10 Highest Earning Pro DotA 2 Gamers

“You won’t gain anything from playing computer games”. We’ve all heard that line (or something to that effect) from our parents/guardians at least once in our life, worse maybe every waking day of your existence. At least that statement was true two or three decades ago, but these people on our list proved that money (not to mention fame) will follow if you just do what you love to do.

DOTA 2

Editor’s Note: The total earnings of each of the pro gamers listed here does not include sponsorships and deals.

10. Xie Junhao aka Super ($458,940.79) – A member of Vici Gaming since 2012, Super started his career at the age of 18 and has since earned close to half-a-million US dollars by consistently placing among the top 5 in almost every tournament that he joined.

9. Zeng Hongda aka Faith ($459,520.12) – Unlike Super, Faith has already been in three different teams since he started back in 2011. A former member of Tyloo, the 22-year old DotA 2 pro is currently playing for LGD Gaming where he usually plays the role of support during tourneys.

Navi

8. Alexander Dashkevich aka XBOCT ($592,633.56) – For almost two years, XBOCT and teammates over at Natus Vincere or Na’Vi were the epitome of what their team name stands for (Born to Win) as they constantly ranked either first or second on every major tournaments that they played since 2011 up until the mid-way point of 2014.

7. Danil Ishutin aka Dendi ($595,579.65) – With nearly a decade of experience under his belt, Dendi is one of the main driving force behind Na’Vi’s incredible success which ultimately placed him and his teammates in the upper echelon of the who’s who in the DotA 2 community.

6. Clement Ivanov aka Puppey ($612,296.75) – Before his departure from team Na’Vi in August of last year, Puppey took the role of the team’s captain after ArtStyle left to join DTS Gaming. He had a fruitful career as he and his squad rallied to win the $1,000,000 grand prize in The International 2011 at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany.

Newbee

The remaining professional players on our list belong to team Newbee, the organization that took the DotA 2 community by storm after walking away victorious in the prestigious TI 2014 and taking home the tournament’s grand prize which soared to a record-high $5,028,121. This, obviously, catapulted the total earnings of each of the team members to the roof and has earned them the title of the 5 highest earning DotA 2 players in the world.

Here are the names of The International 2014 champions and their respective total earnings (in ascending order):

5. Zhang Ning aka xiao8$1,102,698.15
4. Zhang Pan aka Mu$1,179,959.08
3. Wang Zhaohui aka SanSheng$1,179,959.08
2. Zhihao Chen aka Hao$1,185,659.98
1. Wang Jiao aka Banana$1,185,934.87

Needless to say, there’s money to be made in being a professional gamer. This is probably one of the reasons why a lot of players reacted the way they did when the news broke that one of the barangays in Cavite banned DotA from computer shops in their community.

Do these officials have the right reasons to believe that playing video games will just be a waste of time and money? They probably do. After all, they won’t be compelled to take matters in to their own hands if there’s no need to do so. However, this doesn’t take away the fact that DotA/DotA 2, or E-Sports in general, have evolved over the years that it’s no longer just a mean to while time away, but a lucrative industry and a platform for ordinary people to make a name for themselves.

Source

The post 10 Highest Earning Pro DotA 2 Gamers appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Heroes of The Storm early look: Blizzard’s DoTA & LoL

MOBA games initially gained traction as a mod to Blizzard games like StarCraft & Warcraft, ending up being called DoTA. Valve picked it up with DoTA 2, and surely, it has inspired companies such as Riot Games to come up with League of Legends. Those games never appealed to me for some reason, but I decided to give it a try anyway; that’s when Blizzard invited me to play technical alpha to their upcoming game Heroes of the Storm.

Note: As of writing, I am testing version 0.5.0.31360. Gameplay elements may change with my opinions upon final release.

HeroesOfTheStorm

I’m pretty much into StarCraft II, Hearthstone and a little bit of Diablo, and while I don’t play Warcraft, I’m already introduced to their characters through Hearthstone. Basically, if you’re into Blizzard’s games, then it won’t be hard to convince you to play HoTS, as most of the characters you love are already here. If not, I’m still sure having Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft characters in one game is kickass.

HeroesOfTheStorm

“Having Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft characters in one game is kickass.”

Heroes, skins and a lot more can be purchased using gold, but if you want to speed things up, you can always pay for it in cash. They’ve given players a chance to try out all the heroes and their differentiated skills and abilities, and so far, they’re all really fun to play with. Heroes are assigned labels for their specialization and difficulty of use to guide players, and I think that’s a nice touch. Lots of balancing and updates are still probably on the way before the release, but as for the experience, it’s all good.

talents

“You level up as a team so no one gets left behind.”

So here’s the setup: it’s five versus five and your main objective is to destroy the opponent’s core / base. Depending on your map, there are things that you must do to gain an advantage, all of which will require teamwork. Also, you level up as a team so no one gets left behind. Every time you level up to a specific level, you get to pick which talents to receive which will add power to your hero. You should also choose which is appropriate for your strategy.

HeroesOfTheStorm

And you can ride unicorns!

