Revisiting Past Valve Events
With The International 2016 just around the corner, it is a good time to recap previous Valve-organised events. Having a look at how Dota 2 has been evolving over the course of the last 5 years can freshen the memories of veteran players, as well as provide a very necessary background for newer members of our community.
The International 2011—Na’Vi
The first ever Dota 2 tournament was met with both disbelief and awe. A massive 1.6m prizepool was unheard of in the eSports scene at the time. In fact, some teams did not believe that the tournament was real until the very end and only started preparing for it a week before it has actually started.
Nonetheless, it was a huge milestone not only for Dota, but for the professional cybersport in general. Perhaps the best way to understand the importance of this event is by watching both Free to Play and History of one Event(sub) movies.
The tournament itself was far from perfect, and the CIS fans still remember the bugged 
Gem of True Sight which potentially stole the victory from Moscow Five in the lower bracket elimination match. Apart from it, it was a very restricted game: only 46 heroes were available in the game, compared to 111 currently. Of these 46 available, 45 heroes have been picked.
Given a very restricted hero pool it is hard to talk about the “meta” of the tournament, yet teams did come into TI with their own playstyles. In the end, it was the struggle between the Chinese turtling strategies and CIS Deathball/Heavy-push, with the latter taking the crown and making Na’Vi the first team ever to win The International.
The International 2012—Invictus Gaming
The second International brought Dota 2 into the mainstream. By the time the tournament started, the Dota 2 keys had been widely available, and it did not take long to find one, hence the audience was much larger.
Moreover, 44 more heroes were added to the game, totaling 90 available heroes in the tournament, of which 66 were picked.
The tournament meta followed similar trends to TI1; however, teams were now more preoccupied with getting their comfortable picks and not letting the enemy get theirs. Once again, it created a major divide between East and West playstyles, making for a truly epic Grand Finals confrontation between conservative IG and the reckless crowd favorites—Na’Vi. This time it was the East who got the upper hand.
The most popular heroes of the patch were 
Leshrac, 
Venomancer and 
Invoker. The most successful ones—
Templar Assassin, 
Rubick and 
Dark Seer.
The International 2013—[A]lliance
A total of 83 heroes were picked or banned during the tournament, with 
Batrider, [missing hero: outworld-devourer] and 
Lifestealer being the most contested. 
Ursa, 
Earthshaker and 
Anti-Mage were the most successful situational picks of the tournament, while 
Chen, 
Puck and 
Weaver were the best performing patch staples.
The Grand Finals of this tournament was one of the best, if not the best series to date. Full 5 games of non-stop action. This series also signified the beginning of rapid development of Dota 2 strategies—team compositions were getting more and more complex, with multiple win conditions and answers to the enemy draft. At this point, Dota 2 was no longer a game a team could win on pure mechanical talent.
Teams were a lot more adaptive in this tournament. It was no longer a clash between strategies the teams have prepared, but more of an evolving “meta’, which dictated the majority of picks and bans. However, throughout the whole tournament, one team definitely stood out—team [A]lliance, formerly known as NoTidehunter.
They were already on a roll before the tournament has started, claiming several championships during the year. Their playstyle, revolving around constant pressures on most lanes, coupled with brilliant plays from AdmiralBulldog, seemed uncounterable up until the Grand Finals, where Na’Vi have put up a hell of a fight.
It was also the first tournament to introduce community sponsorship in the form of the“Compendium”, which raised the bar of eSports prize pools once again to an unbelievable, at the time, $2.8 million.
The International 2014—NewBee
TI4 was perhaps the most infamous of the International tournaments, which got a lot of bad credit for its lacklustre grand finals, especially in comparison to TI3. However, the majority of games during the tournament were enjoyable, and it wasn’t until the later stages that the Deathball strategy got too popular and started feeling stale.
