League of Legends

League of Legends

League of Legends (LoL) is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is a free-to-play game supported by micro-transactions and inspired by the mod Defense of the Ancients for the video game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

In League of Legends, players assume the role of a "champion" with unique abilities and battles against a team of other players or computer-controlled champions. In the most popular game modes, the goal is to destroy the opposing team's "nexus", a building which lies at the heart of a base protected by defensive structures. Each League of Legends game is discrete, with all champions starting off each game fairly weak and progressing by accumulating gold and experience over the course of the game.

League of Legends was generally well received at release, and it has grown in popularity in the years since. By July 2012, League of Legends was the most played PC game in North America and Europe in terms of the number of hours played. As of January 2014, over 67 million people play League of Legends per month, 27 million per day, and over 7.5 million concurrently during peak hours.

League of Legends has a large, active competitive scene. In North America and Europe, Riot Games organizes the League of Legends Championship Series, which consists of 10 professional teams in each continent. Similar regional competitions exist inChina, South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. These regional competitions culminate with the annual League of Legends World Championship, which in 2013 had a grand prize of $1 million and attracted 32 million viewers online. The 2014 tournament had the fifth largest prize pool in esports history, sitting at 2.3 million dollars.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena where players control a "champion" within short PvP or bot battles. As of April 1, 2015, there are 124 different champions from which to choose, all of which are classified by type (assassin, tank, support, etc.), which indicates the champion's gameplay style.

Players gain levels from killing the opposing team's champions, controlled by other players or bots, and minions that regularly spawn and attack the other team's turrets, minions, and champions. In the classic game mode, the map is typically divided into three "lanes", which are paths that spawned minions take; the "jungle", an area between lanes where neutral monsters spawn; and "bases", where players spawn and can purchase items. The three lanes are composed of the bottom, mid, and top lanes, which different champions tend to battle on based on their respective types. The jungle is sometimes considered a lane, where some champions tend to roam in order to collect buffs and assist in the other lanes freely. The player earns a small amount of gold every second passively but can earn more by getting the last hit on minions, destroying enemy towers (referred to as turrets) that guard the lanes, killing neutral monsters located in the jungle, and killing enemy champions. With this gold, users can buy a variety of items to strengthen their champion for the remaining duration of the game. On the classic Summoners Rift, Twisted Treeline, and Howling Abyss maps, the game is ended by destroying the enemy team's last structure on the map, called the "Nexus", from which minions spawn. Other maps have variations of rules and objectives, such as Dominion on the Crystal Scar map, where each team's Nexus loses health if the opposing team controls at least three of the five towers located around the map.

The League of Legends Store allows players to purchase additional options through "Riot Points" (RP) and "Influence Points" (IP). Riot Points must be bought using real money, while Influence Points are earned by playing the game.

The player is identified as a "summoner" and acts as the persistent element in the game. A summoner's statistics and scores are tracked and are accessible to the player. Summoners gain experience points and Influence Points for each battle they participate in. Experience points lead to persistent level gains for the summoner, up to a maximum level of 30. The benefit of gaining levels is unlocking Mastery Points and Rune Page slots (below) which improve the overall strength of the summoner's chosen champion during battles. The summoner can also choose two "summoner spells", which significantly impact gameplay and have a high cooldown rate while costing no mana. Previously in Season 3, Summoner Spells could be enhanced with specific masteries, but those masteries have been removed since the start of Season 4. The only enhancements that remain deal with lower cooldowns. All of the masteries are passive effects, although some augment items which can be activated. They are grouped into offensive, defensive, and utility categories. Masteries can be re-distributed at will between battles.

Champions Quinn and Jinx (bottom) face off against Taric (top) in the bottom lane of Summoner's Rift

Similar to masteries, runes affect gameplay in minor ways. Runes are categorized into Marks (offensive), Seals (defensive), Glyphs (magic), and Quintessences (utility). They must be unlocked in the store. To benefit from runes, summoners can arrange them in their Runebooks, which has a limited number of slots for each rune type. However, more rune pages can be purchased from either Influence Points or Riot Points.

Moderation is conducted through a democratic system known as the Tribunal. In this system, player-submitted reports are reviewed by other players on a case-by-case basis. The reviewing players then submit their opinions on the legality of the behavior demonstrated. A consensus renders the decision official. It is notable that players are unable to be permanently banned through this system since "all permanent bans are distributed manually." Reviewers receive a Justice Rating based on their accuracy to encourage thorough analysis of cases. As of May 2014, the Tribunal is unavailable in favor of an automated system that hands out restrictions and short-term bans. Riot Games has stated that the Tribunal is being upgraded.

Game modes and matchmaking

League of Legends is a session-based game. Matchmaking creates teams with even average Matchmaking Rating (MMR) of the constituent players. MMR uses the Elo formulawith proprietary adjustments.^[17]

