In this new series, advocates for the best competitive games on the PC explain why this is the perfect time to get into something new and what you'll need to get started.

If you've always been curious about Dota 2 but never taken that first step, then now is the perfect time. The biggest event in the Dota calendar, the International, is only a week away. Start today and you'll be in a great position to enjoy the event, and the event itself is one of the best ways to deepen your appreciation for the game. My relationship with Dota 2 began right before TI2 in 2012, and contrasting my nascent understanding of the game with the quality of play at that tournament including 'The Play', one of the most celebrated moments in pro Dota sparked a four year commitment spanning thousands of hours of play.

This is my favourite game possibly my favourite game ever and I would never have assumed that it was for me before I tried it. I've written almost a hundred thousand words about the game over the last couple of years, but in this article I'm going to dial it back to the start. If you've not played Dota 2, why should you? What do you need to invest? And where can you look for further help?

What is Dota 2, really?

Let's put aside the word 'MOBA' for a moment, because it doesn't help. Dota 2 is a multiplayer game that draws in elements from strategy games, RPGs, and competitive action. Although your objective is simple kill AI minions, gain power, destroy your opponent's outer defenses, and siege their base Dota's appeal lies in its breadth.

There comes a point with most competitive games where you've seen more or less everything. You've fired every gun, captured every objective. Though the details may differ, eventually matches begin to run into one another.

This doesn't happen with Dota 2. You play as one of more than a hundred distinct characters, as do all of your teammates and every member of the enemy team. Between the ten heroes present in any given game there are dozens of special abilities, rules, counters, and interactions. This is further complicated by items hundreds of bolt-on upgrades for your hero that grant new skills and bonuses. Every character and item has, in turn, a differing relationship with the map the eleventh character in the match, a labyrinth of pathways, neutral monsters, buffs, and so on. And all of the above stems from a deep and internally-consistent stat system.

Dota 2 is notably complex even when compared to its closest peers: games like League of Legends, Smite, and Heroes of the Storm. It was the result of years of community development before it was taken under Valve's wing, and as a result it's packed with special rules and exceptions and mechanics that feel like hacks. It's far from elegant, but you'll never stop being surprised by it. A single tree in Dota 2 has more special rules attached to it than some Heroes of the Storm maps.

What do I get out of playing?

If you're fascinated by systems, competition, and teamplay, then Dota 2 has unsurpassed depth and longevity (and honestly, I'm surprised you don't play it already.) This is a game for people who want to commit to something, who are excited rather than repelled by the idea of climbing a mountain. It helps a great deal if the idea of learning excites you.

It's not all work, however. Dota 2's complexity makes it a brilliant generator of anecdotes, and sharing these moments with friends is a pleasure independent of the game's difficulty. Similarly, fluency with the game gives you access to an esports scene with decades of history and a community that, in its brighest moments, feels like a massive exclusive club for people who 'get' Dota.

Also: Dota 2 is fun. That helps too.

What do I need?

In terms of financial outlay, Dota 2 is remarkably generous. The entire game including every character, item and ability is entirely free. You can play at the highest level immediately without spending a penny. The in-game store is limited to cosmetic items and seasonal 'Battle Passes', which amount to minigames and cosmetic collections tied to specific esports events. It's possible to spend a lot of money on Dota 2 in that regard, and if you want the rarest and flashiest cosmetics then you'll certainly need to spend for them but you don't need to.

In terms of time, Dota 2 is trickier to assess. The road to understanding is extremely long, and you need to be okay with the idea that thousands of hours of experience will make you an intermediate player at best. Mastery takes decades. There's also the matter that there's no way to surrender a match in progress, and leaving early carries a punishment. You can't play Dota 2 unless you're willing to give it 45 minutes to an hour at a time.

On the other hand, Dota 2 has no grinding and, while it does have account levels, these don't have anything to do with your in-game capabilities. Everything you can do in Dota 2, you can do from the moment you load the game. Your skill is gated by your own ability, not by an unlock system.

You will certainly need patience. Not just patience for learning, but patience with a community which, at its worst, can be one of the most hostile in gaming. Toxicity is Dota 2's most serious problem, and arguably a bigger barrier to entry than the learning curve. To an extent, this is not the game or Valve's fault. There are in-game reporting tools and punishments for repeat offenders. The issue is simply that the game attracts players with a certain attitude ready to rage at their teammates, ready to say anything to get a rise out of their opponents, willing to make people uncomfortable for its own sake. Play game for any length of time and it is sadly inevitable that you will encounter racism, sexism, prejudice and hostility.

