2020 has been a tough and forgettable year for many, and a mix of dispiriting and delighting events and activities have taken place throughout the year in Dota 2. From the ongoing pandemic halting the Dota 2 Pro Circuit to the Me Too movement, which saw talents like TobiWan and GranDGranT getting ejected from the scene to Diretide's return and more, the year has had its fair share of interesting, baffling, saddening, and satisfying Dota 2 moments.
Since so much has happened, fans may have had difficulty keeping up with all this news. So here is a month by month rewind of what went down.
Dota 2 Rewind For 2020
January
- The initial phase of the month went without any intriguing event happening apart from the Tier 5 neutral items being spotted for the first time in a pro-Dota 2 match. It happened in the grand finals of WePlay! Bukovel Minor in a grueling game 2 between Nigma and RNG.
- The month’s finals days dropped a bombshell on OG fans, with JerAx announcing his retirement and ana taking a break until the DPC season of 2020-21. Ceb also opted to step down from the active lineup, returning to the coaching role. OG announced the replacements of their juggernauts in the form of MidOne, Saksa, and SumaiL. Popular streamer, Gorgc joined the two-time TI champions as their full-time streamer.
- TI9 True-Sight documentary was unveiled on YouTube and attracted one million viewers on its first day.
- Legend of the game, Dendi, also returned to the competitive scene by announcing his new organization, B8 Esports.
- The only Major of 2020, the Dreamleague S13, the Leipzig Major witnessed Secret showcase a dominant performance to become the champions.
February
- PSG.LGD made a surprising decision to remove its carry player, Ame, who had been an integral part of the organization since 2016.
- Valve announced that they would be scrapping the Current Dota 2 Pro Circuit system and replacing it with Regional Leagues and Divisions, which would ideally help support Tier 2 teams in underserved regions like SEA.
March
- Fnatic won the last significant Dota 2 tourney on LAN by emerging victorious at DOTA Summit 12.
- The pandemic spread its tentacles to the Dota 2 pro scene, which led to Valve canceling the Los Angeles Major.
- Cloud9 refurbished the roster, welcoming their old boy, EternaLEnVy, back to the squad.
April
- Two of the storied players from the NA scene, PPD and Universe, announced their retirement from the competitive scene. On the contrary, s4 reunited with Alliance after nearly four years.
- One of the most insane Dota 2 gameplay performances took place in a series between Secret and OG. OG was able to pull off a comeback after being down 30k+ gold because of Three Rapier plus eternal sustain build by SumaiL on Gyrocopter that included Heart Of Tarrasque, Satanic, Paladin Sword, and heals from Pugna and Chen.
- In a piece of very saddening news, Valve postponed The International 10 to 2021.
May
- Abed became the first player in Dota 2 history to reach the landmark of 11,000 MMR.
- TI4 champions, Newbee, were inflicted with lifetime bans by Chinese Dota 2 organizations (ImbaTV, Mars Media, and CDA) due to match-fixing allegations.
- Dendi’s B8 Esports registered an infamous record as it became the team with the most consecutive losses in Dota 2 history.
- Valve released the coveted 2020 Battle Pass with a ton of new cosmetics, personas, and rewards.
- Secret won WePlay! Pushka League S1: Division 1 to begin with one of the most dominant phases in the history of Dota.
June
- In June 2020, multiple prominent female Dota 2 personalities accused Dota 2 talent of sexual harassment, which led to the following outcomes.
- Beyond the Summit banned ex-American professional player, DeMoN for sexual assault allegations.
- GranDGranT left esports for an indefinite time after being alleged for unacceptable and inappropriate conduct by many women. EG also released him from the streamer position.
- Valve removed TobiWan’s Dota 2 voice lines from TI10 Battle Pass after cosplayer and syndereN’s girlfriend, Meruna, accused him of sexual harassment.
- Dota 2 host and commentator, Redeye left the pro scene following accusations of Assault.
- Team Secret’s dream run continued as they broke Alliance’s record, set in 2013 for the most number of wins in 100 consecutive matches. Team Secret had an 85-15 W-L record. They went on to even improve this record in the coming months by making it 87-13.
