“Best thing that happened to Dota in a long time” – N0tail on the abolishment of DPC

Yesterday on September 15, Valve dropped a bombshell to announce that they are stopping operations for the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC). The system which was implemented in 2017 has been the foundation of Dota 2 esports for the past six years. But Valve sternly believes that it has been bland and stagnant - and it wishes to change the direction of the competitive scene.

With the massive changes, there are bound to be intense reactions from the community. While a strong majority of pro players celebrate the abolishment of DPC, the other side are heavily concerned.

If you missed it, you can read more about the abolishment of DPC below.

The highest-earning Dota 2 player of all time, Johan "N0tail" Sundstein, is over the moon with the changes. He calls Valve's decision the "best thing that happened to Dota in a long time". The founder of OG also hopes to see TI invites in the future.

Shopify Rebellion's Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen applauds Valve for their recent actions and calling them good decisions. Valve has been on a roll with updates and consistent communication these past few months - something quite bizarre in the Dota 2 space. Cr1t- posted, "Valve constantly making good decisions and showing they care these last few months."

Cr1t-'s words are backed by Team Liquid's Aydin "iNSaNiA" Sarkohi. The decorated team captain shares the same thoughts as Cr1t-, saying "Valve cooking (right now)".

The current coach for OG, Mikhail "Misha" Agatov, is also happy with the news, saying he's "looking forward to a more fun pro scene next year."

Founder of Alliance and TI champion, Jonathan "Loda" Berg, also celebrates the end of DPC. He states, "DPC was an impressive endeavor that helped grow tier 2 but now I'm happy to go back to the good old days."

Dota analyst, Murielle "Kips" Huisman, is on the fence about Valve's new decision. "The DPC was a slow, monotonous calender-hog. But killing it won't return us to the glory days of Dota 2 unless Valve also returns to their old ways of supporting the community and the scene," she posted.

Caster, Austin "Cap" Walsh, agrees with the new direction of more third-party tournaments, but he also raised some general concerns. He hopes for more tournament organizers being involved without only ESL and PGL running the events.

Cap mentioned that "almost anything is preferable to the bland & low effort content that has been much of the DPC the last couple of years." The veteran Dota 2 caster stated that he has watched almost no broadcast other than SEA's, emphasizing the boring state of the scene.

Cap adds in the thread that he hopes to see "more Summits, Midas Modes, AniMajors" - the more creative tournaments run by creative people. He also calls for the return of open qualifiers.

Robnroll is not very happy with the abolishment of DPC, mainly concerned about his livelihood as a Dota 2 caster. He states that the DPC was the only consistent work he had and without it, there might not be enough events to support smaller teams and talent.

Caster Bkop also supports the sentiment, "DPC is done and so may the job security that came with it."

Entity's manager, Noah, also spoke out in detail about his concern and dissatisfaction with the discontinuation of DPC. He noted in a Reddit post how the last few years have been a step in the right direction and how its flaws can be fixed with better execution.

To Noah, the DPC provided a sustainable system with room for growth for up-and-rising players. He believes since the start of DPC, Dota 2 started to have a larger variety of competitive teams.

He concluded the post, "My point of view currently is very skeptical. I am worried for everyone involved; this is a sudden change. I know it will affect many lives and put things at risk. I doubt it is a positive change."

Valve has yet to reveal the replacement to DPC. But we can certainly expect more third-party tournaments and LAN events. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Dota 2 news and updates!