Is it easy to make a professional Dota 2 team? Dota 2 is one of the heavyweights in the worldwide esports scene. From amateur to professional tournaments and leagues, Dota esports sees high participation from players and fans.
With a high average prize pool, many are eager to take the spoils and glory for themselves. The essence of competition and cutthroat stakes make every game fun to watch, even the lower-skill games. Like all tournaments and leagues that operate, teams need to join.
Dota is one of the few esports that do not adopt the franchise system. It also means that taking the ultimate glory is anybody’s game. Professional games become spicy when dark horses and underdogs have a deep run.
It is these moments that create a compelling story in Dota esports, and what makes it fun to follow. So with that being said, how do we make a Dota Pro Team? And what are the known methods that work from historical evidence?
Form a Dota 2 Team
As a non-franchising esport structure, Dota 2 allows anyone to compete at the highest level. Players can compete from open qualifiers, to Close Qualifiers, into Division 2, and Division 1. In a vacuum, any team can win TI, no matter if they have no sponsors.
Of course, the fact is that player-made teams don’t go anywhere far without sponsors. Players of these teams scramble at the sight of Div 1 contention to find any sponsor.
A stack of players, depending on the rules, can undoubtedly compete in any region. After all, teams like Dendi’s B8 compete in the NA DPC, despite being an all-EU team. Instances of teams and players in the past attempted to do this under different regulations.
Quinn “Quinn” Callahan of Gaimin Gladiators attempted this in 2019 with a move to SA but was disqualified. At present, at least 3 members of a team need to be in the region to participate in the regional league.
Become an Organization
The easiest way to create a pro team in any title is to be a corporate entity. An organization can pick up any team that shows great potential in high-skill leagues. These orgs can sponsor a team, often replacing that team’s name with the org name, or a variation of it.
The ex-EG NA squad is now Shopify Rebellion, a Canada-based esports organization under Shopify. SR is only one of many player stacks in Dota’s history that took on their sponsor’s names.
But organization involvement in Dota Esports is a good thing. This means that money is flowing into the scene, which attracts more viewers and legitimate sponsors. Legitimacy is important in esports, more so in this delicate period where first impressions still matter.
Organizations with heavy contacts with good bearing can enrich an esport. Of course, the only with this is that Dota esports is quite liberal in allowing its broadcast talent to use expletives.
Making the team work out is a challenge. Human nature and chemistry are something that is discovered and made compromises with. When a startup of 5 players begins finding the connection, they can go places. As a group of 5 begin improving, managers, coaches, and all manner of people begin gravitating toward their aid.