This isn't everyone, however. Dota 2 is able to forge positive bonds between people, too, and it's much more fun to learn if you make the journey with people you enjoy making friends with. You'll make friends playing Dota 2, but you'll need to develop a thick skin on the way.

The best resources for beginners

Over the years, the Dota 2 community has fostered some amazing teachers who make the journey a lot easier. When you begin, you'll want to start by playing against bots with a selection of guides and videos to hand. Only when you feel like you've got a grasp of all of the different factors that go into a victory should you step into the game proper.

Kevin 'Purge' Godec has a longstanding reputation as one of the best tutors in the scene and his beginner's guide, 'Welcome To Dota, You Suck' is a great place to start. His YouTube channel, PurgeGamers, is also helpful. When you're ready to start learning each new hero, check to see if there's a relevant 'Purge plays' video and watch at least the first ten minutes to get a sense of the character's role and item progression. Mind the time and date stamp, however: Dota 2 changes a lot from patch to patch, so information in older videos might lead you astray if you're not careful.

Other great beginner's guides include devilesk's 'Comprehensive Dota 2 Guide' and Flipside3Tactics' YouTube series, 'Dota for Dummies'. Finally, the Dota 2 guides section in the Steam Community is a useful resource of hero-specific builds that can be loaded in-game using the book icon in the top left. Again, look for guides designed for the current patch and use the star rating associated with each to guide you.

Get into the pro scene

This is a very, very good time to start watching professional Dota 2. The International is the biggest event of the year, and boasts the largest prize pool in competitive gaming. The Dota 2 scene is diverse and competitive, with no single dominant team or region.

The best places to watch professional Dota 2 are on Twitch and via in-game spectator tools. Click the 'Watch' tab to see games in progress, which includes professional play as well as pub games taking place around the world. Once you're in, you can control the camera yourself or give over control to a particular commentary crew using the in-game menus. If you own a Vive, you can also spectate in virtual reality using the incredible Dota VR Hub.

While watching pro play is a great way to learn the game, it certainly helps if you already know the basics. Following some of the guides above and getting a couple of bot games under your belt is the way to go if you want to be able to follow the competition.

As the International draws closer, we'll run specific guides to teams and the meta to help you follow along. You'll find all of them on PC Gamer Pro. In the meantime, good luck on your journey, and have fun. Remember: try not to die, buy wards, don't be an ass, and try not to worry about Riki you'll get used to him.

Hot on the heels of the latest batch of Immortal cosmetics and the news that this year's International prize pool is now the largest esports pot of all time, Valve have updated the International 2016 Battlepass with all-new features: including the crazy Dota 2 VR spectator mode they teased back in March.

That's right: if you can't make it to Seattle, you've still got a chance to experience the International in person - if you own a Vive. As initially teased, the Dota VR Hub allows you to watch games on a big virtual screen while surrounded by life-size characters, a huge minimaps, and all of the gold and experience graphs you could want. It goes deeper, however: click the minimap and you can teleport onto the field of battle itself to watch the action from the ground. You can even bring friends in with you, and wear a variety of Dota-themed virtual hats.

Redditor scarecrowman175 has a detailed gallery of VR shots which you can find here.

Let's be honest: this is mad. But it's also incredible, and completely unlike any other esports spectator system ever devised. And it's also eerily similar to a feature I described in a joke article in March last year. YOU'RE WELCOME, I GUESS.

Check back during the group stages for a more involved hands-on with the Dota 2 VR Hub.

This update also adds the now-traditional event prediction minigame as well as a new take on player cards. If you've been playing Dota 2 for a couple of years, you'll remember that the compendium started life as a sticker book: you'd try to collect all of the year's players before the event ended. It was fun but throwaway, and nobody really missed it when Valve moved on from the idea.

This new implementation is much more exciting. Everybody who owns a Battle Pass will earn 15 player card packs right away, and each player can be earned in standard, silver and gold rarities. You then use these cards to assemble fantasy draft rosters for each day of the event, earning Battle Pass points based on the performance of your chosen players. Silver and gold cards come with additional, randomly-assigned multipliers: see above for an example. If OG carry n0tail stacks camps and farms a lot, I'll get bonus points. Hooray!

The International is now less than a week away. Merry Dota Christmas, everybody!

There s still over two weeks to go until Dota 2 s flagship tournament The International 2016, but its prize pot has now surpassed last year s record-breaking total a whopping $18,580,479, at the time of writing making it the most lucrative esports competition in history.