July
- TobiWan denied allegations of sexual misconduct but retired from esports commentary.
- 23savage became the second player to reach 11K MMR but got replaced by Raven in Fnatic.
- Ceb returned to competitive Dota after only six months, replacing SumaiL, who was removed from OG.
RELATED: SumaiL Removed From OG. Ceb Returns!
August
- Gorgc left OG citing a conflict of interest in broadcasting tournament games featuring the European team.
- Iceiceice took a break from competitive Dota and stated that he would not play for Fnatic until DPC restarts.
- Arguably the best CIS coach, ArtStyle, returned to Virtus.pro as a coach after two years.
- TI10 Prize Pool surpassed the 34 million mark to become the largest tournament in esports history.
September
- Two staple players of PSG.LGD, midlaner Somnus, and captain/support fy left the organization after a long successful journey. Eurus left Vici Gaming to make space for 23savage. Their coach, rOtK, and offlaner, Yang also left the team. Sccc joined EHOME while Ame returned to PSG.LGD.
- Commentator and analyst Kyle called out streamers, Gorgc and SingSing, for streaming third-party tournaments on their Twitch channels.
- Fnatic replaced Jabz with eyyou only to remove him within a week. iceiceice also announced his departure from Fnatic, citing a desire to play in a different region.
- NA legend Fear took a break from competitive Dota.
- Topson became a father to a baby girl.
- TNC removed its captain, March, from the squad.
- Na’Vi recruited the FlyToMoon roster on a trial basis.
- Miracle- pulled off, arguably, the most mind-boggling comeback of all time as he defended a very low hp Ancient with Arc Warden’s Bubble. Alliance, wanting to leave no stone unturned in taking down the throne, wasted all their buybacks, which caused Nigma to end the game by going straight mid.
- Reality Rift and Geek Fam disbanded their rosters, citing financial struggles due to the DPC's indefinite halt.
RELATED: March Parts Ways With TNC Predator
October
- “Elephant.4AM” featuring fy, Somnus, Sylar, Yang, and RedPanda was unveiled. Shortly after, Sylar got kicked for Eurus.
- Jabz returned to Fnatic after a one-month hiatus.
- TI10 Battle Pass broke the $40 million mark. Spectre defeated Faceless Void to emerge as the winner of the Arcana vote.
- March joined T1 as the head coach.
- Team Secret’s indomitable win streak of eight consecutive tournaments ended as they got knocked out by Liquid at ESL One Germany 2020.
- Dota 2 reached the highest peak player count in 5 months due to Diretide's release.
November
- EG removed RAMZES666 from the active roster. VP parted ways with No[o]ne, Solo, and Zayac. These four players got together to make a new stack, Just Error, with SumaiL.
- Team Liquid won their first tournament at ESL One Germany 2020 since getting hired by the organization in October 2019.
- KuroKy made a comeback to Nigma’s active lineup after being away with an arm injury for nearly five months.
- EternaLEnVy’s 4Fun stack, Team Zero, broke Quincy Crew’s eight tournaments winning spree by emerging as the champions of DOTA Summit 13 Online: Americas.
- iceiceice joined EG to finalize their Dota 2 roster.
- Valve communicated that DPC would resume on January 18, 2021, in the form of regional leagues.
- Ninjas In Pyjamas took a temporary exit from Dota 2’s competitive scene as they disbanded their roster.
Quincy Crew, like Secret, had an astonishing eight tournament winning streak till BTS Pro Series S3.
Image Via Liquipedia
Image Via Liquipedia
December
- PPD and Fear joined hands for one more time by making a stack, Sadboys.
- RAMZES666 revealed that Just Error had disbanded after playing a solitary tournament, EPIC League.
- Valve released the long-awaited 7.28 patch introducing Aghanim Shards and also unveiled a new hero, Hoodwink.
2020 has definitely been a tumultuous year for every Dota 2 fan, players, and talent, but all of us have been able to crawl through the year with some engrossing online tournaments. 2021 now awaits us as we hope that DPC resumes on its expected date and regional leagues turn out to be a big hit. TI is one thing that every fan is eagerly waiting for, and though it seems unlikely, we could be in for a treat in 2021 with two TIs.