• Tutorial mode is a set of two introductory sessions that teach the basics of the game. It is intended to help new players learn concepts such as the controls and the game'sHUD.
• Custom mode allows players to create games that players manually join rather than relying on the game's matchmaking system to create the teams. In custom matches, the teams can be uneven and may include a mix of players and bots (computer-controlled champions).
• Classic mode is a normal or ranked match in which a team wins by destroying the enemy team's Nexus, which can only be attacked if all lane turrets and the inhibitor in at least one lane and all base turrets are destroyed. Classic mode is played in two different styles: 1. 5 vs. 5 on a three-lane map, each team's side having three lane turrets and an inhibitor per lane, as well as two base turrets and a Nexus; and 2. 3 vs. 3 on a two-lane map, each team's side having two lane turrets and an inhibitor per lane, as well as one base turret and a Nexus. The map also has three altars, two of which add bonuses to the players, while the last one heals the players. These altars are surrounded by a jungle. There are three types of matches in Classic mode:
  • Normal matches are player versus player. Before the beginning of the match, there are several ways for team players to select their champions. Blind pick matches allow both teams to pick champions at the same time, but each team does not learn what the opposing team has picked until all picks have been finalized; players may therefore incidentally choose the same champion as a player on the opposing team, but players may not choose the same champion as another player on their own team. Draft pick randomly assigns a team captain for each team, who then take turns banning three champions each, disallowing both teams from playing those six champions. Draft players then choose their champions in an ordered back-and-forth format. Because both teams can see which champion each player is picking, no player can pick a champion that has already been picked by another player.
  • Ranked matches are available to players that are level 30. Ranked uses a draft pick system exclusively, and players are seeded into a League system based on the outcome of their matches. Winning and losing games influences a player's MMR, which is intended to keep all players' skill levels in any given game as close as possible.
  • Co-op vs. AI mode matches players against a team of bots. Similar to the Tutorial mode, it is also intended mainly as a way for inexperienced players to learn.
  • Team Builder, released on March 27, 2014, is a normal classic mode queue that allows players to queue up as a specific champion and role of their choice. After submitting your selections to the team builder system, you can build your own balanced team or join an existing one. Team builder is intended to bring players together that complement each other's expectations and intentions the moment they enter the lobby. This allows for more cooperative play and communication between players who are playing a role and champion they want rather than something they are forced to do.
• Dominion mode is a normal match played 5v5 on Crystal Scar, a map with a single circular lane that has five neutral turrets arranged in a star pattern. A team wins by reducing the life total of the enemy team's Nexus, which only occurs if the opposing team controls at least three of the five neutral turrets, until it is zero.
• ARAM (All Random All Mid) mode randomly picks champions that the players are able to play, allowing up to 2 re-rolls if the player is unsatisfied with their pick. Players may also trade with teammates if both parties own the champions to be traded. The mode is played 5 vs. 5 on Howling Abyss, a one-lane map with each team's side having two lane turrets, an inhibitor, two base turrets, and a Nexus. A team wins by destroying the enemy team's Nexus, which can only be attacked if both lane turrets, the inhibitor, and both base turrets are destroyed.
• One for All mode was the first limited-time game mode that was available during the 2013 Harrowing, and it is no longer available. In this game mode, each team was randomly assigned a captain, who then took turns banning three champions each, disallowing both teams from playing those six champions. Players on each team would then select champions at the same time. Each player was only aware of their own team's choices until all picks are finalized, as with blind pick. However, there was no restriction on choosing a champion that had already been picked. Once all players had been chosen, each team was assigned the champion that was picked by the most players on that team, and all players had to play as that champion. In the event of a tie, the game randomly selected the champion. One for All could be played 5 vs. 5 on either the Summoner's Rift or Howling Abyss maps. This game mode later returned at the end of May 2014, with a new twist - both teams were assigned the same champion. This version, called One For All: Mirror Mode took place only on the Howling Abyss (ARAM) map.
• Showdown was the second limited-time game mode, available during the 2013 Snowdown Showdown. Showdown was played either 1 vs. 1 or 2 vs. 2 on the Howling Abyss map. Each team played until one team achieved one of three goals: taking down an enemy turret, reaching 100 team minion kills, or killing the enemy player (or two in 2 vs. 2 matches).
• Hexakill mode was the third limited time game mode. Taking place on Summoners Rift, each team had six players instead of the typical five. Hexakill returned onto the Twisted Treeline Map, in October 24, 2014, as the seventh limited time game mode.
• Ultra Rapid Fire mode was introduced on April 1, 2014 as the fourth limited-time game mode. It was a Classic Draft game, except that all champions had their movement speed increased, gained gold quicker, used abilities without using mana or energy, and had more powerful ranged attacks, among other changes. Several champions were unavailable in this mode.^[18][19]
• Doom Bots of Doom was the fifth limited time game mode, released on July 17, 2014. It took place on Summoner's Rift, where five actual players would play against five AI enemies with extremely modified abilities, making them extremely dangerous. Players won by destroying the enemy nexus, per normal game rules, and they lost if their own nexus was destroyed. There were three difficulty modes available, "1 Bomb", the easiest, "2 Bombs", a medium-difficulty mode, and "5 Bombs", an extremely difficult and hardcore version of the mode.
• Ascension was the sixth limited time game mode and was released as part of the Shurima event on September 10, 2014. It was available only on the Crystal Scar and was held as a 5 v.s. 5 draft pick mode. Similar to the Dominion mode, each team's Nexus could only be destroyed by accruing points, which takes down the HP from the enemy Nexus. Points could be accrued in numerous ways, by killing enemy champions, by capturing Relics of Shurima, or by killing the Ascended. The Crystal Scar map was also modified so that the outermost area of the map was engulfed in a sandstorm, blocking players from entering or exiting the spawning platforms. Players could only exit those spawning platforms via a teleportation item available to everyone, but players could not reenter them unless they die and respawn. The gold and experience gain was modified so that every player gained the same amount of gold and experience, regardless of kills or assists accrued (unless players had gold generation items or perks equipped). In the middle of the map, a neutral monster called an Ascended will spawn, and whomever lands the final hit on the monster will grant their team points while granting the killer a self-buff, which makes them stronger. If the player with this buff is killed, then extra points will be granted, however, while the buff is active, kills accrued by the player with the buff will grant more points.
• Legend of the Poro King was the eighth limited time game mode. It was released alongside the Winter Season for League of Legends. The main characteristics for this game mode is for both teams to throw Poros and successfully hit the enemy champions. Each hit equals 1 point. Once either side has reached 10 points, the Poro King is spawned to push lanes, while the scoreboard is disabled, the Poro King stays alive till dispelled and then the scoreboard will return. The mode ended on January 6, 2015.

Report: More than 70 million people watch eSports worldwide

Report: More than 70 million people watch eSports worldwide 

Super Data Research, who released research earlier this year stating that Riot Games made $624 million in revenue for League of Legends in 2013 and that Dota 2 made around $80 Million, has put out a new report centered on eSports in collaboration with Newzoo. The report states that viewership across all eSports titles has doubled within the last year, peaking to over 71 million by the end of 2013. Almost half of those viewers, 31.4 million, come from the United States where males account for 70% of frequent viewers and participants. The report finds that the majority of U.S. viewers are males between 21 and 34 years old. The average eSports viewer watches 19 times a month, with a session length of 2.2 hours. While men represent the majority of the viewership, the report finds that 34% of viewers are women. These statistics contradict an earlier survey held in February showing a huge gender gap, stating that 90-94% of viewership was from men. “Large companies like Riot Games, Valve, Wargaming and Ubisoft are placing bets on the growing success of eSports worldwide", said SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen. "And with the booming popularity of streaming services like Twitch, ESL and MLG, it is becoming easier than ever for gamers to connect with other players and form communities that culminate in competitive gaming.” (Ed note: ESL does not have its own streaming service.)

SuperData and Newzoo jointly view the increasing popularity of free-to-play games like League of Legends and Dota 2 to be a major factor in the sector’s growth and a point of opportunity for large advertisers to connect with young, affluent males. Research results also prove that eSports enthusiasts represent the big spenders, not only on PC and console games but also on smartphones and tablets

Newzoo’s report features results from recent nation-wide consumer research in the US and key EU countries. It profiles 31.4M US and 16.3M West-European eSports viewers. The report distinguishes different groups of eSports enthusiasts based on viewing behavior and level of active participation.

40% of eSports viewers can be seen as truly engaged eSports enthusiasts, participating in amateur tournaments and/or watching eSports content regularly. The other 60% illustrate the direct potential for continued growth of the eSports market.

ESports enthusiasts carry the biggest game wallets, with 22% of them being big spenders compared to 8% for all gamers. Contrary to expectation, eSports enthusiasts are more likely than the average gamer to be married, 52% versus 39%, and have a full-time job, 71% versus 50%.

“Long established in Asia, eSports and free-to-play, have now broken out of their niche and into Western markets", says Peter Warman, Newzoo CEO, on the relationship between free-to-play and eSports. "Does this prove there is a direct relationship between the two phenomena? At Newzoo, we believe so. Time spend and engagement have become equally important KPIs as money spend, and that is essentially what eSports delivers”.

