First ESL championship in DOTA 2: What the participants’ organisations say

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Flo
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Dota 2 is a worldwide phenomenon since 2013 – but in Germany MOBA is not one of the top titles. With the ESL Championship, however, the game was given a national league and immediately the first teams formed under the flags of several clubs and organizations.

The qualification rounds for the first ESL Championship in Dota 2 are in full swing. Every interested player can participate. But besides the amateur teams also more professional ones participate in the ESL Championship (ESLM).

We asked representatives of the Esport department of EURONICS Germany as well as of the Esport-Vereine Magdeburg eSports e.V and Engines Stuttgart e.V. why they have set up a Dota team for the ESLM and what they hope for from the new ESL league.

It is not about the victory
All three organisations have one thing in common: they do not send their teams into the race with the claim to want to win the trophy at all costs. They are convinced of the potential of their players. They all want to tackle the championship with ambition and concentration, but none of them wants to take over the championship from the tournament favourite.

Thus Magdeburg explains that as a popular sports club fun and cheering with the club are in the foreground. The representative of the association adds:

“(It) have themselves players within the association organized and thus the desire expressed Magdeburg also with ESLM to represent. Our club structures naturally support this approach and we as a community are happy to be part of it with a team.

The Stuttgart Engines are also going to the start with a local team, so they did not go looking for top athletes of the scene. They are using the opportunity to position themselves more broadly in esport in general with a new team.

Euronics has a similar motivation. The organisation has already competed in other Esport titles of the ESLM in recent years, making it easy to enter Dota 2 through existing structures. Euronics’ aim is to cover the most popular games and to increase its commitment and presence on the national scene.

But how do you find the right players for your team? By getting involved in the scene early on. Both of the clubs have had Dota 2 enthusiasts in their ranks for years. Magdeburg also hosts a public viewing at the annual Dota World Championship The International and thus knows about players of its own community.

A central contact point for Dota fans
But if you don’t have Dota fans in your own ranks, the player search can be quite complicated. Although MOBA is one of the biggest competitively played titles worldwide and has a high number of players in this country, there is no well-connected community. Players usually gamble with friends or alone, follow Dota rather passively and are usually more interested in international events.

The three ESL participants hope, however, that the championship can strengthen the community and bring them together. According to Euronics, the ESL has signalled that a central contact point for the German scene has been created, where everyone has the opportunity to play their way to the top.