Valve have officially postponed The International 2020, but the Battle Pass is still coming. What will be in it though?
The coronavirus global pandemic has affected pretty much every aspect of our lives including health, economics and numerous events of all types. Esports tournaments were no exception and most of them have already started switching to an online format. Then came the question of The International, without a doubt the biggest Dota 2 event. This year’s edition was supposed to be special as it was the tenth anniversary and marked the event’s return to Europe. Valve postponed the tournament and it’s still unclear whether it’s going to happen in 2020 or be delayed for 2021. On the bright side one thing is certainly coming and that’s the Battle Pass.
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The compendium was officially confirmed by Valve, but the developers announced it’ll be delayed by a few weeks. Usually, the Battle Pass arrived in early May, so this year it’ll most likely be the end of the month or early June. Let’s take a look at what we can expect.
A new terrain and music pack
Each compendium so far has added a new terrain which varied greatly based on the theme of the event. Last year in the 2019 edition we received the Overgrown Empire.
In addition to the new visuals of the map, players were also awarded with some new tunes to spice up their matches.
Quests/Challenges/Predictions/Achievements
Passes from recent years have all included new quests to complete, in-game challenges for different heroes and predictions for the games. Predictions might not be a part of the 2020 edition as the fate of The International is still uncertain. As a result of that, there might be a slight chance this Battle Pass will be much longer than any other before it (until Valve figure out when the tournament’s going to happen).
Favorite team/Player cards/Fantasy League
Player cards and the fantasy league are something that you either love or don’t care about. The majority of players will often use it as an extra way to earn points and levels. Favorite teams were brought to a whole new level last year as it featured a spray, an effigy and a teleportation effect.
A new event
Dota 2 is usually a very competitive game which makes it very intense and sometimes hard to enjoy. If you want your dose of playing against an AI you could always go to the arcade. The Battle Pass gives fans another option as it offers a specifically tailored event for players to experience. In the last few years, we’ve had a multiplayer RPG campaign in the face of Siltbreaker, a take on the battle royale with the Underhollow and an alternative way to win in regular Dota 2 with Wrath of the Mo’rokai. There’s no telling what the next event might present, but we like to think it might be a racing simulator.
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Immortal skins/ Arcana Vote
Each year the arcana vote gives players a chance to decide which hero will be the next one in line to get a massive visual rework with a unique skin. Some of the immortal skins we’ve seen lately were quite close to being considered arcana, so Valve’s definition is rather fluid.
Tipping/Wagering
Tipping is a good way to earn points, but it’s also an excellent tool to tilt your opponent. Wagering, on the other hand, can be used to easily gain some levels on your compendium.
A couple of months back there was also a leak of some of the content for this year’s Battle Pass. Among the things we’ve already mentioned above there were also:
- an all-star match at TI10
- glossary
- a potential new tutorial
The all-star match can still happen as long as TI10 actually gets a date. The glossary will most likely be an in-game Wikipedia-type of a journal with all sorts of information about heroes, spells, creeps, items and more. Dota 2’s lore was a bit expanded thanks to Artifact (Valve’s card game which was a flop) so we might see a bigger part of it available in-game. Last but certainly not least are the rumors of a new tutorial. Now that’s something everyone can get behind as the game has been lacking a decent intro since its release.
In any case, the Battle Pass is surely coming, so stay tuned for more Dota 2 updates and make sure to check out EarlyGame for more news and videos.