The report estimates that League of Legends will see 42 million new players by 2015, topping out at 94 million monthly active users, with Wargaming's World of Tanks predicted to reach $590 Million in revenue by 2015.

Twitch released their own impressive report in January, which includes 12,000,000,000 minutes watched per month, over 45 million unique viewers per month, 1 million broadcasters per month and 6,000,000 total videos broadcast per month. 5,100 of those broadcasters are partners, and minutes watched and videos broadcasts have doubled since 2012, with unique viewers up from 20 million in 2012. Twitch users watch on average 106 minutes of content per day.

“When video game historians will look back on gaming a decade from now, 2013 will be the year they cite as the tipping point of streaming”, said Twitch's VP of Marketing Matthew DiPietro at the time. “Every major event, publisher, developer and media outlet in the gaming industry had a presence on Twitch, and streaming became an ever-present piece of the gaming experience. And it’s only going to get bigger."

Source:http://www.ongamers.com/articles/report-more-than-70-million-people-watch-esports-worldwide/1100-1157/

Dota 2 Basic Guide

OPINION

Dota 2 Basic Guide

Dota 2 doesn't seem to care whether you know how to play it or not.

Earlier this week I talked about how great sports coverage laid a foundation for my interest in MOBAs like Dota 2. Then I discussed how the aggressive DLC and annualization of AAA multiplayer has driven my friends toward free to play games, especially Dota 2.

But as I've been reminded in comments both here and on Twitter over and over, there's an elephant in the room: the biggest barrier to getting into Dota 2 is Dota 2 itself. It has over a hundred heroes, with more on the way. It has a complex item system. It carries over some of the more sophisticated level mechanics of real-time strategy games. Much of the audience is toxic, full of homophobia, racism, abusive language, and sometimes deliberate team sabotage.

There is a wall that many people see in front of Dota 2, and it can be hard to climb. Like many challenges, it's best to find some help to start.

PLAY THE TUTORIAL

You wouldn't play a sport with a bunch of strangers without knowing how it works. Dota 2 does have a tutorial and, while it offers a small taste of the game's depth, it's better than nothing. You'll learn a few heroes (including Sniper, a popular, incredibly annoying pick), and you'll learn about the kinds of abilities characters have and how to activate them.

This is all very intro-level, but it's incredibly important, especially if you don't have much experience with Warcraft 3, which is the evolutionary basis for the modern MOBA genre. You'll also get a very basic introduction to items. Learn what Tangos are. You'll be using them often.

FIND A COACH

This might seem premature, but my first experiences with Dota 2 skipped past the "playing with bots" stage and went straight to "playing with friends who knew how to play Dota 2."

I'm impatient. I started playing Dota 2 specifically because it was the only thing anyone I knew was playing with any regularity, and I wanted to play games with my friends. It was only later that I started playing without them.

This is what allowed me to find fun right away, as opposed to struggling against bots in a game I didn't understand. I asked a ton of questions as we played and, because these were people who wanted me to understand the game, no question was seen as stupid.

There are a number of resources online, but constant supportive communication early on was key in getting me involved and keeping me from fleeing in terror at the prospect ofDota 2's complexity. So, if you've got friends on your Steam list who play Dota 2, ask if they'd be willing to show you the ropes.

Also, get a mic. Voice communication is critical, especially when you're learning. This should be seen as mandatory.

ON THE OTHER HAND, PLAY AGAINST BOTS

My sister started playing Dota 2 months before I did, primarily learning the game by using online resources and, unlike me, playing against bots. She played matches against the AI hundreds of times to learn the game and, as Dota 2's bot AI tends to be very aggressive, it's not a bad primer on player behavior in public, unranked games.

The result after hundreds of games is that my sister has a better win-loss record in matches than I do. That's not indicative of skill necessarily — and my team beat her team when we were randomly matched against her and her new Dota 2 friends, thank you very much — but she's put in a ton of practice and has used the in-game guides to learn heroes and the game very well.

I also play bot matches occasionally, for a very specific purpose: I can try new heroes, and pause the game to search online for strategies on how best to employ their abilities. It's a test environment where you can screw around without hurting your team or embarrassing yourself, and with a game like Dota 2, that's really important.

The best way to avoid criticism from the community is to not be new, and the best way to not be new is to play against the AI.

USE IN-GAME GUIDES

You'll see an open book icon in the upper-left corner of Dota 2's in-game UI. This is the guide menu, which contains player-written and rated guides for every hero in Dota 2. I like guides written by Purge personally, but explore different builds for heroes in bot matches to find the ones that seem most tailored to your abilities and sensibilities.

Guides aren't static resources to look at and close. As you earn levels, the guide you've selected will highlight the next recommended skill/skill level to pick, while giving the guide writer's explanation as to what each skill/spell is good for. Guides are just as useful for Dota 2's item shop — they create customized lists of recommended items to buy.

Remember that guides aren't a rulebook, and that you can and should deviate based on what your team needs from you. But they're an excellent starting point to learning characters and the game.

LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO ARE BETTER THAN YOU AT DOTA 2

I'll add the caveat that you shouldn't put up with a ton of abuse from teammates, and I advise using the mute button in these cases; it's found by holding the "~" key in-game and clicking the speaker icon next to the offending player.

That said, the best way to learn how to play Dota 2 is to play with people who know more about it than you do. They can tell you where you should be, what hero best fits in the existing lineup, what items the team needs, etc. Also, people are more inclined to help you if you seem keen to help the team. Noobs aren't actually the worst teammates in Dota 2 — stubborn players who want to do their own thing are, and most people I've played with seem to know that. This segues nicely into my next suggestion, which is ...

PLAY SUPPORT HEROES

It's important to learn about hero roles in Dota 2 as quickly as possible, but as a beginner I gravitated towards support characters. Support heroes are self-explanatory - they act to help the more powerful damage-dealing characters survive and win the game.

They're also usually responsible for spending their gold on consumable items to help the team. If you want to get on your team's good side, offer to buy the courier before heroes are even picked. Tell them you're playing support. As you learn more heroes, let them know which supports you're capable with and ask how you can fit into the team lineup for the most success.

In my experience, this has had two effects. First, as I've gotten better about helping my team, rather than playing the character I arbitrarily want to play at any moment, I've had a better time. But also, I find that positive behavior in lobbies helps create a better environment in chat with random team members. Good vibes are often contagious. And when my team is working together, positively communicating with each other, I have more fun, even if we lose.

As you're learning the game, figure out what kinds of heroes you're best with. Maybe you won't need to roll support for long, and you'll be a better asset as a carry hero, focused on doing damage and winning team fights.

GO OUTSIDE THE GAME

You'll learn a lot about playing Dota 2 by playing Dota 2, but eventually you'll want to venture outside the game client into the greater community. Having more than eight million unique monthly players has the side effect of an enormous amount of community-generated content, and much of it is quite good. And if you're new, there's good news: you don't have to participate in it to benefit from it.

