Defense of the Ancients: A year in review

If I were asked to describe the development of Defense of the Ancients within the past year, only one word comes to mind: upheaval.

2007 heralded over fifteen DotA maps released to the public, a handful of new heroes and items introduced into the title, and the emergence of a multitude of new international teams and superstars. Only this month, the German multi-gaming organization MouseSports announced the addition of the DotA squad Back to Basics. This comes on the heels of SK-Gaming’s very own announcement of a DotA sponsorship; it seems that everyone these days wants to get a piece of the pie. MouseSports and SK-Gaming increase the number of “big name” multi-gaming organizations supporting DotA to six: Meet Your Makers, SK-Gaming, eMazing Gaming, MouseSports, Virtus.pro, and Team Pandemic.

As reported here, the Electronic Sports World Championship officially announced the inclusion of DotA in its 2008 tour. This single event could finally allow DotA to gain the e-sports exposure it needs to be accepted by hardcore players who think that it’s not a proper gametype.

In most respects, 2007 brought positive change, though nonetheless, parts of the DotA community ended up worse than they started. The Cyberathelete Amateur League’s DotA division, the league that basically gave birth to competitive DotA, finally collapsed after five semi-successful seasons. While various other CAL divisions continue to thrive, the DotA division has become a community joke due to lack of qualified administration and pressure put forth from fellow organizations that offer cash and prizes.

Yet another disappointment this year was the downfall of the self-proclaimed “revolutionary” e-Sport arena, Cyber Globe E-Sports Association. Speaking as someone who held a position at CGESA for a period of time, the organization was destined to fail; too many projects were being developed at once and an incomplete website plagued the user base from the beginning.

While major sponsorships emerged last year to support the growing title, a select few of the same organizations abandoned the sport in 2007. The first major Northern American DotA team, compLexity Syndicate, dropped their DotA squad in April. The owner of the compLexity Syndicate, Jason Lake, made the following statement on his team’s forums:

“[...]the team has had roster issues of late, and DotA as a whole has not progressed on the world stage. [...] DotA doesn’t appear to be going anywhere in E-Sports [...]“

I don’t know what Lake was smoking that pitiful day when he decided to make such a terrible decision, but I hold the belief that his motives coincide directly with his organization’s future involvement with the Championship Gaming Series. In simpler terms, the CGS would not include a DotA division and Lake’s team would soon be inducted into the series as one of the first franchises. Thus Defense of the Ancients would only bring community appeal and popularity to the team. Which, for Lake, wasn’t a big enough bottom line.

Not all was lost this year, as a new country shook up the scene with incomparable force. Russia dominated the year in every tournament, league, and competition it’s teams entered. The previous five Meet Your Makers’ Pride tournaments have featured Russian teams finishing no worse than third. Virtus.Pro defeated their biggest rival, Meet Your Makers, in the eighth edition MYM Pride, finally proving to the world that they are the team to beat.

In my years of competition and administration throughout the DotA community I have only come across one item that could possibly compare to the happenings of this year: the realization that Defense of the Ancients could evolve into something greater than a simple past-time. Here’s looking forward to an even better 2008.

Thanks to Pu “a2Whisperwind” Liu for your assistance and making sure my facts were correct.