Midas Mode is a unique Dota 2 tournament series presented by Moonduck Studios. The tournaments use a custom ruleset involving an out-of-game economy that uses “Moonbucks” as its currency.
The original Midas Mode saw Mr. Midas running the show. (Image via Moonduck Studios)
When Did Midas Mode Start?
The first version of the series debuted in November 2017. It was run as a nine-day tournament, from November 18-26. The second iteration is running September 24-October 2.
Who Can Participate?
The first tournament featured eight teams—four North American teams and four European teams. With BETWAY Midas Mode 2.0, the event has expanded to include four Chinese teams.
All participating teams receive direct invitations to the event.
What Tournament Format Does Midas Mode Use?
Midas Mode uses a best-of-three round-robin group stage to seed teams into a single-elimination playoff bracket as follows:
The team with the worst record is eliminated.
The two middle teams head to the semifinals series.
The team with the best record is seeded directly into the Grand Finals, which is a best-of-five.
What are the Rules?
Using a basic Captain’s Mode Dota 2 game as its basis, the Midas Mode version of the game utilizes an out-of-game economy to raise the stakes.
To that end, each team begins with a certain number of Moonbucks. They have to use their Moonbucks to pay to pick or ban heroes during the draft.
There is also a fee for pausing the game, and the sides were chosen via a blind auction.
In the first iteration, teams received Moonbucks by randoming heroes and by passing on a ban. This was removed in Midas Mode 2.0. A meta had developed in the first iteration of Midas Mode that saw teams skipping all bans and randoming most or all of their heroes.
Teams can earn Moonbucks by completing bounties in games that they then won. Bounties varied from day-to-day. One example, on the second day of the first Midas Mode, was called “Secret Santa.” Worth 125 Moonbucks to the team that completed the bounty, it required a team to drop an observer ward, sentry ward and teleport scroll inside the Roshan Pit, and announce “Happy Frostivus!” in all chat before ten minutes. Moonduck invited fans to suggest bounties, providing an opportunity for fans to participate in the event.
Who Has Won?
Midas Mode 2017 was won by Optic Gaming in the North American stage and by Team Liquid in the European stage.
What’s New to BETWAY Midas Mode 2.0?
For Midas Mode 2.0, Moonduck released their own explanatory video:
The Teams
A team announcement was released in late September 2019, revealing the 12 teams competing in the event. Highlights included two-time TI-winning OG, The International 2013-winning roster for Alliance, The International 2011-winning roster for Natus Vincere, a stack headed by Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei and popular South American squad, Team Anvorgesa.
Crowd fundraising
In 2019, Moonduck Studios opened up a crowdfunding option for their tournament series. Fans are able to pay for various components of the map, including items, heroes, runes, buildings, creep camps, wards and so on.
Fan LAN
Though the tournament itself will be played online, as the first one was, Moonduck Studios is hosting a LAN for fans to attend. The event involves various features for ticketholders, including the ability to participate (in small ways) in the event itself for VIPs including the Creep Chaotic Takeover and the Roshan Takeover.
How Can I Watch?
You can see all the videos for previous Midas Mode on the Moonduck Studios YouTube channel.
The tournament is broadcast on the Moonduck Twitch channel.
