Best Dota 2 Teams & Players

The eSports title of Valve has a lot of teams every year challenging for the prestigious TI trophy. Many Dota 2 teams & players have come and gone but some have made their mark on the history of one of the most difficult games in the world. Here is a list of some of the best Dota 2 players and teams. Including some of the most prestigious and recognized figures in competitive Dota history.

Team Secret

Team Secret from Turkey is one of Dota 2’s most successful teams. Currently, Secret ranks among the top teams in the competitive world. In August 2014, players from the Natus Vincere, Fnatic, and Alliance decided to start their own team. The history of the team makes it clear why it belongs to the best in the world and the lineup is so well equipped. The first major success was celebrated in May 2015, when Secret beat Evil Geniuses at The Summit 3. In general, 2015 was a very good year for the Turkish team.

Team Secret won the premier tournaments ESL One Frankfurt 2015, MLG World Finals, and Nanyang Dota 2 Championship. Only at The Frankfurt Major 2015, Team Secret was defeated by the currently best Dota 2 Team OG in the final with 3-1. The success story continued in 2016: The team won The Shanghai Major 2016 and won $ 1.1 million in prize money. 2017, however, started sobering for Team Secret; In the Kiev Major, they only reached the split places 9 to 16 and thus dropped out of the tournament very early. In 2018, they had an impressive season in the DPC but failed to shine in the TI.

Virtus.Pro

Let’s come to the best team of the first season of the DPC. Virtus.Pro is not a pure Dota 2 team but also has a lineup competing in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The company is managed by a Russian billionaire: Alan Usmanov. He announced in 2015 that an investment of more than 100 million US dollars will be made by him in the organization. In total, Virtus.pro’s teams have already received over $ 10 million in prize money from Counter-Strike and Dota 2. In the 2017-2018 season, they won almost every Dota 2 tournament they competed in. They were favorites to win the TI but unfortunately, the CIS ended their run at 8th place.

Team Liquid

In 2017, we have never seen a team proclaim itself the champion of The International and continue to maintain that level of play in the following season. We can say that Team Liquid was a really special case. However, they are no longer the world champion of Dota 2, since they had a forgetful TI8 campaign. Nonetheless, the lineup is still formidable. They finished 1st in StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3, 3rd-4th ESL One Hamburg, 1st in AMD SHAPPIRE Dota Pit League 2nd in ESL One Genting and 1st in StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 4. This Dota 2 Teams Players hold some of the most efficient players the league has ever seen. 

Newbee

They were the runner-ups of The International 7 and won ESL One Genting by beating Team Liquid. Newbee might be the best team in Asia but in 2017 they had a tough time against European teams. They are a shadow of their former selves but in this upcoming season, we can surely expect a rejuvenated team.  

OG

OG is the biggest surprise in Esport history and won the mega-event The International 2018. “Five Friends”, “One Team”, “The Underdogs” or “The Outlaws”: OG got some names in the run-up to The International 2018. “Future TI Champion” was not one of them – and not without reason. In 2016 and 2017, OG was a top team in the scene. The last season was more than disappointing. The team only won a minor. OG was in shambles when just before the supermajor: Co-founder valley “Fly” Aizik and Gustav “s4” Magnusson left the team to join the rivals of Evil Geniuses.

Coach Sébastien “7ckngMad” Debs, who had already stepped in as substitute over the months before, as well as support player Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka and second co-founder Johan “N0tail” Sundstein stayed behind. In the short-term newcomers, Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen and Anathan “ana” Pham were brought in. The former had not played a professional tournament and the other had been looking for a team for himself. Who would have thought that the team struggling throughout the whole Dota 2 season was about to become the champions of The International 2018.

Now let’s have a look at some of the top players who have made a name for themselves in the eSports industry. They are surely amongst the best if not the best players.

Dota 2 Players

Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi

KuroKy is a truly the richest player of eSports (in terms of both money and respect). He started his Dota 2 career early on, being one of the few players who was invited to participate in the first The International in 2011. He currently plays for Team Liquid and was champion of The International 2017. He has won $4,097,203.61 in winnings.

Amer “Miracle” Barqawi

KuroKy’s team-mate was born in Jordan and began playing DotA and his successor in lan houses, along with his older brothers. When the MMR ranking was released, he realized his great potential and was quickly invited by veteran Johan “N0tail” to join the professional OG team. He currently plays for Team Liquid. He has won $3,671,337.28 in winnings. He truly is one of the best and the most versatile player of competitive Dota 2.

Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora

With a career full of ups and downs, the American has moments of sadness and glory. After years fighting for a world title, he won The International 2015 for Evil Geniuses, a team he has parted ways with and finished TI7 in tenth place. He has won $3,026,235.67 in winnings.

Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov

The 22-year-old Bulgarian started playing video games at age 5 on a computer that his grandmother gave him as a gift. At 12 he met Dota 2 and in 2015 he was called to play Team Liquid by Kuroky himself, a team he still plays for. He has won $3,438,411.76 in winnings.

Lasse “Matumbaman” Urpalainen

Matumbaman’s career began when he played the highest level of his country’s baseball tournaments. When his team manager left the team, his passion for the sport was also gone and he had several problems with alcohol and his emotional state. Dota 2 helped the good-natured Matumbaman to be reborn as a person and as a player. He currently defends Team Liquid. He has won $3,438,116.04 in winnings.

Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan

SumaiL is one of the youngest Dota 2 professional players in the competitive landscape. The Pakistani began playing Dota at the age of eight, along with his brother and has never since stopped. Charlie Yang, one of the managers of Evil Geniuses, was the one who called the boy to play on the team, surprising the world with his talent. SumaiL was the champion of The International 2015 at only 16 years old. The prodigy has won $3,265,914.94.

Peter “ppd” Dager

Ppd was already an incredible player when he and his friends from the SADBOYS team were playing for Evil Geniuses. Over time, the coexistence became complicated and the pro player learned the hard way to deal with problems when seeing colleagues Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg and Artour “Arteezy” Babaev leaving the team to play in for Team Secret. Alongside new players, the American has been IT 5 champion. He is still one of Dota 2’s biggest players in the scenario. He has won $2,853,154.62.

Clinton “Fear” Loomis

After finishing college, the American, who is one of the oldest and most respected players in the competitive circuit, realized that what he really wanted was to play video games. Fear’s journey started from his first Dota amateur tournament, in which he won $ 90. After winning International 2015 champion, he earned $ 1,326,932.14. He truly is an inspiration to all the players who dream to become pro-Dota 2 players. He has played for Evil Geniuses since 2011 and is always alternating between coach and player positions. He has won $2,496,104.99 in winnings.

Maroun “GH” Merhej

GH played for a local team from Lebanon, his home country, before joining Team Liquid. In interviews during TI7, he said that he only played at lan houses or cyber cafes because having a good internet connection at home in Lebanon is extremely expensive. Playing for Team Liquid since January 2017, GH secured the title of The International 2017 alongside his colleagues. His current earning through Dota 2 tournaments is approximately $3,056,909.18.

Li “iceice” Peng

Iceice was the champion of The International 2016 with Wings Gaming. After being a world champion, he and his team left Wings because of late payment of their salaries, and they created Team Random, which was banned from the Chinese competitive circuit for making that decision without terminating the contracts in the right way.

Iceice then decided to pause his career but returned to form the Dango team in 2017, and came to play for the qualifier open for the TI7, but was unsuccessful. He won $1,998,972.63.