The Dota 2 ESL One Birmingham 2026 match reaches its grand conclusion right now, and it has been a powerful showcase stuffed with memorable tales and dramatic comebacks. The massive information is the chaos created by Valve’s choice to drop a gargantuan, game-changing Dota 2 patch on everybody’s heads proper earlier than playoffs. Talking to ESL product supervisor Álvaro ‘Avo+’ Sánchez Velasco forward of the finals, I ask him concerning the affect of these modifications, who his decide is to win, and whether or not he is apprehensive concerning the looming shadow of Impasse and its potential affect on the Dota 2 scene.
Patch 7.41’s arrival is not the primary time Valve has deployed a large Dota 2 replace proper earlier than a serious match, and I doubt it will be the final. The developer appears to have a penchant for shaking up the MOBA and seeing which groups can adapt the quickest, creating loads of pleasure for followers however no finish of stress for the gamers and manufacturing workforce. “I do not suppose many individuals slept in our TV workforce or our in-game workforce,” Velasco remarks, with essential checks to make sure in-game instruments work, broadcast graphics are right, and that no game-breaking bugs will threaten the integrity of the competitors.
“That half is clearly no enjoyable, but it surely’s additionally good to all come collectively below the thought of, ‘Properly, this occurred.’ You are feeling form of enthusiastic about it, you’re employed all night time – it is form of what you do in esports, proper? And then you definitely get to look at some actually thrilling new matches and see what the gamers discovered.” The manufacturing workforce typically jokes “that we really know greater than the professionals, as a result of we have been working all night time on this factor,” however he notes they’ve a rule to not communicate to any gamers the day after a patch to keep away from any potential aggressive benefits.
As an viewers member and a participant, Velasco says he is very enthusiastic about patch 7.41, and “loves the design philosophy” of the replace. He praises Valve’s willingness to experiment after which change or take away total options like Aspects. “It is not as a result of they do not know easy methods to stability, it is as a result of they need to have the ability to take a look at to see why it is damaged. They’ve numerous perception in participant independence.
“To me, the elimination of Aspects wasn’t like, ‘We’re taking it fully away.’ As a result of they saved the Innates, the upgraded the Innates, they made them considerably associated to Aspects to showcase what individuals are really choosing, and to me that is very cool.” Whereas he loved the variability Aspects dropped at the sport, he acknowledges, “Typically having an excessive amount of selection, particularly within the professional scene, means one of the best issues get abused.” From a pure design philosophy standpoint, he calls 7.41 “Among the finest patches I’ve seen shortly,” however laughs, “Once I get to play, I can let you know how enjoyable it’s.”
The ESL manufacturing workforce has been working laborious “to be sure that viewers really feel like they will sustain.” Dota 2 is an advanced sport, in spite of everything, and it is vital to cater to newcomers and people who have not studied the patch notes intimately, particularly within the greater tournaments. Whereas division-two tournaments and qualifiers assume a devoted viewers with a bit extra information, Velasco says that in huge exhibits like ESL One, the casters and panel are requested “to be a bit extra informal,” with the host typically performing because the everyman and asking the essential questions.
Impasse is Valve’s new child, and the MOBA overlap has naturally induced questions on whether or not its full-scale arrival will spell doom for Dota 2. “I feel the group at massive, particularly probably the most vocal components, generally is a bit scared generally,” Velasco remarks. Each video games can eat up lots of people’s restricted time, in spite of everything. “From my private perspective, I am fairly enthusiastic about it. It is a enjoyable sport, I play it.” He notes that, whereas he does not sometimes play shooters, he enjoys watching the likes of Rainbow Six Siege and Counter-Strike 2.
“It is clear Impasse has one thing particular, the technique parts are incredible. To me, it is really the other [of a threat to Dota 2]. It serves as a bridge for lots of people that come from the shooter group.” He factors to the mix of tactical depth and mechanical simplicity that video games like CS2 provide: “There’s one thing extremely satisfying about getting the appropriate shot or determining a really particular trick the place you line up your crosshairs in a particular path [for a knife or grenade].
“That half is one thing I really feel Impasse can hit for these gamers in a approach that Dota could not. If you present individuals Dota these days, if you have not grown up with RTS video games, like I did, it is form of laborious to play, the bottom controls usually are not intuitive.” Velasco “grew up enjoying Warcraft 3 and Age of Empires,” whereas I discovered an identical route in by means of C&C and later StarCraft, however those that haven’t got that background typically discover the Dota 2 management scheme complicated at first.
“Impasse can function a gateway, for my part, to one of the best components of Dota, which is the strategic depth, the complexity, this very fascinating design philosophy that I consider can also be a part of the core values of Impasse,” Velasco asserts. “I solely see it as a optimistic. I feel it is extra individuals being launched to our sport, nearly like a newcomer stream.” He provides, “I’ve seen lots of people come into our group purely from Impasse that both stopped enjoying or are simply eager about our sport, and that is fairly great to see.”
