports and World Elite, will play tonight in a best-of-five series for MUFC’s spot on the roster. The games will be broadcast inside the Dota 2 client and commentated by Purge and Godz.
We are estimating the games to start at 5:00PM PDT (UTC-7), check back for more info.

Foam Fingers!

August 23, 2012 - Dota Team

With The International week rapidly approaching some of you might have noticed a few new things happening.
First let’s talk about Team Pennants. You can now purchase your favorite team’s Pennant, and proudly equip it in your Player Fan slot. When you’re watching a tournament match, your Pennant will contribute to your team’s Fan Level, which is displayed in the in-game HUD. If you really want to show those opposing team’s fans that they make poor choices in life, you can also upgrade your Pennant’s Fan Level by purchasing a Pennant Upgrade in the Dota 2 store.

Not only do teams benefit from Pennants by getting a share of the sales, equipping your Pennant will also make you eligible for Tournament Class item drops while spectating a match that your team is participating in.
Tournament class items are artifacts spawned by an exciting moment in a tournament match. They capture the details of the moment in a form that easily shown to other players. In addition, they allow you to jump right to the replay of the match, 15 seconds before the highlight occurred. Think of it like catching Babe Ruth’s baseball, except instead of Babe Ruth it’s Dendi, and the baseball is Pudge’s hook.

We’ve also added International Keys to the store, which open the new International treasure chests you’ve been finding lately. In addition to a variety of rare items, these chests have a chance of dropping limited run couriers that will only be available during the International.
Finally, in order to better support the cool ideas for Drow Ranger items we’ve seen on the workshop, we’ve changed her model break-up so that her hair and cloak are separate items. Her quiver is now a ‘misc’ item, her cloak is now a ‘back’ item, and her hair is now a ‘head’ item. This means that the Frost Spikes community item in the Spikes of Frost bundle has also been broken into two items. To make sure everyone gets the new items, players who own the Frost Spikes will now receive a bundle containing the new hair and cape item (which can then be equipped separately).

Fancy Geomancy!

August 9, 2012 - Dota Team

Last week the Dota 2 community alerted us to the fact that the ‘Timebreaker’ weapon submission for Faceless Void mirrored the design of a weapon found in the MMO ‘Aion.’ After investigating the issue we discovered that the item was a violation of Workshop rules. In accordance to our Workshop copyright policies we are taking the following actions: The contributor of the violating asset will receive an extended Steam Community ban. We have also replaced the Timebreaker’s model with a new model designed by the Dota 2 team that we feel serves as an attractive replacement.
Everyone who currently owns a Timebreaker will receive the replacement version of the weapon. Furthermore, the new Timebreaker is now a ‘Vintage’ quality weapon. Timebreakers that exist now are the only ones that will ever be until the end of time and thus the item rarity has been upgraded to ‘Immortal’.
Moving forward, we need your help to ensure that the content on the Workshop is properly policed. Our ability to know the source of every idea or design is limited, but as a community we can effectively tackle this issue. We’ve posted a separate message to the Workshop blog that you can read here. Get involved in voting items up or down and let us know when you find items that represent intellectual property that is not the contributor’s own.
Lastly, we’ve added requirements and downloadable assets for several new heroes to the Workshop Requirements page. You can now submit items for Phantom Lancer, Phantom Assassin, and a bunch of other heroes. We’ve been blown away by the quality of submissions to the Workshop and we can’t wait to see what gets created for these new heroes.
Don’t forget! The Defense is having their finals THIS WEEKEND! Last week everyone had access to all the games and one particular game even had over 20,000 spectators. You can purchase a ticket and watch the finals (and any past games) here.
The International page has also been updated with info on the venue and location. If you’re attending in person stop by and give it a read. In the coming weeks we’ll continue to expand that space with more information including the tournament format, Teams and Casters profiles, etc.
Everyone wants a log!

Who’s the Numb-er one now?

August 2, 2012 - Dota Team

This week’s update continues our preparation to The International with more updates to our Spectator and Tournament systems.
First off we have a brand new Spectator view of the Hero Selection stage. Not only do we think it looks nicer, it also allows spectators to examine heroes and their abilities as they’re picked.

You will also find the Tournament panel will now track which matches you’ve watched and also adds the ability for viewers to rate them. You can rate from inside a live game or from the match details panel when inspecting a recent game.

Joindota’s The Defense is also pushing towards their finals and in anticipation we are running a Free Weekend for that Tournament. All Dota 2 players will be able to watch live games plus any replays starting tonight and lasting until Monday. Just in time to watch Mouz, CLG, Na’Vi and POTM Bottom duke it out.
Changelog is available here.