Casters have gathered to share their opinions on which regions have had the biggest glow-up out of all.
The Dota series has existed since 2003, beginning with the Defense of the Ancients before Dota 2 was released. It was available to all regions, including South America It's a game that's gone through many stages throughout the years, and brought us our favorite people today, whether the players or casters of the DPC.
In the past month, I've sat down with a few casters from different regions, who have shared their opinion on which region has had the biggest glow-up over the years. An overwhelming majority of casters share the opinion that South America has had the biggest glow-up, teams-wise and in terms of production.
What are the SEA DPC talents saying about South America?
According to Alvaro "AvoPlus" Sanchez Velasco, the South America DPC has been going through a phase where people finally realize that it is good. He believes that it's been glowing up for the past two years or so, and three years since it started improving.
South America is the biggest example of a region that never had resources in the past. And you gave them a little bit and oh my God, what they do with a little bit.
With the resources they are receiving, South America DPC will continue to improve and people don't see the numbers because SA is a server people don't play in. It is a continuously growing region in Peru, but he hopes that other countries will join too. He hopes that Lima works well and increases in its glow-up.
Similar to this opinion, Austin "Capitalist" Walsh also shares the sentiment that South America DPC has had the biggest glow-up of all regions. Growing up, South America was not considered to be on par with other regions and yes, SA DPC's players were worse back then but it may have been due to them being much younger. It was always about building the infrastructure for players to thrive on, from going from playing for two years to six years, and seeing what they can accomplish when they make a career out of it.
I think that's the advantage that North America always had over South America, you just had players who had been there for longer but the SA DPC is now surpassing North America. Dota is a game about knowledge and NA was there longer, and there was server advantage and stuff like that and stuff.
According to Avery "SVG" Silverman, in terms of gameplay quality in a team, South American DPC has had the best growth while Europe has grown as a whole in terms of viewership, organizations, and even tournaments. While EU was already the biggest, it's now absolutely dominant and harder to be better when you are already first. Compared to a few years ago, when they had three or four teams, Europe has doubled in the number of teams dominating the scene.
Gabriel "Rayuur" Morais believes that South America dictated a few things in a couple of patches, with SA's discovery of new heroes and the gathering of new players every day. South American DPC was a tough region that was pushed aside and they managed to place in the Top 6 of The International.
Meanwhile, Tim "DKTruman" De Lange says that the extra funds thrown into the regions have made them stronger, in terms of production and teams. Most regions had top-tier contending teams amongst them, with Fnatic at the top in SEA DPC. South American Dota 2 teams have gotten to the top and have grown tremendously as a region with contenders for the Majors.
Who is saying that SEA has had the biggest glow-up?
With two big DPC casters saying that South American Dota 2 has had the biggest glow-up, you would think that everyone has a similar opinion. Still, the likes of casting duo John "JohnxFire" Nathan Fernandez and Mike "MLP" Le Phoenix along with Sean "Hades" Goh believe that Southeast Asia has had the biggest glow-up.
JohnxFire feels the community would always be a little bit scattered in the past and viewership was "meh", but the teams were always good. This is an opinion he shared with MLP. SEA has not managed to top their highest placing yet, and they haven't managed to secure a win at an International, so there's a lot more room to grow. John also believes that South America has had a good glow-up, especially with their TI run in 2022, causing huge upsets. They performed better than many thought, with great teams and fantastic fans.
In terms of people getting excited for a region, Southeast Asia has definitely stepped up in terms of our presence internationally. The interest, the fan base has been engaged and growing in SEA.
According to MikeLePhoenix, Southeast Asia has had the biggest glow-up in terms of teams and players, with so many players coming up, causing new rosters and teams. Production-wise, Mike believes that SEA has also gotten better and will continue getting better over time. While many say there's an argument for South American Dota 2 in terms of their teams year after year, SEA is the whole package combined.
SEA's just been fantastic for the last few years and only keeps getting better production wise as well. It's gone from through stages with PGL to BTS to Epulze, and I feel like every single time it's just gotten pretty much better, every single time, with Epulze's set looking the way it does and their talent line-ups.
Hades believes that Southeast Asia's gone from being dominated by two teams to being the most competitive region, next to Europe. It is constantly growing, within regions and nationwide, even with newly promoted players constantly proving themselves.
How have things changed for South American Dota 2?
Two years ago, the teams had to survive in events on their own with no coaches or analysts helping them. Hokori was the only team at The International in Singapore with no coaches, but they had analysts who evolved into the coach role at TI. Their team also consisted of Zero, who played 16 different jobs, including the role of a social media manager and general manager as well as a salesman and playing dad.
South America DPC is now running a major at Lima Major, run by 4DEsports, in collaboration with Epulze. While there have been some production issues, the passion of Dota 2 fans in South America has not gone unnoticed. Thousands of fans turn up regularly to watch Tier 1 Dota 2 and shout 'GAAA' at the top of their voices.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Dota 2 news.