Outside of the community is the professional circuit, and this might be the most eye-opening experience you'll have with Dota 2. Professional competitions will show you ways to play heroes that you never imagined, and give primers on high level tactics and strategy on everything from map control to macro, which is the ways you handle your character moment to moment.

More importantly, it's fun to watch Dota 2 when you know what you're watching. It's exciting to see high-level play on a game that you understand, and in my experience, MOBAs are second only to fighting games in their readability. They move much more slowly than shooters and there's more action visible on screen at any given moment, making for something I've found much more entertaining to watch. The excitement is contagious.

Hell, the constant chatter this week about The International may be the whole reason you're reading this in the first place. Now it's time to take the next step and play the game.

​The Competitive World of eSports

​The Competitive World of eSports

That so many of us give and receive -- and PLAY -- video games this time of year is hardly news. The fact that so many of us will leave the house to watch OTHER people play video games is something else again. Our Cover Story is reported now by John Blackstone:

In Anaheim, Calif., 5,500 excited fans cheered and gasped, watching on a giant screen as two players battled for the world championship of the video game Starcraft II.

"It's like the Super Bowl for us," said Lauren Mihalus.

At Chicago's Ignite Gaming Lounge, crowds lined up before midnight, not to play video games, but to watch the League of Legends world championship being played half-a-world away, in South Korea.

"It's the only sport I watch!" said Daneta Debialowicz.

And in Seoul more than 40,000 people packed into a stadium to watch the games live. It was in South Korea that video game competitions, called eSports, first exploded as spectator sports.

"I'd go there and they'd have these huge ballrooms, all these young people all excited about these young players that were becoming celebrities," said Paul Sams. He's the COO of Blizzard, the company that created Starcraft, the game that launched esports in Korea and made stars of the best players.

"And you're like, 'Who? What? This is crazy! These people are following all these young kids that are playing videogames, and they've got these huge followings, and they're signing autographs.' And it became really evident to us that this was the beginning of something big."

But would this Asian phenomenon translate to America? Last year, the League of Legends championship was held in Los Angeles at the home of the L.A. Lakers. It was a sellout.

"I think I'm too old to understand what's going on in online gaming right now," said Blackstone to Michael Pachter, who studies the video game industry as a research analyst at Wedbush Securities.

To which Pachter replied, "You probably are."

"I can understand people watching a golf game," said Blackstone. "I can't understand people watching somebody play a computer game."

"Well, I have to say, my wife can't understand people watching a golf game, because she's not a golfer," said Pachter. "So if you're not a gamer, that's not gonna appeal to you.

"When you're into something -- like a game like League of Legends, which has 93 million monthly unique players -- there are a lot of people among those 93 million who want to watch the best people in the world playing the game."

The company that makes League of Legends says that 27 million people watched this year's championship. To put that into perspective, the World Series, which started later that same week, averaged just under 14 million viewers.

Video games now bring in $71 billion in annual revenue -- more than the music business, and fast catching up to Hollywood.

Source : http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-competitive-world-of-esports/

Dota 2 Teams

Teams

Vici Gaming was formed on the 21st of October, 2012 with the help of “Fengdidi”, who also had previously played in PanDarea Gaming under the name “PanPan”, handpicking highly skilled players that were highly ranked on the Chinese DotA ladder at the time.

The players had no previous professional experience at the time with the exception of sydm who had played under the banner of TyLoo. Notably, their mid lane player “Cty” had shown promise by winning a 1v1 tournament organized by 2009, in which he beat famous players like Ferrari_430,Sylar, Hao, and other top Chinese players shortly before getting recruited.

The team qualified for the 2012 G-League Season 2 by beating Noah's Ark in the preliminaries.

On January 28th, Vici signed Greedy, captained by the famous YaphetS as their online/backup squad. The rest of the team consisted of xiaotuji,Maybe, nL_Ks, and CaptainGiveMeBall. They were focused on the original DotA, although they have since expanded to Dota 2.

On March 1st, Vici signed ZSMJ, who built a Dota 2 squad. It was believed that ZSMJ brought some of his teammates from his project with Chisbug with him to Vici Gaming, of which one is definitely Sgua_Li. In the following weeks, Vici Gaming made some roster adjustments, dropping some players in private while sending out a public notice for interested players to contact them.

On March 28th, It was announced that carry player ZSMJ replaced mid player sydm and that former carry Cty picked up the mid role.

In June 2013, following elimination from the The International 2013 qualifiers and a disappointing finish outside playoff places in DSL, Vici Gaming announced the departure of team executive, PandaPanPan, and team manager, Nada. Their replacement was mikasa, who occasionally played as a substitute for VG.

In December 2013, Vici Gaming traveled to Poland to compete in the Raidcall EMS Fall LAN finals, joining the ranks of teams like Alliance, Naviand DK who were pioneers in east-west tournament participation. Following this, the team also traveled to the Kingston HyperX Dota 2 League offline finals in Las Vegas in 2014. Vici would go on to take first place at EMS One Fall, but would subsequently fall from the top of Dota 2 due to a lack of direction and poor player performances. Despite placing at many events Vici would not achieve another title in the TI3 to TI4 season.

At the end of April 2014 Vici Gaming was awarded a direct invite to The International 4, where they would go on to place first in the group stage and second overall.

In August 2014, the team is formed.

In December 2014, Simbaaa was removed from the squad. MiSeRy was added to the squad, previously playing as standin for Secret Team.

In January 2015, BigDaddy and MiSeRy left the team and were replaced with Zai and Arteezy.

Evil Geniuses acquired a Defense of the Ancients roster on April 12, 2008, with the eMg DotA team.

This team stormed onto the American scene, going undefeated in CEVO-Professional Season 1 to take the gold, and only losing twice in Season 2 on their road to repeat. One loss was to team Pokerstars, with former EG players mO- and Fanat1c, but EG got the last laugh and won the championship. They had continued success in their first international tournament – Farm 4 Fame. In the debut tournament, Team EG beat The Elder Gods (TEG) in the championship in a clean sweep, 3-0. To get there, they had to beat notable teams such as Kingsurf.International and Ravens.

After a period of inactivity, EG was reformed with some familiar faces. They brought back former EG players Remstar and Hit0mi, and mO- and Fanat1c rejoined the team. As much as the new team tried, they could not keep up with the previous team’s success, though they still had very respectable finishes. They came in 3rd in IDEC End of Time, behind Ks.Int and Ravens who they beat in F4F. They also came in 3rd in ESL Major Series Season 4, losing to the eventual winners, Ravens, and getting knocked out by diamondZ (dmZ). EG saw its North American DotA squad depart on December 3, 2009, following two months of minimal practice and insufficient exposure.

EG saw the return of two former DotA players, Clinton "Fear" Loomis and Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho, with the acquisition of their first Dota 2 squad.

In September 2012, Bulba and Universe both departed from the team. Jeyo (formerly of Complexity Gaming) and bdiz were picked up as replacements.

In May 2013, SexyBamboe joined the team, and Maelk stepped down from the main squad to become the coach.