Since the tournament s inception in 2011, Valve has provided $1.6 million of its own cash to the prize fund, however recent years have seen this augmented by a range of crowdfunded proceeds. A quarter of Battle Pass sales (passes that grant owners access to an exclusive haul of features and rewards throughout the Dota summer season) go into the pot, for example, while previous years saw the same share being shaved from sales of the ever-popular Dota 2 Electronic Annual The Compendium.

As a reward for beating last year s $18,429,613 record, Battle Pass owners will receive three treasure chests which include a range of in-game items.

According to dota2.prizetrac.kr, funding ran for 101 days in 2015. With just 70 days of Battle Pass sales gone this year, expect the grand total to rise further still. Here s a graph that compares the last few tournaments:

The International 2016 kicks off on August 13 in Seattle s Key Arena.

Photo credit: TaKeTV Media.

This might not be the busiest weekend in the esports calendar, but there's still enough to keep you occupied until Monday rolls around including CS:GO finals in China, the ongoing spectacle of the North American League of Legends scene, and StarLadder's Dota debut in Los Angeles. If you're into Hearthstone or enjoyed the HomeStory StarCraft series, you'll definitely want to be tuning in to SeatStory Cup V.

League of Legends: NA Championship Series

LoL's regular season play steps it up to cover for what is otherwise a quiet weekend. You can catch top-tier play in North America starting at 21:00 CEST/12:00 PDT on both Saturday and Sunday, with four best-of-threes being played on each day. You can find more information on the matchups, schedule and livestream on lolesports.com.

Dota 2: StarLadder i-League StarSeries

The first StarSeries LAN in the USA takes place in Los Angeles this weekend with $300,000 on the line. This is a good chance to see a slate of top Dota 2 teams play ahead of the International in a couple of weeks. Play is ongoing today, and continues on Saturday starting at 09:30 PDT/18:30 CEST. The action starts on Sunday at 14:00 PDT/23:00 CEST with the grand final beginning at 17:00 PDT (or 02:00 CEST the following day in Europe). Find the livestream here.

Hearthstone: SeatStory Cup V

There are a number of top players taking part in SeatStory Cup V this weekend. It's the Hearthstone version of the legendary HomeStory series: a serious competition in relaxed surroundings, giving you a chance to see pro players in a different light. Play begins every day at 14:00 CEST/05:00PDT and you can find the livestream here.

CSGO: Pro Gamer League 2016 Summer

This weekend is a little short on CS:GO, but you can still catch the finals of PGL 2016 in Wuhan on Sunday. The roster is primarily composed of Chinese teams with a handful of almost-top-tier western squads. The finals begin at 05:20 CEST on Sunday, which is 20:20 on Saturday night in the USA. Sadly there's no English stream for this event, but you can find the Chinese one on each match's HLTV.org page. Here's the final.

Summer is the absolute best time for esports, if you can keep that damned sun glare off your screen long enough to enjoy the games. If you re not out chasing balls in the park, or virtual animals on your mobile device, then you have made the correct choice as there s a plethora of competitive gaming at the highest level all weekend.Dota, StarCraft, Hearthstone and even Street Fighter V (especially Street Fighter V) have some huge tournaments, so you may want to adjust your curtains accordingly. Here s the best pro gaming to watch this weekend.

EVO Chamionship SeriesProbably the biggest event this weekend is a fighting game tournament. Well, more like nine fighting game tournaments at the Mecca of fighting game tournaments. EVO returns to Las Vegas this weekend for some truly monstrously sized pools of Street Fighter V and Mortal Kombat XL. More than 5,000 SFV entrants will be fighting their way to a top 8 showdown in the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday, in the game s first EVO appearance. Catch that top 8 on the CapcomFighters Twitch from 7pm Sunday PDT / 3am Monday BST.DreamHack Valencia StarCraft IIMost of Europe s finest Terran, Protoss, and Zerg players are locked in an all out brawl until Saturday evening at DreamHack s Valencia Open. Those still in with a chance include France s surprise WCS contender David Lilbow Moschetto, and Norway s Jens Snute Asgaard. There s 1,000 WCS circuit points for top place which is nothing to sniff at in the new tournament format as well as $16,000, with a total of $29,000 on the podium. You can watch all the matches on the DreamHack SC2 Twitch and the Grand Finals begin Saturday from 7:30pm BST / 11:30am PDT.DreamHack Valencia Hearthstone Grand PrixAlso in Valencia this weekend are Europe s hottest Hearthstone players at the Grand Prix. Orange and Pavel obviously are in attendance, along with newer star BoarControl and cadre of other Brits including GreenSheep, Cipher, and Ness. Amazingly only one (Cipher) has survived through to the top 16, and there are a few new faces to spot among the others. You can see all of the remaining matches until Saturday s finals on the DreamHack Hearthstone stream, and the round-of-8, semis and grand finals begin at 12:15pm BST / 4:15am PDT.The Summit 5Dota s bi-annual LAN in a house tournament returns this week to put many of the best teams on the international circuit into one house with all the production values you could ask for. This year, defending champs of December s Summit Evil Geniuses are nowhere to be seen, though Manila Major winners OG will be fending off several others as the hot favourites. The real draw is the out-of-game activities, including special roaming camera reporter for The Summit 5, Barry the dog. Come for the high-class Dota, stay for the memes. All broadcast on BeyondTheSummit s Twitch channel, with Loser s Round 2 matches beginning Saturday form 10am PDT / 6pm BST, and the grand finals on Sunday 1:30pm PDT / 9:30pm BST (after the loser s final at 10am/6pm).