Whereas the video games’ mechanical distinction could make that transition tougher, Velasco notes that “There is a decrease barrier to entry on watching esports.” He admits, “I will be trustworthy, I do not like shooters as a result of I am unhealthy. Impasse, I bumble by means of due to my Dota information.” Whereas that retains him from enjoying many shooters, “I nonetheless watch CS, and I feel it is a incredible esport – for my part among the finest viewing experiences you possibly can ever get in esports.”
Velasco says numerous Dota 2 viewers will even watch video games like CS and Overwatch. “Once I think about that, I feel, ‘Properly is not Impasse getting even nearer to that, the place you possibly can simply watch each esports, particularly when you have orgs that come throughout each ecosystems?’ They’re each Valve video games, it is form of straightforward to do.” Diving into Impasse actually relit my dormant Dota 2 flame, and on the esports facet specifically, Velasco believes it is “purely a gateway” to individuals watching some quantity of each video games, even when they favor one.
Dota 2’s participant rely has gone up and down over time, but it surely’s remained pretty secure. On the match facet, Velasco is feeling optimistic. “I really feel prefer it’s fairly sustainable, at the very least when it comes to the viewers and viewership perspective, we’ve not seen any backwards tendencies there. There’s ups and downs like every esport, however this final TI was one in every of our most-watched since TI10, proper? You are still seeing individuals actually eager about and dedicated to the sport.”
Velasco says he really prefers the fashionable period, the place we have moved previous the rising tendencies and $40 million prize swimming pools. “The hammer has dropped, per se, and viewers haven’t stopped watching, and that feels a lot safer, particularly as somebody that works within the ecosystem.”
He notes that the current uptick in Dota 2 gamers “has made individuals very hopeful, however from my perspective, it simply issues if there are sufficient individuals. I do not suppose we have to perpetually hit new highs each single time. I feel we’re pleased to have the viewers we’ve that is continuously returning, to be one of many established esports within the scene, versus all the time having to hit new data yearly to make sure that individuals know we’re nonetheless huge.”
With Valve ripping the prize-pool bandaid off of The Worldwide, does that assist different tournaments really feel equal in significance? “Probably not,” Velasco laughs. “The legacy of TI is insane, you possibly can’t beat that. I am unable to actually clarify it. It is an emotional response. Once I hear the orchestra begin, I effectively up. I effectively up for our occasions, as a result of a workforce did an amazing job. I effectively up at TI simply because. I am unable to cease crying.
“There’s one thing actually particular to it that I do not suppose we are going to beat – I do not suppose we’ve to. It is not our purpose to surpass TI.” He notes that, since Valve referred to as time on the Dota Professional Circuit, there was a concerted effort by the third-party match organizers “to attempt to attain that stage once more. And I feel I am beginning to see the primary inklings of this with a few established franchises that began two or three years in the past, not simply us, turning into the model title, the home title. Like, ‘Oh, I do know this occasion, I do know what to anticipate.'”
That leaves one vital query: who’s going to win? You could have already got the reply by the point you learn this, however after I spoke to Velasco there have been nonetheless three groups within the working: Tundra Esports, Group Yandex, and Xtreme Gaming. He has a delicate spot for XG and Wang ‘Ame’ Chunyu. “I’d love for Chinese language Dota to resurge – the Ame storyline, that workforce, you possibly can’t write a greater story than the uncrowned king.” He acknowledges “just a little little bit of pleasure” round Yandex “as a result of they arrive from our division, they certified that approach.”
“From a purely analytical perspective, Tundra is wanting like one of the best workforce proper now.” Velasco believes Neta ’33’ Shapira “is perhaps one of the best participant of all time at this level,” and says it is nice watching the viewers reply to UK hometown hero Matthew ‘Ari’ Walker. “When that man seems on digicam, the entire crowd cheers, it is superb. We do photographs of the gamers, we are going to present him for a second, they usually roar.”
Velasco says the workforce has been “blessed” with the ESL One Birmingham lineup. “We obtained fairly fortunate – we write storylines earlier than the match: ‘What occurs if a workforce goes far, how will we hype them up, how will we make them cool?’ It is the primary time that we have been capable of write full tales for all 16 groups. Anybody who makes it this far is spectacular. My private bias is solely a nostalgic Chinese language Dota factor, however I feel the hometown favourite would possibly take it.”
Sadly, on the time of writing, XG has simply been knocked out, however there are simply hours left till we discover out whether or not Tundra or Yandex will likely be victorious. “I am actually excited for the grand remaining ceremony,” Velasco concludes. “I hope you guys take pleasure in this – we labored actually laborious this 12 months for the grand finals, we have got numerous surprises, so it may be a really thrilling time.”