In September 2013, SexyBamboe was released from the team. Later that month, EG released Bdiz and DeMoN and picked up Universe, MSS, and Fogged.

In February 2014, EG announced their new roster (formerly known as S A D B O Y S), which consisted of Fear, Arteezy, Universe, Zai, and ppd. They also announced the addition of Monolith as a manager.

In May 2014, Fear was replaced by common stand-in player, Mason "mason" Venne. Mason played with EG at his first lan with them at The Summit. Fear remained with the organization as a coach for the team. 

In July 2014, after The International 2014, mason was released from the team. Later that month, it was announced that Fear would be rejoining the team.

In January 2015, Arteezy and zai leave the team to join Team Secret.

Alliance entered the Dota 2 scene in April 2013 by picking up Swedish team No Tidehunter (consisting of s4,AdmiralBulldog, Akke, EGM, and Loda).

In September 2014, EGM left the team to join Team Tinker. s4 followed shortly afterwards to join Secret Team. 

In January 2015, EGM rejoined the team with Mynuts and Pajkatt. At the same time, AdmiralBulldog decided to take a break from competitive Dota. Later that month, deciding that EGM should go back to the support role, Mynuts left the team and was replaced with Niqua.

In March, 7ckngMad joins the roster as the new captain.

In April, Niqua leaves the team.

In May, AdmiralBulldog rejoins the active roster.

Cloud9 entered the Dota 2 scene in February 2014 by picking up the former Speed Gaming squad (consisting of pieliedie, bOne7, SingSing, EternaLEnVy, and Aui_2000).

In August 2014, SingSing left the team. He was replaced by FATA.

In January 2015, Aui_2000 and pieliedie leave the team and are replaced with BigDaddy and MiSeRy.

In August 2011, Invictus Gaming was formed by Wang Sicong, the son of the 11th richest Chinese man, Wang Jianlin, aiming to reassemble electronic sports in China. In the next few days, CCM was purchased by iG for a fee of $6,000,000. iG.Z participated in The International 2011. xiao8 and ddc left iG.Z after The International 2011 and were replaced by Awoke and Faith, in the first ever official transfer in Chinese e-sports.

iG acquired their second DotA team in a controversial manner, in which they signed 4 players from LGD. Sharingan transferred from PanDa after a controversial blocking of Lanm's transfer by EHOME.

In November 2011, iG decided to merge 2 teams into 1 and drop 5 players.

In August 2012, iG won The International 2012, defeating reigning champions Natus Vincere 3-1 in the Grand Final.

In September 2013, Zhou was traded to TongFu in exchange for Hao. Later that month, Banana also joined the team, and ChuaN was removed.

In February 2014, iG announced a six-man roster. Hao left the team for NewBee, while Luo and ChuaN joined.

In March 2014, Banana was transferred to NewBee.

In July 2014, after The International 2014, YYF announced his retirement from Dota 2.

In August 2014, Faith leaves the squad to join LGD and is replaced with June and chisbug.

In January 2015, chisbug leaves the team.

In February, BurNIng joins the team.

In March, June announces that he is leaving the team. The next day, it is revealed that Faith will be rejoining the team.

In December 2011, Team Empire switched their HoN team to Dota 2. After the initial disappointing performances, blowyourbrain joined from DTS Gaming, but the team continued to underperform. With the disbandment of DTS Gaming as half of their players joined Darer Entertainment, ALWAYSWANNAFLY and Jackal joined Team Empire, which finally improved the team's performance. Team Empire participated in the offline finals of SLTV StarSeries Season Two, claiming 5th place.

In September 2012, after the dissolution of the Darer Entertainment and Moscow Five Dota 2 teams, Goblak and Funn1k from Darer Entertainmentand Silent from Moscow Five joined the team, replacing ALWAYSWANNAFLY, Jackal, and j4.

In February 2013, Funn1k departed from the team to join Natus Vincere. In March 2013, Vigoss was recruited as the new fifth player.

In April 2013, Goblak and Silent left the team. Later that month, Empire added twiSta, Mitch, and LighTofHeaveN, and Vigoss was asked to step down from the main squad. After failing to qualify for The International 2013, twiSta and Mitch left the team.

In August 2013, the team lost LighTofHeaveN to Virtus Pro, but recruited Silent from Quantic Gaming and VANSKOR from RoX.KIS.

In September 2013, blowyourbrain left the team. Later that month, Empire announced Mag and ALWAYSWANNAFLY as their fourth and fifth players.

In November 2013, Scandal left the team, and Resolut1on took his place.

After The International 2014, VANSKOR left the team to join Natus Vincere and was replaced by Solo.

In October 2014, Mag left the team and was replaced with yoky.

In December, Solo left the team. At the end of the month, ALOHADANCE replaces him.

LGD started off sponsoring 2009's team For The Dream in 2010, who had won SMM the previous year. Boasting one of the best carries in the world, ZSMJ and other solid and strong players, LGD started the year 2010 well. However, a disappointing loss to EHOME ensured that they won't be able to participate in 2010's ESWC. Due to internal problems, LGD continued to slump despite still being a top team. The retirement of 2009 was a big blow, and although LGD still managed to place at the top, notably the 2nd place finish in 2010's SMM, they were not as strong as before.

In 2011, during the Great Chinese Reshuffle, Sharingan left for DK and was replaced by Malaysian star ChuaN, in which they started performing well, winning StarsWars 6 and G-League Season 1.

LGD was invited to The International 2011, however, Invictus Gaming made a move which took away 4 of LGD's players, rending LGD unable to participate in Valve's Dota 2 tournament. LGD has since reformed with a whole new roster surrounding ZSMJ, but continued to under-perform. ZSMJ's retirement eventually came and Sylar was the replacement. LGD has since performed well, topping their group in G-League season 3. However, they were eliminated from SMM 2011 after losing surprisingly to Mineski PowerColor twice, and only achieved 6th place.

LGD was invited to The International 2012, which took place at Seattle in August. LGD had an extremely strong showing, going 14-0 in the group stage and remaining undefeated until the winner's bracket final. However, they were defeated by Natus Vincere and Invictus Gaming, finishing in 3rd and taking home $150,000.

In October 2012, LGD picked up an international squad, made up of 1437, God, Pajkatt, MiSeRy, and Brax.

In April 2013, dd was replaced by LongDD.

In May 2013, LongDD left the team, and dd came back to replace him. This roster change cost the team their invite to The International 2013, and they were forced to participate in the qualifiers instead.

In July 2013, LGD picked up an all-female squad.

After The International 2013, God left LGD's international squad for Virtus Pro.

In September 2013, Sylar was traded to Rising Stars in exchange for Xiaotuji. Later that month, the new LGD.int roster was revealed: Pajkatt, MiSeRy, and Brax stayed on the team, and Black^ and xFreedom were added to the team to replace God and 1437. xFreedom will be playing with the team temporarily while they search for a 5th member.

In December 2013, both MiSeRy and Pajkatt left LGD.int. The team later completely disbanded.

