Dota 2 February News Digest
Table of Contents
It’s almost the middle of spring and just the right time to sum up Dota 2 news that happened in February.
Game Updates
IceFrog announced a change in update policy.
Historically, patches were released only two or three times a year, after or right before major LAN events, and often they were game-altering. Now they will be published every two weeks on Thursdays instead of just a couple of major updates during the year.
The experiment will last for six months, starting this February, and then the developers will evaluate the results. Also, a new in-game feature will notify you of changes to heroes in your match to make it easier for players to readjust. It seems that Dota is becoming more and more player-friendly.
Tournaments
StarLadder iLeague Season 4 took place at the beginning of the month, lasting for four whole days from February, 1st to February, 4th. Eight teams took part in the group stage of the competition with a prize pool of $300,000. The tournament was held employing a double-elimination system decided by the best of three matches.
The playoffs were held among four remaining teams using a single-elimination bracket system. The semi-finals applied a best of three evaluation system, while the finals used best of five. Team Liquid took first place and won $135,000, while LGD Gaming finished second gaining $60,000 of prize money. Newbee shared third place with Mineski, taking home $30,000 each.
The next prominent championship that was held this February was ESl One Katowice 2018. Powerful teams were fighting for part of the impressive $1,000,000 prize pool and 1,500 qualifying points in Katowice, Poland. The main event was held in two get-team double-elimination matches. Top teams from every group were directly transferred to the semifinals, and second and third places were transferred to quarterfinals.
Virtus.Pro took the competition by storm, seizing first place and winning $400,000. Vici Gaming landed second with $200,000 in prize money, and Team Liquid finished third and took home $120,000.
Team Transfers
Na’Vi and Virtus.Pro exchanged players on February 1st. Lil joined Na’Vi, while RodjER enlisted in Virtus.Pro**.** February was a month of change for Na’Vi – SoNNeikO left the team, and LeBronDota from Spider Pigzs joined four days later as a temporary stand-in.
PlayHard left GeekFam on February, 2, and xRag joined the team three days later. Ayo left VGJ.Thunder, and ddc from LGD.Forever Young replaced him. OP also left LGD.Forever Young and returned to Invictus Gaming after an unsuccessful trial, though the player is currently inactive.
Srf was transferred from IG.Vitality to the main IG squad. InJuly returns to the main roster, and END leaves for a newly created team – Sun Gaming. Silent left Team Empire, and Nix was hired to replace him.
February was also an active month for LGD.Forever Young. Super returned from his trial period for Invictus Gaming, Yao and Ohaiyo joined the team, and Inflame took a break due to cervical vertebra problems.
Rayuur was hired to play for paiN Gaming. iLTW left Team Spirit on February, 11, and G was transferred from Gambit Esports to Team Spirit on February, 27. 荧 left Keen Gaming for a place in EHOME, butold chicken from EHOME quickly made up for the loss.
That’s all for today concerning Dota 2 news and updates. Stay tuned for more gaming guides, reviews, and updates.
