Valve Banning Smurfs is the Most Exciting Part of the TI14 Update

Just 2 weeks before the start of The International 14, Valve have finally released the TI game update and it’s the most bitterly disappointing one to date. Sure, most of us never really expected Battle Passes to make a return, Valve were very clear about their intentions to get rid of them but I really had hoped for something more. But for now, we’re going to have to live with what we’ve got and here it is.

75k smurf accounts banned

It’s been a while since we’ve had a mass banning in Dota and if you’re going to include rewards that depend on placing well in a leaderboard, getting rid of some of those gaming the system is at least a small help. This is a bit of a footnote at the bottom of the announcement made in Dota 2 news but it’s the part that might actually have an impact on players. They won’t have banned every smurf by any stretch of the imagination but it’s something approaching a step in the right direction.

Team and talent bundles are back

They’re back and they’re actually one of the best parts of the TI14 Dota update. As always, all participating teams and talent have tiered bundles that include a bunch of different rewards. As confirmed in Valve’s announcement, 50% of every sale goes directly to the team or talent you want to support with an additional 30% from each supporter bundle sale going into the TI prize pool. Here’s what you can get:

Teams

Teams have bronze, silver and gold levels to their bundles.

• Bronze tier (£1.45 GBP / around $2 USD) gets you a team logo that appears next to your name during games.
• Silver tier ( £7.20 GBP / around $9.70 USD) gets you all previous rewards, a silver team badge, 3 sprays and 2 loading screens.
• Gold tier (£14.45 GBP / around $19.50 USD) gets you all previous rewards, a gold team badge, an HP bar badge, emoticons and chat wheels.

Talent

Talent have 4 tiers instead of the team’s 3: standard, glitter, holo and gold.

• Standard (£0.75 GBP / $1.00 USD) simply gets you the sticker and that’s all.
• Glitter (£3.69 GBP / $5.00 USD) gets you the glitter sticker and a voice line.
• Holo (£7.69 GBP / $10.40 USD) gets you the holo sticker, an autograph rune and a voice line.
• Gold (£14.79 GBP / $20.00 USD) gets you the gold stick, autograph rune and 2 voice lines.

How it all works

If you, like me, we’re hoping for some kind of in game event, perhaps even the return of Aghanim’s Labyrinth, you’re probably feeling a little hard done by right now. Me too.

As Dota’s most prestigious event, The International deserves better and so do the fans. But we’re going to have to work with what we’ve got and what we’ve got is 5 new Immortals, arcana tokens, physical Aegis discounts (100% free for the top 1500 players!) and free Dota Plus subscriptions that you can earn from points that come from successful predictions and fantasy picks.

First thing you’re going to want to do is load up the game and claim the free Aegis emoticon and 20 (yep, 20) TI14 wallpapers from the homes screen.

Then make your way to the fantasy tab where you can pick your first 3 team members: 1 core, 1 mid and 1 support. It’s a tough choice but someone’s gotta do it. Their performance in the tournament will be translated into points that’ll help you climb the leaderboard.

Lastly, make your team predictions for the first stage of the tournament. You can choose which team will go 4-0, which will go 4-1, who will win and lose elimination matches, who will go 1-4 and who will go 0-4. It’s a toughie but my guy has got you covered with the best TI fantasy and team predictions.

Watching some FISSURE Universe Ep. 6 in the meantime might give you an idea who is on TI form but remember, they won’t be using their TI winning strategies just yet.