In February 2014, xiao8 left the team. He was replaced by Maybe.

In March 2014, 820 decided to join the team as a coach. Later that month, Icy joined the team, taking Maybe's spot. Maybe remained on the team as a 6th player.

In April 2014, Lin joined the main roster. Later than month, LGD announced the formation of a new team, LGD.CDEC, with Maybe as captain.

In August 2014, dd announced his retirement. Later that month, Yao, Lin and DDC leave the team and are replaced by Faith, MMY, Sylar, inflame and injuly.

In October 2014, LGD.CDEC left LGD to become CDEC Gaming.

In March 2015, Faith and InJuly leave the team and are replaced with Maybe and xiao8.

• 2014-10: Team formed consisting of kYxY, Net, Ohaiyo and XtiNcT from Titan eSports and Mushi from Team DK.
• 2014-11: XtiNcT left the team. Mushi leaves the team soon after. Team is assumed disbanded.
• 2015-03: Team is reformed after its former players were dropped by from EHOME's Malaysia squad.

In August 2014, HellRaisers picks up Relax, you're doing fine as their Dota 2 team.

In September, ALOHADANCE leaves the team.

In October, dubas leaves the team. yoky leaves the team shortly afterwards. At the end of the month, Hellraisers picks up Kompas.gaming, but replaces PSM with Dread.

In October 2010, the creation of a DotA squad was announced, which included the best Ukrainian players. Na`Vi simultaneously declared their intentions to announce a squad for StarCraft 2. Initially the team included five players, but in December 2010, Mag~ and Deff- left the team. The empty slots on the team were filled by Ukrainian players from DTS.Chatrix - Danylo "Dendi" Ishutin and Ivan "Artstyle" Antonov, who became the captain of this new squad.

In August 2011, Na`Vi.DotA was invited to the first Dota 2 tournament at GamesCom, Cologne, Germany. The event named "The International" featured 16 invited top teams from all over the world with impressive amount of prize money - $1,600,000. Na`Vi.DotA was the ultimate winner, beating Chinese team EHOME with 3 to 1 score in the final and grabbing a whopping amount of $1,000,000.

On October, 13th, 2011, Artstyle left the team. The captain position was taken up by Puppey, and ARS-ART took the fifth slot on the roster.

Na'Vi attempted to defend their crown at The International 2012, where they placed 2nd, losing to Invictus Gaming 3-1 in the Grand Finals.

In February 2013, Funn1k from Team Empire joined the team, replacing ARS-ART. KuroKy from Mousesports also joined the team, while LighTofHeaveN went inactive.

In April 2013, after his contract expired, LighTofHeaveN officially left for Team Empire.

In June 2013, Na'Vi picked up an all-female squad.

In June 2014, Na'Vi picked up the North American Rejects team, forming their new Dota 2 squad, Na'Vi.US.

In August 2014, KuroKy and Puppey left Na'Vi. Shortly after, Na'Vi announced that Fng and VANSKOR were replacing them, with Fng being the new captain.

In October, Goblak joined the team as the new captain.

In November, Fng left the team.

In December, Na'Vi.US disbanded due to internal conflicts. In February 2015, Funn1k left the team.

In March, DkPhobos joins as the team's new offlaner. Later that month, Goblak leaves the team.

In April, Funn1k and ArtStyle rejoin the team along with SoNNeikO, DkPhobos leaves.

EHOME E-sports club was formed in March 2004. In 2007, EHOME's DotA division was formed as they took HTML under their tag. EHOME was first known internationally in 2008 during the Asian Championship Games in Singapore, winning the championship with a star-studded roster comprising of legends 2009, Snoy, LongDD, GK, and DC.

However, 2009 soon went inactive due to his studies and conflict with the management; LongDD departed shortly after. LongDD then joined CaNt, initiating a swap of players between the two teams. 820 and 357 were picked up from CaNt to fill the two empty spots on EHOME's roster.

Despite finally establishing a stable lineup, EHOME wasn't able to replicate their results. Constant disappointments led to DC's departure and Snoy's retirement. Subsequently, two players were signed, namely Dai and Ronaldo, who were relatively unknown at the time. However, both were well-known as players from another Chinese MOBA, and high expectations were placed onto them in DotA. Despite these new additions, EHOME continued to perform badly, and Ronaldo was soon out. At the same time, 7L disbanded and their support DGC joined EHOME.

Just as EHOME was starting to show improvement, DGC, who was criticized for being disjointed with the team, left. In addition, their captain GK, who was the last remaining member from 2008, decided to retire as well.

KingJ and BurNIng, two of the biggest names in DotA at the time, eventually found their way into EHOME. They were heavily criticized as LGD, led by former member 2009, was performing extremely well. With ESWC Qualifiers coming up, EHOME decided to make a change; most notably, their captain and longtime carry 820 was switched to support. Being an underdog to qualify for the ESWC, EHOME surprisingly showed solid team play, defeating PIS's Shadow Fiend in a game against CityHunter with a comeback. Afterwards, they faced the highly favored LGD, pulling off a surprise win to qualify for ESWC.

At ESWC in Paris, EHOME showed an invincible aura, crushing any teams in their way as they went undefeated and won the ESWC. After ESWC, EHOME won several other competitions. During ESTC, EHOME reached the finals, but was unable to defeat Nirvana.my as Mushi's Puck took the limelight. They were then favored to win the first edition of the World DotA Championship. However, they were surprised by DTS in the group stage, with Artstyle choosing a push strategy to counter them. Despite winning the rest of their group stage games, EHOME missed out on qualifying for the next round due to time ratings, and this became one of the biggest upsets of the year. SMM 2010 was announced soon after. EHOME came out with a slow start, losing to Nirvana.cn in the group stage, but recovered in the second day, winning all their matches en route to becoming the champions. For the rest of 2010, the team consistently showed the same dominant form as they did at ESWC. EHOME completed their streak of 10 championships in a calendar year by winning 2011's World Gamemaster Tournament.

Just as EHOME was at its peak, the Great Chinese Reshuffle happened. Two of EHOME's core players, BurNIng and KingJ, switched over to DK. Despite EHOME calling up new pubstar PLT and ex-player LongDD, they were unable to recover from their loss, initially earning second place in DMT before getting eliminated in the early rounds of subsequent tournaments. During StarsWars 6, EHOME came back with a respectable performance to reach the finals, but was defeated horribly at the hands of LGD.

LongDD was replaced by Crystal (aka FCB) in preparation for The International. Odds were low for them at event, with most fans anticipating an early exit. However, EHOME shocked the DotA world with a stellar performance. They won most of their games in spectacular fashion and reached the finals, eventually losing 3-1 to Na`Vi to claim silver and a $250,000 share of the prize purse.

At the conclusion of the tournament, 820 retired and FCB left the team; their replacements, Fabregas (ARS) and Perfect Cat (PCT), failed to meet early expectations. Despite a second place finish at Electronic Sports World Cup 2011, EHOME only managed third at WCG Asian Championships 2011 where they were highly expected to win. The performances led to the disbandment of EHOME's DotA division, and EHOME had to forfeit all their matches in The Defense.

