Blog Intro

 Michael Mueller 

2/21/23

Blog introduction

Dota 2 is a game played by millions around the world every single day. With the rise of collegiate Esports with leagues including the Suny Esports league or the ECAC playing a variety of games including Overwatch, Valorant, Rocket League, and Dota’s biggest competitor and fellow MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) League of Legends. 

Esports have been played competitively for many years but just now have been recently introduced into the collegiate level. In this blog, take a look at one of the most popular Esports of all time and the question is why is and would Dota 2 be excluded from these leagues?

Of the top ten Esport prize pools of all time, eight are Dota 2’s International or TI for short. Big numbers every year on every metric whether it be prize pool, attendance, viewership or revenue Dota finds itself near the top of the list almost entirely because of The International. This reason alone should be enough to thrust Dota into the rotation in my opinion.

Some of the reasons League is played most likely instead of Dota lies within the core differences between the games. Both communities generally agree with the pros and cons that have been debated for years but on a competitive level the differences matter that much more, Dota 2 is considered to be the more complex of the two games and League of legends is considered more new player friendly. For more insight talking to a player with over one thousand hours in both games Steven Sojka really opened the discussion. 

“The games are similar on a surface level but when you're spending thousands of hours on League, Dota might as well be hieroglyphics. And Vice-Versa.” 

 The differences between the two is a big topic this blog will continue to explore. 

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a relatively new avenue to explore Esports opening it to a college player base and audience. In a more local turn, SUNY or the State Universities of New York have launched their own league for the New York Schools. This localized area seems to be the perfect place for finding out more information and perhaps a look into a brand new direction for Esports and Universities alike.