Following the recent conclusion of the Nanyang Championships Season Two, Dota 2 s patch 6.88b has now been rolled out bringing with it changes to heroes, and the introduction of the much-anticipated Legion Commander Battle Pass quest line. A new comic, following the exploits of the Commander's Bronze Legion, has also been launched for free the last page of which appears to tease the games s next hero. Full details on patch 6.88b's tweaks and tinkerings can be found over here.

Battle Pass owners can also get their hands on the Legacy of the Fallen Legion Legion Commander Prestige item and Quest Path. The slight catch is you ll need to be at level 225 or higher, however players who complete the quest line will also bag an alternate style unlock for the Prestige item. Doing so means playing a lot of Legion Commander games, however, so queue with friends unless you want to be the most unpopular person in solo queue.

Lastly, the Bronze Legion-oriented comic, named Tip of the Spear, has a bunch of easter eggs for fans to find. The first is right at the beginning, when a young Tresdin encounters her predecessor. This former Legion Commander looks suspiciously like the hero's DotA 1 incarnation. The biggest tease is at the end, however, when green fire in the distance suggests the arrival of Abyssal Underlord (formerly Pit Lord), a hero that fans have been awaiting for more than a year.

That cliffhanger ending sets up the events described in Legion's in-game flavour text, which you can also find here. Furthermore, completing the new quest line reveals that Legion Commander has a new nemesis: Vrogros the Underlord. It seems likely that Valve will tease the hero further at the International.

The Underlord's release would mark a milestone for Dota 2, as he's the last hero missing from the original DotA 1 roster. With his inclusion the game is functionally 'complete': what comes next is anybody's guess. Probably hats.

It's an understandably quiet weekend as multiple scenes enter their off seasons in preparation for major summer tournaments. Even so, there's plenty to watch: Dota 2, StarCraft, two different types of League ('Rocket' and 'of Legends'). Cap it off with some awesome charity speedruns and it'll be Monday before you know it.

Dota 2: Global Grand Masters

It might seem like small fry compared to the multi-million dollar International (only a month away!) but a number of top-tier teams will play in Global Grand Masters this weekend. Play starts at 16:00 CEST/07:00 PDT on Saturday and Sunday and continues through to Monday if you still need your Dota fix. Here's the livestream.

League of Legends: NA Championship Series

The NCA LCS continues with two days of play across Saturday and Sunday starting at 21:00 CEST/12:00 PDT. As ever, you'll want to check LoLesports.com for schedule, team and livestream information.

Rocket League: Qualifier 2 Group Stage

The second week of Rocket League qualifiers continues across both NA and EU this weekend. You'll want to check out the official Rocket League esports site for the key details and keep an eye on Twitch.tv for the main stream as well as individual player perspectives.

StarCraft II: Proleague 2016 Round 3

Team SCII featuring some of the best players in Korea. Play starts at 11:00 CEST (02:00 PDT) on both Saturday and Sunday, and you can find the English language livestream here. There are plenty of champions among the team rosters, including 2015 global champ sOs on Jin Air Green Wings.

Speedruns: Games Done Quick

Not quite esports and not 100% this weekend, but you should be watching Games Done Quick anyway. It's a week-long multi-game speedrun marathon supporting M decins Sans Fronti res, and it starts on Sunday at 18:30 CEST/09:30 PDT. You can find the full schedule here and the livestream here.

There's lots of competitive gaming to watch this weekend, from top-tier Hearthstone and Street Fighter V to the Dota 2 scene's frantic scramble to make it to this year's International. Skilled players will win thousands of dollars over the next two days: an impressive sum in and of itself if you're American, getting more impressive with every minute that passes if you're British.