The big problem, in fact, wasn’t the Deathball itself—after all, an all-out aggression from minute zero usually makes for very entertaining matches. The problem was that this approach left very little intrigue in the game—when two teams go all-in on the early game, the team winning the laning stage would usually emerges victorious. This problem wasn’t new (no team, except [A] had made a comeback after losing a lane of barracks in TI3, for example), yet with the increase in efficiency of the players and strategies, the overall viewing experience got dull very fast. In no way should it take away from the achievements of NewBee, who managed to adapt and evolve, frequently even copying the Vici Gaming drafts or coming up with the ways of countering it.
Mirana, 
Lycan and Batrider were the most contested heroes of the tournament, while Weaver, 
Doom and 
Nature's Prophet were the most successful tournament staples. By the tournament’s end, however, only Lycan has managed to retain his priority, with 
Razor and 
Shadow Shaman taking the top popularity spots alongside him. Razor, Earthshaker and 
Alchemist topped the staples win rate chart during the main event stage of the event.
TI4 was also the tournament which had the biggest impact on the game—the introduction of comeback gold mechanics and gold redistribution can be considered the direct consequences of the tournament.
The International 2015—Evil Geniuses
A massive 18m prize pool is hard to ignore when discussing this tournament; after all, it was almost twice as big, compared to the previous year.
It was also the first tournament won by an NA team, who were probably the crowd favorites, given the location. Overall, the tournament was rather well-received, providing great entertainment for the audience.
At the same time, it was also the tournament where the comeback gold mechanics were not fully balanced yet. The end result was that teams were frequently too careful, preferring farming to teamfighting. Certain regions, such as China, which were historically more conservative, benefitted from it greatly. CIS and EU teams, which were usually associated with aggression and early-game pressure certainly felt out of the loop.
“The problem was we were playing Dota 2. Then we realised that we shouldn’t play Dota 2 and should play The International instead… ...when you play TI all you need to do is stand near the ancients spawn at xx:53 and stack them… ...when you realise you should be playing TI you have a chance to win. If you play Dota 2 you are doomed. ”
-Empire.ALOHADANCEInterestingly, it was a Chinese team, CDEC, who brought a lot of life into an otherwise farming-oriented meta. A team coming from wildcards did not only manage to get to the Grand Finals, but also did it in defiance of agreed upon meta of the tournament. They played aggressive, fast and looked like a well-oiled machine, before eventually falling to EG.PPD’s adapted drafts and Aui_2000’s surprise 
Techies.
2015-2016 Season and TI6 anticipation
Starting from Fall 2015, Valve has decided to have multiple “Majors” during the year. They served multiple purposes, such as keeping the rosters more stable and providing entertainment during the year on a scale comparable to TI. It is hard to objectively say whether this experiment has been successful, but it certainly proved useful in terms of game-balancing.
During the season, the percentage of available heroes picked has been steadily increasing. The Frankfurt Major explored 79.4% of the available hero pool, rising to 80.7% in the Shanghai one. The Manila Major has set the bar even higher, to a whopping 86.3%.
This number for previous TI was 77.3%, dipping even lower for the main event. Given a recent release of a small 6.88b patch, there is a reason to believe that this number for TI6 will even topple the Manila one, potentially making games more interesting and definitely making them more diverse.
Closing Thoughts
Valve-organised events have a rich history, yet it has been somewhat spoiled by the recent tournaments. A very lacklustre finale of TI4, relatively passive TI5, and even technical difficulties during the Shanghai Major have landed heavy blows to the viewing experience.
Yet, there is definitely a reason to be optimistic. Dota is in a much better place meta-wise than it was a year ago. The comeback gold mechanic has been tamed sufficiently to promote pretty much any playstyle, and the viable hero pool is on the rise. And the technical side of The Internationals have never made any news, which is a good thing. Perhaps it is this year when the new el classico will be born.
first LUL
well written
second?
Naise!!!
i shall denied the fourth and further post.
the new "el clasico" have to be og vs secret IMO
Does a $6,000,000 Echo Slam count as "relatively passive"? I think TI5 ended nicely.
9th.
Also TI5 sucked ass. Game had aldready ended before the 0$ echo slam
10th somehow
11th! love this post, a good read.
Kinda missed a lot of what made TI5, especially the Grand Final, such an entertaining and cerebral tournament.
