Dota 2 News

'Twas Frostivus Eve, and all 'cross the map,
The neutrals were quiet, their camps left unstacked.
We'd gorged on a feast of bluehorn and spiced creep,
And had just settled in for a peaceful night's sleep.

When up on the roof, with a house-shaking thud
A creature had landed, and sniffed for our blood.
A sword could be heard being dragged 'cross the shingles;
Then the chimney exploded, and in came King Kringle.

His silhouette stalked through the splintered debris
Of branches and cinders where'd once been our tree.
He righted an armchair (still quietly smoldering)
And sat down with three sacks he'd been up till now shouldering.

"A DARK INCANTATION," his hollow voice boomed
Like a sepulchral drum being banged in a tomb.
"A SACK OF GIFTS PRESENT, A SACK OF GIFTS PAST,
A SACK OF GIFTS TAKEN (BUT OFTEN BROUGHT BACK)."

"Excuse me," I said, crawling out from the rubble,
"The gift that I'd like, if it's not too much trouble:
Please don't kill my children. Please don't kill my wife.
We'd rather you left and spared everyone's life."

He emptied a sack and adjusted his helm.
"THIS FIRST SACK OF GIFTS IS UNKNOWN TO THIS REALM:
THE NEMESIS CURSE, THE WHISPER OF DREAD,
THE MOONLIGHT TIARA, AND MUCH MORE," he said.

In the ensuing silence not a lone breath was drawn.
I coughed to help jog him. "Well, please do go on."
His gauntleted hand dumped sack two on our floor.
It was full of new items! Wait, I'd seen these before...

"SOME GIFTS I'VE IMPROVED, AND SOME I'VE DERANGED.
ALL THAT NEED CONCERN YOU IS THAT THEY HAVE CHANGED.
THE ORB OF CORROSION, ARCANE BOOTS, BLOODTHORN.
THESE AND MORE I HAVE ALTERED SINCE LAST THEY WERE WORN."

We looked through the items he'd spilled on the floor.
"These are lovely," I told him. "But you'd hinted there's more?"
"THE THIRD GIFT," he said as he grabbed the last sack,
"IS MY FAVORITE KIND... THE GIFT I TAKE BACK."

"Not Ring of Aquila! Please not Titan Sliver!"
"Not Penta-Edged Sword!" I sobbed with a quiver.
"I'M TAKING THEM ALL," he said with a laugh.
"AND QUICKENING CHARM AND GOOD OL' QUARTERSTAFF."

Two sacks were now empty; the third one was stuffed.
He grabbed them and back up the chimney he huffed.
He sprang to his bone sleigh and winked a goodbye.
Then flew from the roof and tore open the sky.

And we heard him exclaim, as he left the facilities—
"THE TORMENTOR AND ROSHAN SHALL HAVE NEW ABILITIES!"

After nearly a year of coordination and production, the multi-week, arena-sized monster that is The International 2023 has come to an exciting close. We've locked up Climate Pledge Arena, we've all seen enough of Spirit Breaker, and we've just shipped Gameplay Update 7.34e. Time for the Dota team to settle down for a long winter's nap, and...

But hark! What's that sound in the festive distance? No, that jingling of sleigh bells you hear isn't early onset tinnitus. It's the magical year-end event we call Frostivus — looming large on the December calendar, and arriving with a sack stuffed to bursting with new features, new cosmetics, and some surprises.

"...and the Arcanas?" little Timmy asks hopefully, holding up his tiny Dickensian gruel bowl. Phew, this is awkward. No, Timmy, not yet. All cards on the table, the event surrounding the Arcanas this year has gained a few more moving parts than we initially planned. Enough that we haven't finished everything yet, and won't this year, but we're looking forward to releasing it in the next few months. And that's not even getting into all the other updates we've got planned, like...

Hark again! We almost said too much. Suffice it to say, with TI2023 safely in the books, we've got a ton of stuff our Frostivus elves are furiously polishing to get ready for the new year.

Until then: Merry Imminent Frostivus, everyone!

Congratulations to Team Spirit, Grand Champions at The International 2023 and just the second team ever to claim the Aegis twice. This fearsome squad dropped only two games the entire tournament — finishing with a decisive 3-0 performance in the Grand Finals to secure their spot as the best Dota team in the world.