The EHOME DotA team was reestablished in early 2012 with acquisitions of 357, KingJ, and Dai from Canis Lupus Campestris. They later welcomed back LaNm (formerly PLT) and PCT to finish the lineup. The newly formed EHOME retained 3 of the 5 players from the team that took 2nd place at The International, complementing them with an experienced veteran in KingJ, who was a member during the dominant run of 2010. To round out the five, they picked up an up-and-coming player in PCT. This roster enjoyed success in the first half of the year, winning JoinDOTA Masters VII in convincing fashion. The team participated the 2012 International, tying for 5th place.

In September 2012, PCT left the team.

In October 2012, Dai and QQQ left for DK. KingJ also decided to leave the team.

In January 2015, The EHOME was reborn, comprised of the old LV Gaming squad after winning HyperX D2L Season 5.

In March, after a disappointing performance at DAC 2015, the team splits into two teams, one Chinese the other Malaysian. By the end of the month, EHOME drops their Malaysian squad.

Virtus Pro's DotA divison was once considered the best in the world, which included Vigoss, ARS-ART, NS, LighTofHeaveN, Jolie, and M.Admiration at different points of time. They are most notable for winning MYM Prime Defending three times in a row.

Virtus Pro announced their entrance to the Dota 2 scene with the recruitment of Russian veteran NS and longtime German star KuroKy. They also later added on Santa, Azen and finally Dread as captain. However, before the qualifier matches for The International 2012, Dread and Azen were removed from the team and KuroKy later left of his own accord.

In September 2012, Virtus Pro picked up KSi, Crazy, and Illidan to fill out the empty slots in their roster. They also picked up an all-female team.

In March 2013, Santa left the team. Later that month, ARS-ART was announced as a replacement.

In August 2013, KSi, Crazy, and Illidan were removed from the team, presumably due to a poor performance at The International 2013. Later that month, Virtus Pro added LighTofHeaveN, Goblak, and God.^[9][10] ARS-ART also left the team and was replaced by Resolut1on.

In September 2013, Goblak and Resolut1on left the team, while ARS-ART came back.

In October 2013, Solo joined the team for a short period of time. He was removed from the roster in November 2013.

In November 2013, NS retired from competitive Dota, and long-term stand-in blowyourbrain was removed. Illidan and JOTM from Russian team Poseidon were brought on as stand-ins.

In December 2013, LighTofHeaveN left the team, and Illidan was promoted to a full-time member.

In January 2014, NS decided to come out of retirement and rejoined the team.

In August 2014, ARS-ART and Illidan leave Virtus.Pro. Later that month, NS leaves the team and yol, Bzz, and Sedoy join.

In September, Virtus.Pro pick up NVMI as VP.Polar.

In October, Goblak leaves VP.Polar to join Natus Vincere. Scandal leaves the next month.

In November, after a few weeks of being stand-ins, Fng and Mag~ join VP.Polar.

In January 2015, Virtus.pro Polar changes their name to ASUS.Polar.

In March, DkPhobos and Mag~ leave ASUS.Polar. Later that month, Virtus.pro drops it's classic roster.

In April, DkPhobos and God joined the team while Sedoy joined as a reserve player. Later that month, the Polar squad was rebranded as Virtus.pro's main squad.

NewBee was formed in February 2014. Termed the "Chinese Dream Team," it consisted of xiao8, Mu, Hao, KingJ, andZSMJ.

In March 2014, Banana was transferred to the team, replacing ZSMJ.

In April 2014, SanSheng joined the team.

In July 2014, NewBee won The International 2014, defeating Vici Gaming in the finals. Shortly after, xiao8 announced that he was retiring from Dota 2.

In August 2014, Newbee acquired Rabbit from LGD Gaming.

In March 2015, Hao leaves the team to join Vici Gaming. Shortly afterward, June joins the team, taking Rabbit's role as offlaner while Rabbit takes Hao's old position as carry.

The team is formed in August 2013.

On August 30th, Luna and KaHT leave the team and are replaced by j4 and fng.

In March 2014, zxc leaves the team.

In April, Scandal joins the roster.

In June, Scandal leaves the team.

In August, fng leaves to join Na'Vi.

In October, Moon leaves the team and is replaced with Shachlo. Later that month, SoNNeikO joins the team.

In December, Ditya-Ra completes the roster.

In February 2015, Shachlo leaves the team.

In March, SoNNeikO leaves the team.

In April, Sunlight and KingR join the team.

In October 2014, the team leaves LGD.CDEC to create their own team.

In January 2015, 333 leaves the team.

In March, Maybe leaves the team to join LGD Gaming.

In May 2014, the team is formed with members Jeyo, Ryoyr, Chrissy, Cast and pYung.

In June, pYung becomes the coach for the team and is replaced with ninjaboogie.

MVP HOT6ix is formed in September 2013, picking up the former Team Ashu.

MVP Phoenix is created in November. Shortly afterwards, DeMoN joins the team.

In December, DeMoN leaves the team to join Team Liquid.

In February 2015, MVP management decides to transfer players in order to make two better teams. Jubei, Roddgeee,SunBhei and Warnutz are replaced with Forev, Heen, MP and Baton on HOT6ix while Febby and kphoenii are transferred to Phoenix.

In March, Dubu leaves the HOT6ix squad and is replaced with JerAx.

In March of 2014, Heart Get Together introduced their new name HyperGloryTeam in addition to their new roster.

Originally, it was thought that the team had only been created to participate in i-League , however, the team has since signed up for more tournaments.

• 2014-08-20: EGM was brought on to stand in for Excalibur. His addition seems to be permanent, as Excalibur has not played with the team since.
• 2015-01-08: EGM and Pajkatt left the team to join The Alliance. Later that month, they are replaced with JerAx and AdmiralBulldog.
• 2015-02: AdmiralBulldog and SingSing leave the team to be replaced with PatSoul and Waytosexy.^[3]
• 2015-03: PatSoul leaves the team to return to Void Boys. Later that day, it is revealed that JerAx is leaving the team to join MVP HOT6ix. Sometime early in the month, pieliedie joined the team as the new team captain. Later that month, Black^ join the team.
• 2015-05-08: Team Tinker is signed by mousesports.

In January 2015, NiP picks up the old LAJONS squad.

In February, Apemother leaves the team and is replaced with Limmp.

In October 2014, the team is created consisting of Sharfik, The_apathy, Unstopp, Shkeeper and CaptainLove.

In November, Vega releases their team and signs BUHLO-UroPb, consisting of Noone-, Stalianer, 9pashaebashu, CemaTheSlayeR and ArsZeeqqas a replacement team.

In December, Stalianer leaves the team and is replaced with Undersh0ck.

In February 2015, Undersh0ck leaves the team to be replaced with TpoH.

In March, TpoH leaves the team.

In April, Mag~ and Solo join the team, while ArsZeeqq leaves.

