Dota 2 is a game that is as fun to watch as it is to play. The competitive/tournament scene has a long and illustrious history with top players some of which have been active for upwards of 10 years. Numerous organizations host online and offline tournaments and leagues which provide teams the opportunity to prove their might and compete for money. This is a beginner's guide to following competitive Dota 2 and features information and resources that will help you better find, follow and appreciate tournament matches.
In-game Tickets
To watch live and replays of matches in game, you will have to purchase the corresponding tournament ticket. These can range from 99¢ to $15 and allow you to watch the matches as they happen or at any time in the future with commentary (sometimes in multiple languages) and with full camera controls. A few tournaments will choose to provide the games without a ticket cost such as DreamHack Winter 2012 and Valve's The International events.
Additionally by watching in-game you can obtain specially labelled cosmetic items by supporting one of the teams playing through the use of a pennant. These cost 99 cents each and can also be found on the Dota 2 Store. Multiple pennants can be combined to have a higher chance at earning a drop. Items drop on first blood, hero denies, multi-kills (2+ kills by the same hero close together) and at the end of each match.
Recommended Tickets
These are some of the currently recommended tickets:
| Duration | Tournament | Commentators | Description | Estimated Games | Cost | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Nov - 30 Nov | ASUS ROG Dreamleague | Draskyl, Bruno, Pyrion Flax | Starting on November 4th, 6 of the world's best teams will compete in 30 league games and a playoffs at DreamHack Winter 2013 on November 28-30th for a $50,000 prize pool. | 30 | 7,99€ | Ticket (+ item set) |
Rosters/Histories
Team rosters in Dota 2 change very often. You can find each top team's current roster on these sites, as well as information on sponsors, history on how the team formed and their past accomplishments.
Dota 2 Wiki: Teams
Liquipedia: Teams
GosuWiki: Teams
Every individual player has their own story and they can be found on these pages, although some may be rather incomplete.
Dota 2 Wiki: Players
Liquipedia: Players
GosuWiki: Players
Rankings/Match Histories
GosuGamers and joinDOTA run ranking systems that rank teams based on their past performances. These are not great systems for judging exactly who has the advantage in a match, but serve as a tool to show who has preformed well historically, as well as to look at their recent results. You can also find the respective team rosters on each team's page.
GosuGamers: Rankings
joinDOTA: Team Rankings
joinDOTA: Player Rankings
Upcoming matches
Tournament matches occur daily, and the easiest way to follow them is through match tickers that help keep track of matches, streams and casters.
GosuGamers: Gosubets
joinDOTA: Matches
SheeverGaming: Daily Casting Schedule
Browser Plugin: Chrome Firefox Opera
Tournaments (Brackets, Prize Pools, Results, etc)
Most tournaments will have individual sites, but these wikis provide an easy way to receive up-to-date information on active tournaments as well as older events.
Liquipedia
Dota 2 Wiki
GosuWiki
Competitive Statistics
Dota-Academy keeps track of the vital statistics from every top match and allows you to break them down by player, hero, team and tournament views.
Coverage/News
News sites look to bring you the latest in tournament, league and team news, as well as exclusive features, interviews and on-site coverage.
joinDOTA
GosuGamers
Teamliquid
Dotaland
Stream Listings
In addition to tournament streams, you'll find that many players have their own streams where they broadcast first-person views of their games. These sites and extensions will help you find some of the most popular player and tournament streams, when they are live.
Professional Players Streams:
Twitch
joinDOTA
Stream Dota 2
GosuGamers
Chrome Extensions:
Stream Dota 2 Extension for Chrome
Dota 2 Stream Browser Extension for Chrome (With notifications)
VODs
DotaCinema maintains a VOD database of all competitive games with filters for casters/tournaments/teams
Most casters will upload their casts to YouTube channels for on-demand viewing. Certain tournaments will also have their own channels.
joinDOTA (Tobi Wan)
BeyondtheSummit (LD + GoDz)
The Premier League
Raidcall Dota 2 League (Ayesee)
Ayesee
Purge
Luminous
LD
GoDz
Sheever
Epi
NEODota
DreamHack
GDStudio
MLG
ChampionsLeague
Great games
This list features game which, for whatever reason, provide an excellent viewer experience. Expect to see amazing comebacks, unique strategies and nail-biting finishes. Teams may have changed their names or disbanded.
2011
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Tournament | Link(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUFC | vs | Nirvana.Int | The International 2011 | Full Game |
| Nirvana.cn | vs | Mineski | The International 2011 | Full Game |
| Na'Vi | vs | M5 | The International 2011 | Full Game |
| Na'Vi | vs | Scythe.SG | The International 2011 | Full Game |
| Na'Vi | vs | EHOME | The International 2011 | Full Game |
| monkeybusiness | vs | Na'Vi | ESWC 2011 | Full Game |
| Na'Vi | vs | EHOME | ESWC 2011 | Full Game |
2012
2013
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Tournament | Link(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Na'Vi | vs | 3DMAX | The Defense S3 | Full Game |
| Na'Vi | vs | Empire | StarLadder Season V | Full Game |
| Mouz | vs | Liquid | The Defense S3 | Full Game |
| iG | vs | LGD.int | G-League S2 | Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 |
| NeoEs.Orange | vs | LGD.int | GEST Challenge #2 | Game 3 |
| Liquid | vs | NTH | Eizo Cup #2 | Game 1 |
| NTH | vs | Mouz | G-1 League - NA/EU Qualifier | Game 2 |
| Fnatic (EU) | vs | Na'Vi | RaidCall D2L Season 3 | Game 2 |
| LGD.cn | vs | Na'Vi | Alienware Cup | Game 3 |
| EG | vs | Fnatic | EMS One | Game 1 |
| Fnatic | vs | LGD | The International 3 | Game 2 |
| Alliance | vs | LGD | The International 3 | Game 1 |
| Alliance | vs | Na'Vi | The International 3 | Game 5 |
| Kaipi | vs | Cascade | WePlay S2 | Game 1 |
| DTS2010! | vs | EG | WePlay S2 | Game 2 |
Have a great game that is missing? Message the moderators or add it yourself, but take care to format it properly.
revision by RIP THE ELECTRIC MEXICANr_dageek— agoview source