There are no shops and items in game, and I cannot express how much I love that as that was the one of the things that screwed my mind up when I tried playing DoTA. The things that add complexity here are the maps and how your team is going to be efficient in balancing the happenings around the map. There will be objectives for you to accomplish, and if you do it all well better than your opponent team, the Raven Lord, the Dragon Knight or whatever will help you try to win. You can also gain the help of mercenaries and watch towers around the map if you need more support.

With the latest update to the alpha, we got a new playable hero (Rehgar), a new map and a few more additions such as artifacts. At the moment, I have not played with artifacts as I need to rank 15 to unlock it, but going through forums, it is not happily received and is often compared to League of Legends’ runes. Seeing negative feedback, Blizzard may have to do something about it in a future update before the final release.

“You’re not allowed to chat with the opposing team – probably to avoid trash-talking.”

As for the speed and the graphics, I have had no problems with it. The animations may look like it’s too cartoon, and while some may not like that, I find it okay as it doesn’t keep the game’s tone too serious. And speaking of serious, you’re not allowed to chat with the opposing team – probably to avoid trash-talking. The only people who can call you noob or weak now are your own teammates, and for me that’s a good thing as it allows you to focus on teamwork, and it’s a similar formula used by Blizzard in Hearthstone, not allowing players to chat unless you’re friends.

For the most part, I think it is as simple as that; it’s the simplicity that differentiates Heroes of The Storm from League of Legends, DoTA or mostly any other MOBA game. I let other people play through my account as well – people who don’t play MOBAs and they found themselves enjoying it. Heroes of The Storm is ultimately a MOBA for those who don’t play MOBAs, and we have yet to see how the final version will be when it comes out soon.

The post Heroes of The Storm early look: Blizzard’s DoTA & LoL appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Heroes of The Storm early look: Blizzard’s DoTA & LoL

MOBA games initially gained traction as a mod to Blizzard games like StarCraft & Warcraft, ending up being called DoTA. Valve picked it up with DoTA 2, and surely, it has inspired companies such as Riot Games to come up with League of Legends. Those games never appealed to me for some reason, but I decided to give it a try anyway; that’s when Blizzard invited me to play technical alpha to their upcoming game Heroes of the Storm.

Note: As of writing, I am testing version 0.5.0.31360. Gameplay elements may change with my opinions upon final release.

HeroesOfTheStorm

I’m pretty much into StarCraft II, Hearthstone and a little bit of Diablo, and while I don’t play Warcraft, I’m already introduced to their characters through Hearthstone. Basically, if you’re into Blizzard’s games, then it won’t be hard to convince you to play HoTS, as most of the characters you love are already here. If not, I’m still sure having Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft characters in one game is kickass.

HeroesOfTheStorm

“Having Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft characters in one game is kickass.”

Heroes, skins and a lot more can be purchased using gold, but if you want to speed things up, you can always pay for it in cash. They’ve given players a chance to try out all the heroes and their differentiated skills and abilities, and so far, they’re all really fun to play with. Heroes are assigned labels for their specialization and difficulty of use to guide players, and I think that’s a nice touch. Lots of balancing and updates are still probably on the way before the release, but as for the experience, it’s all good.

talents

“You level up as a team so no one gets left behind.”

So here’s the setup: it’s five versus five and your main objective is to destroy the opponent’s core / base. Depending on your map, there are things that you must do to gain an advantage, all of which will require teamwork. Also, you level up as a team so no one gets left behind. Every time you level up to a specific level, you get to pick which talents to receive which will add power to your hero. You should also choose which is appropriate for your strategy.

HeroesOfTheStorm

And you can ride unicorns!

There are no shops and items in game, and I cannot express how much I love that as that was the one of the things that screwed my mind up when I tried playing DoTA. The things that add complexity here are the maps and how your team is going to be efficient in balancing the happenings around the map. There will be objectives for you to accomplish, and if you do it all well better than your opponent team, the Raven Lord, the Dragon Knight or whatever will help you try to win. You can also gain the help of mercenaries and watch towers around the map if you need more support.

With the latest update to the alpha, we got a new playable hero (Rehgar), a new map and a few more additions such as artifacts. At the moment, I have not played with artifacts as I need to rank 15 to unlock it, but going through forums, it is not happily received and is often compared to League of Legends’ runes. Seeing negative feedback, Blizzard may have to do something about it in a future update before the final release.

“You’re not allowed to chat with the opposing team – probably to avoid trash-talking.”

As for the speed and the graphics, I have had no problems with it. The animations may look like it’s too cartoon, and while some may not like that, I find it okay as it doesn’t keep the game’s tone too serious. And speaking of serious, you’re not allowed to chat with the opposing team – probably to avoid trash-talking. The only people who can call you noob or weak now are your own teammates, and for me that’s a good thing as it allows you to focus on teamwork, and it’s a similar formula used by Blizzard in Hearthstone, not allowing players to chat unless you’re friends.

For the most part, I think it is as simple as that; it’s the simplicity that differentiates Heroes of The Storm from League of Legends, DoTA or mostly any other MOBA game. I let other people play through my account as well – people who don’t play MOBAs and they found themselves enjoying it. Heroes of The Storm is ultimately a MOBA for those who don’t play MOBAs, and we have yet to see how the final version will be when it comes out soon.

The post Heroes of The Storm early look: Blizzard’s DoTA & LoL appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.