To the pleasure of many and the dismay of some, including me, Dota 2 is not played in the current season of ECAC esports. I have played far too many hours of Dota, and the idea of its main competitor League of Legends, leading the Moba industry, just doesn’t sit right. Esports is an ever-growing market, and adding a college division should open the floodgates for new games to be learned and played.

I contacted the ECAC and some of the local Esports communities to figure out why Dota is excluded and, if possible, what needs to be done to see competitive Dota at the collegiate level. 

A problem usually spelled out in every argument between Dota and League is the hardcore nature of Dota and the more casual aspects of League of Legends. The detailed reasons League would get the nod for competitive gaming over Dota stem from that idea. 

“The learning curve is a difference. You could teach someone the essence of League in a few days, maybe a week. Dota does not have that luxury.” said Andrew Kempisty, a relatively new player on the scene that has recently transferred from Dota to League.

The balancing of the games is an example of the opposite directions of each game. Dota’s philosophy of “if everything is OP (OverPowered), then nothing is OP,” is why many don’t stick with Dota. You can only be one-shot by the PA so often before it isn’t fun to keep running out there. 

Learning an intricate game like Dota would not fit at the College level because competing would be a measure of play time and who could practice more, which is different from the idea of a student-athlete.

As for League, it also fills the role of a control group. Even with Dota 1 being the grandfather of the genera, League has quickly taken the spotlight that other games look for to model workable ideas because they have a proven track record of them working.

 Take Heroes of the Storm for an example; the game was released to mass appeal until players realized it was League without some bells and whistles, and the player base quickly fell through and now the game is practically dead.

 Considering the relatively large size of both Dota and League communities, it’s essential to look at how developers envision their games' future and the roadmaps put out into the community. 

“Sometimes Dota gameplay patches are small. Sometimes they can get pretty big.

This one... is huge,” said the Dota 2 development team before the 7.33b patch they released on April 20.

The new patch brings hope for players as it's the most significant gameplay patch to hit since the release of  7.3 in early 2022. Adding new items, making the map 33% bigger, and increasing game pacing as the game transitions to fighting over farming meta. Ironically these changes make Dota closer to League of Legends than ever.

“Its definitely not the same, but you could maybe say inspired,” said long-time player of both games, Steven Sojka. “Though it did feel like it was something coming for a while.”

Sojka also mentions the change of objectives in the game, with the addition of the tormentors, Roshan is not the only non-tower objective in the game. This is the first time a gameplay change of this nature occurred, something that League has had for years now.

The things that make League appeal to a broader audience are being infused with the foundational aspects of Dota. Stats from https://dotesports.com/ indicate that the average length of a League game is 25-30 minutes, while Dota averages around 40-45. Though the goals of both games are the same, to destroy the enemy base, the timing of a game relies on multiple factors. 

The factors vary from game to game, but League games end quicker on average because of the option to surrender. Fifteen minutes through the game, if you feel your team is losing and there is no road to recovery, your team can vote to end the game though it must be unanimous. 

 Dota players have long stood against the surrender button because there is always a way to win. In the recent patch for Dota, Valve brought the surrender button to public matchmaking. With the catch, you must be in a private group of five to prevent de-rankers.

This small change could have a massive impact on the community. Dota's never say die attitude is why players stick around in the game and sometimes win against the odds, and it makes for the best moments. 

A step in a distinct direction has changed Dota leaving the community divided on some issues; however, the release of the big patch sparked enough interest to get players back into the game. We’ve seen yearly high player statistics, and Dota has seen at least one million active players every week since the patch long queues no more https://activeplayer.io/dota-2/. 

An underrated part is the effect on the League of Legends community from the recent changes in Dota 2.

“Making Dota more accessible isn’t easy. The game is supposed to be hard,” said Diamond-ranked league player Reggie, or Wregiment, in the UB discord. 

“I don’t think it’ll be a League clone that’s been tried before,” Reggie added.

From a time commitment standpoint, League is by far the easiest Moba to have as a competitive academic function. It is widely available and relatively easier to learn than other Mobas. The massive player base gives schools a better chance of finding players already playing to launch their programs.

Considering the advantage that LoL brings, it doesn’t look good for Dota’s hopes but with recent changes and things planned in the future announced by the dev team. It seems Dota is entering new phases, and its headstart on League is that the competitive market is within reach. 

Dota Esports is widely considered the top scene for Moba Esports with TI. The lessons learned from hosting online Battle Cup events every weekend could serve as a good basis for running tournaments for Valve if a new opportunity arises within College teams. From this point, there are no current plans for Dota to see ECAC gameplay, but I believe it to be viable in the scene because of the changing Meta.