In November 2014 The squad drops from their sponsor, Aftershock Gaming, and begins playing as Basically Unknown.

DK was set up in 2010 with a roster including Chinese rising stars rOtk, Yueru and LaNm, participating in WDC and SMM that year, they did not achieve much results. DK started the great Chinese reshuffle in 2011 when they offered cash to BurNIng and KingJ of EHOME, while obtainingNirvana's PIS and LGD's Sharingan later on. Undoubtedly the "Galacticos" of the DotA scene, DK failed to live up to expectations. Ksssssss, the only remaining member of the original team, was replaced by the returning rOtk from Tyloo later on. Continuous sub-par performances led to PIS' retirement, KingJ's transfer to Nirvana and Sharingan's move to PanDa. DK's captain, BurNIng, immediately called upon old teammate and friendLongDD alongside Zippo and Yueru. DK had suddenly become a strong team after these replacements. First winning the ACG Chinese qualifier, DK continued to roll on winning 7 tournaments to date including the highly touted World DotA Championship and G-League's Season 2. However, they only achieved a top 8 finish in SMM 2011 after getting knocked out by LGD.

In March 2012, DK began playing Dota 2. They were the first team to announce their invitation to The International 2012.

In October 2012, Dai and QQQ from EHOME joined, replacing LongDD and Zippo.

In August 2013, rOtk and Super! were removed from the team. Soon after, Dai and QQQ were also removed.

In September 2013, DK announced the pickup of LaNm, Mushi and iceiceice. Dai was also confirmed to be staying on the team.

In July 2014, after The International 2014, LaNm announced his retirement from Dota 2.

In August 2014, Burning announced his retirement. Shortly afterwards, iceiceice, Mushi and MMY left DK.

In September 2014, DK announces their new Dota 2 squad.

Moscow Five's DotA division was formed in May 2011 with ex-DTS players, sponsoring them to OSPL Spring 2011, which they won.

Moscow Five's DotA roster attended The International 2011 and ESWC 2011, achieving respectable results. However, the players of that roster controversially fell out with M5 and moved on to Darer Entertainment.

In March 2012, PGG returned to M5 with his squad The Retry. In September 2012, Moscow Five disbanded its Dota 2 team and picked up five new players: Nexus, STALIANER, Sedoy,BullsEye, and Dread.

In October 2012, after a poor performance at SLTV StarSeries Season Three, the team disbanded.

Moscow Five returned to Dota with new squad.

In February 2012, compLexity Gaming picked up Team FIRE.

In September 2012, Jeyo left for Evil Geniuses. The team disbanded soon after, with TC, FLUFFNSTUFF, and ixmike88 joining Team Liquid.

In August 2014, compLexity reveals their new Dota 2 squad.

In November, Bloody Nine leaves the team.

In January 2015, Moonmeander leaves the team.

In February, Limmp leaves to join Ninjas in Pyjamas.

In May, the team reveals their new roster for The International 2015 qualifiers.

paiN Gaming was created in July 2010, as a DotA team from a merger between GameWise (Dunnaz, r22, Elai) and the old CNB lineup (PAADA, KINGRD, Sune, GrentxD). This lineup achieved some impressive results.

In August 2011, paiN switched to Dota 2 with their Dota 1 lineup, consisting of PAADA, KINGRDviado, Sune, ChiNa, GrentxD and Markeka.

In May 2013, paiN dropped their Dota 2 team and picked up a new Argentinian squad, which consisted of ddx, Zurdo, Ektoplazm, Fullback, and Gengar.

In June 2013, paiN picked up Meenix Esports (with players CHINA, Fuzzy, GHIZI, Ned, Sono, and Zoio) as their new Brazilian team.

In February 2014, paiN added 3 new players to their roster: Rain, NotPudga and bplay.

In December 2013, eHug picks up former Pretty Boy Swag members RyuUboruZ, sleisel, Cak3z and ima_sheep(sux) as well as former Take Fiveplayer Pandaego. Later that month, sleisel leaves the team before their first match.

In February 2014, eHug announces that jigglebelly will be their fifth player.

In March, RyuUboruZ leaves the team and is replaced with justin.

In May, after failing to qualify for The International 2014, the team disbands.

In November, eHug announces their new roster consisting of SNA, inphinity, mjw, sN and Lust.

In February 2015, Lust, SNA and sN leave the team and are replaced with YawaR, Tralf and Ryuzaw.

In June 2014, Not Today picks up the old Revenge eSports roster consisting of Iwo, SmAsH, miHawk, Masoku and Mstco.

In January 2015, Iwo, miHawk and Masoku leave the team. They are replaced with Ifrit, VaNn and 2owlerz

In May 2014, Balkan Bears announces their Dota 2 squad.

In May 2015, w33 and Levi leave the team.

In September 2014, the team is formed to replace Fnatic in SLTV Star Series Season 10.

In January 2015, JerAx leaves the team and is replaced by nemphy.

TongFu was formed in the middle of 2011 led by former TyLoo player Kabu. However, their only achievement that year was placing 3rd in Wuhan Tiandi E-sports Cup.

In 2012, after several reformations, former EHOME player LaNm ended up in TongFu; Followed by 3 core players from the already disbanded PanDarea Gaming roster. However, a controversy was sparked as LaNm insisted on transferring to EHOME afterwards as the conflict was eventually solved through a transfer fee given from EHOME. Awoke was chosen as LaNm's replacement. TongFu managed to qualify for the The International 2012 through the East Qualifier.

In October 2012, Kabu departed from the team and was replaced by LongDD from DK. Awoke also left the team and was replaced by Chan (Veronica) from World Elite. In March 2013, Veronica and LongDD both left the team. They were replaced by Banana and Yaobai.

In April 2013, KingJ replaced Yaobai.

In September 2013, Hao was traded to Invictus Gaming in exchange for Zhou. Later that month, Banana left for Invictus Gaming and KingJ was traded to Rising Stars in exchange for XTT. ZSMJ also joined the team.

In October 2013, TongFu picked up Team Adidas, an amateur team participating in the ACE Dota 2 League. This squad was named TongFu.WanZhou. Later that month, they picked up a third squad, consisting of SYDM, LongDD, Kabu, YaphetS, and zExBinGo.

In December 2013, XTT was replaced by Kabu.

In February 2014, Zhou decided to retire from professional Dota.

After losing several players to NewBee, TongFu decided to focus on the amateur Dota scene.

Beginning with September 2014 TongFu announced the formation of the team TongFu.OB (Old Boys) which consists of retired veteran players who are now mostly playing the game for fun rather than competitive gaming. TongFu.WhanZhou is still intended to serve as the main squad. 

In February 2015, the team announces a North American division.

In March, TongFu announced a new set of rosters.

• 2014-11-08: Team created after signing Greek team XtremeXPC International.

• 2011-07-29: Team created.
• 2015-02-12: XtiNcT joins.
• 2015-03-12: dabeliuteef joins.
• 2015-04-02: NaNa and FzFz leave. sLiCKz joins.