The Road to The International - Group Stage The Road to The International began with a dominating 8-0 showing from Spirit, as they racked up 2-0 series wins over 9pandas, SMG, Entity, and Evil Geniuses in the Group Stage. The seeding round would be no different, as Team Spirit endured some early pickoffs from Shopify Rebellion in game one before marching away with another 2-0 series victory on their way to the Playoffs.

The Road to The International - Playoffs
There, they faced their first major test of the tournament, as Virtus.pro snatched a quick victory in game one to force Spirit onto their heels for a change. The following match was a bloody affair in which Spirit built and lost a sizeable lead before reclaiming momentum to force a game three. VP managed to keep the rubber match close for 30 minutes, despite never earning a lead, but after that Spirit took control — choking out VP and sealing the series with a late-game team wipe to earn some well-deserved rest before taking their run to the main stage at Climate Pledge Arena.

The International
Team Spirit's first opponent on the main stage was the consistently-strong Team Liquid, who were looking to make their own deep run to the finals to erase a heartbreaking stretch of second-place results. Team Spirit harried Liquid's supports and bullied their cores in a game-one stomp, but Liquid fought back with a spectacular showing to take game two. Liquid then managed to scratch out a small lead by the middle of game three, but Spirit overcame a kill deficit to build their own insurmountable lead, taking the deciding match to set the stage for a clash with powerhouse LGD Gaming — an intimidating lineup that had only dropped a single match of their own at that point in play.

Game one was a 76-minute brawl. LGD was aggressive early, but Team Spirit held firm before starting to take control. LGD kept clawing back, but Spirit skewered their chances, handing LGD their first loss on the main stage. Game two was Spirit's from the outset, as they steadily built an advantage and forced a tap-out from LGD. After a disappointing showing in Singapore in 2022, Team Spirit showed they'd regained top form as they stormed into the Grand Finals.

Their opponents: the dangerous Gaimin Gladiators, the squad that swept this year's Major tournaments and whose in-your-face early-game tactics had already shattered the hopes of so many lower bracket teams.

Unfortunately for Gaimin and their fans, Team Spirit had their own plans to make short work of their foes — they ran away with a relatively quick game one, building a huge gold and kill lead that left no avenue for comeback by GG. Game two proved a more back-and-forth contest, with Gaimin Gladiators earning a few small leads before Team Spirit broke through to completely dominate the late game and take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Not about to go down without a fight, Gaimin Gladiators managed to take hold of game three early. By 30 minutes, even Dota+ thought GG had a 95% chance to force a game four... but Team Spirit's movement, vision, and team coordination seized that 5% chance and turned it into a stunning comeback, bulldozing GG 3-0 in the Grand Finals to secure their second Aegis in three years and welcome their mid-laner Larl to the champions club. Through both incredible individual talent and stellar team play, Team Spirit cemented their place in Dota 2 history as the last team standing at The International 2023.

As bearers of the ultimate symbol of victory, these names shall forever be inscribed upon the Aegis of Champions:

2023 - Team Spirit

• Illia "Yatoro雨" Muliarchuk
  
• Denis "Larl" Sigitov
  
• Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
  
• Myroslav "Mira" Kolpakov
  
• Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov
  

Looking Back
If you missed any of the tournament, or just want to relive the incredible moments and plays, head over to the Dota 2 YouTube channel, where you can find replays of the entire tournament, including broadcast content from between the games. You can also find a stash of photos from the event over on the Dota 2 Instagram and Dota 2 flickr.

We would like to thank all of the players, talent, and everyone in the Dota community for helping bring this celebration to life. The International is the crowning moment of the competitive season, and without everyone’s support, none of this would be possible. We hope you enjoyed this year’s tournament as much as we did.

Celebrate the Champions
Special Champion edition sticker capsules are now available for purchase for Team Spirit. Each capsule contains one sticker featuring Yatoro雨, Larl, Collapse, Mira, Miposhka, or Team Spirit. 50% of all sales goes directly to Team Spirit.

The International Compendium
Still have some challenges to complete and rewards to claim in The International 2023 Compendium? Don't panic. You've got two more weeks to hit your goals before the Compendium wraps up on November 16. Pull out some of your favorite new TI strats and you'll have things locked up in no time.