I think we should also address the changes in cosmetics and selling of items on valves side.
There is a link explaining drastic changes at ti\/
https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/4ufz0h/secret_shop_quality_decreasing/
pm me 1on1! peenoise come over and meet hell!
ronnel viloria pogi idol!
ronnel viloria </3 smile
Time for SEA Team to take a TI? lol
Newbee will win
Valve should fix or do something about Cristal Maiden and Chen. They're such in a bad spot. And even Clockwerk, Bane and Io should get some little buffs. I know Io can be played professionally, but you know there has just a small and small chance he will win any fight 1x1 in any game. That's just ridiculous. Every hero should be able to snowball even if you should not play it this way, but it's like one game things will happen that they will do better, actually Cristal Maiden use to have its "lucky days". But now, since .87 it doesn't happen anymore. It just won't happen that any of these heroes start killing in the early game and then mid game and then win the team the game. Bane, it's always the same. You do very fucking well in the early, early-to-mid game. Then, you just start to fall so badly that if you don't have anyone with you on your team it's just like GG. And that should not be the case. I think that to Dota 2 be a good game every hero should have, even if it's really "niche", a chance to survive and break through his shinning moment and take the lead spot. It's like these heroes are born to lose. Unless, you're a very very skilled player with one these, and you still have a great chance to lose or to be "trapped" playing it in only one role, that if the cliche way to play it fails, it's like you're bound to lose. And I don't think Dota 2 is about that. I think it's way more than that.
Clock and bane have been buffed. He just does not fit the meta
snipaaar
I love LOL
get outa here
What was the gem of true sight bug?
EG did not beat CDEC with techies.. they beat LGD with Techies. Or am I crazy
I haven't watched since TI4 but I still buy a compendium. Valve is doing everything right, promoting esports into new heights while also printing money for themselves.
Am i only one to have never seen a single full professional match? Be it TI, major or random ?
Io's tether movement speed was nerfed recently by 1% on each point. Not too big of a deal, given a good chunk of carry heroes have had movement speed buffs of around 1% over the past couple patches or so.
Io isn't really in a good place for lower level pub games. That's going to stay that way. Giving higher str/agi gain won't really do much for it, and giving overcharge or spirits a buff will make it even more of a hassle in high level matches. Wisp has a very healthy win rate in 5k+ games, so it would be very questionable to buff it because <2k players don't know how to play it.
Introducing an aghanims upgrade to tether or relocate could help improve its place in the lower brackets.
great text!!
TI3 best TI.. so sad the prize pool of TI4/TI5 is so large but the games are not that great.
I hope this TI will be great for ~19M prizepool
TI3 was the best TI and it will take a whole lot to beat it. There were so many stories and rivalries. The big juggernaut of Alliance at the time clashing with what was the most popular team Na'vi. The games were exciting, often unpredictable and the location and setting felt a lot more intimate.
Who can forget the Pudge Chen combo - claiming a win from what looked like a certain elimination
The Ky:Xy aegis deny that proved fatal after dominating the match
The million dollar dream coil
The LGD vs Alliance base race that went down to the last slither.
Burning's Anti Mage performance in game 2 vs alliance that truly showed why he was the best carry
Man, so many good memories
I hope finals will be Secret vs OG. Two my favorite teams I enjoy a lot to watch. EU doto must rule them all:-D
:'v Aui's Techies, I love it <3
I haven't even read the full text but i am yet mad as hell: You cant tease me by telling that only one hero got neglected in TI1 and then dont tell me which. Shame on you! Anyone happens to know which hero?
the "New El Clasico" is already Team Liquid -- OG, isn't it?
Personally I enjoy watching both of these teams, they perform very well
is good : )
Good game, well played bois!
@2Fast2Fourier
the hero that didnt get picked was axe. i think it was because no one ever thought of playing the guy competitively because i think back then he was all about creep skipping behind towers lel
Nice -thx :D
Lul so much OG hype they got rekt by wings 5-1 games in the summit
Wings played fantastically well vs OG but I think OG is still stronger, they just underestimated Wings but we will see what happens.