Hearthstone: Americas Spring Championship

Starting at 09:00 PDT/18:00 CEST on both Saturday and Sunday, this is a showcase of top talent in the American Hearthstone scene. There's $80,000 on the line, as well as a spot at the Global Finals at BlizzCon. Here's the stream.

Dota 2: The International 2016 Regional Qualifiers

Qualification for the remaining spots at The International begins tomorrow. Play begins at 18:00 PDT on Friday night/03:00 CEST in SEA and at 01:00 PDT/10:00 CEST in Europe. As Europe wraps up, expect play to begin in North America followed by China. It's a packed schedule, so check out GosuGamer's match page for the latest info and stream links.

CSGO: Esports Championship Series

FaceIt's Esports Championship Series concludes this weekend with a dramatic faceoff between the world's best teams in London. You can find the livestream and schedule information on the official site. Up-to-date schedule information is missing at the moment, but expect play throughout the day on British time (CEST-1).

League of Legends: NA Championship Series

Another weekend of play in the NA LCS. Games run today and continue throughout the weekend, starting at 12:00 PDT/21:00 CEST each day and continuing for four-five hours. As ever, the best resource for further information and livestreams is lolesports.com.

Overwatch: OG Invitational

One of the biggest events in NA Overwatch so far, the OG Invitational has a $25,000 prize pool and showcases the region's best teams. Play begins at 10:00 PDT/19:00 CEST and you'll find the livestream right here.

Rocket League: Qualifier 2 Group Stage

After a few weeks of open qualifiers, the pool narrows. NA is playing on Saturday starting at 12:00 PDT/21:00 CEST and Europe plays on Sunday from 09:00 PDT/18:00 CEST. Here's the livestream.

Street Fighter V: CEO 2016

One of the liveliest events in the Street Fighter V calendar, Andi sung the praises of CEO in his column this week. It's a premier event, so expect a very high standard of play. You can find the extensive schedule here and the action will be streamed on Twitch.

In August, sixteen teams will compete for what is likely to be the biggest prize pool in the history of competitive gaming. While the majority of these teams will fight for their spot through a series of regional qualifiers, six of the best have now received their direct invite and, for the first time, the returning champions aren't among them.

OG, Team Liquid, Newbee, LGD Gaming, MVP Phoenix and Natus Vincere are the official invitees, with 2015 winners Evil Geniuses conspicuous by their absence. They've been relegated to the open qualifier, along with Team Secret, due to an eleventh-hour roster switch that fell outside of Valve's fixed transfer window. Breaking the rules means that they've got the longest possible road ahead of them in order to defend their title.

The spread of invitees demonstrates how dynamic and competitive the international Dota 2 scene is, particularly compared to other esports. OG is an independent squad that is less than a year old, handily earning their spot with two separate Major victories and another first-place finish at ESL One over the weekend. The new Team Liquid follow hot on their heels with a run of high-profile second place finishes and a win at Epicenter. Theirs is a similar story to OG a new team with veteran experience at its heart.

Newbee are one of two prior International champions to be invited, but this is a very different squad to the one that rolled over the competition at TI4. The new Newbee showcases some of the best talent in the Chinese scene, and they enjoyed an extraordinary undefeated run earlier in the year that was only curtailed when they encountered OG a team that has proved to be their foil more than once.

The new Na'Vi are the other former champions to get an invite to TI6, although only two members of that winning 2011 lineup remain Dendi and Artstyle (and Artstyle was absent for the bulk of the team's most famous performances.) Na'Vi have emerged from a few long years of scene-wide roster instability as the surprise hope of CIS Dota, placing consistently well at LAN more so than some of their better-regarded rivals.

Korea's MVP Phoenix and China's LGD are more questionable inclusions, but this reddit thread offers some sensible explanations. LGD's invite follows a recent trend of Valve inviting the top four from any official LAN to the next official LAN. MVP Phoenix, like Na'Vi, have a consistently strong record on LAN, which seems to factor heavily into Valve's selection process.

Teams without a direct invite will have to compete through four sets of regional qualifiers, with the majority of each region's best teams being invited to these instead: see the official site for the full list. Each regional qualifier has two open spots which will be filled through a run of open qualifiers taking place later this week. You can find more details about these here. It's well worth taking part particularly if you're in Europe or the Americas, where you've got a greater-than-zero chance of facing Team Secret or EG. And getting stomped by them.

There's loads happening all over the world of esports this weekend, so let's get right to it. From Hearthstone in Asia to Heroes of the Storm, CS:GO, Smite and more in Sweden and Overwatch and League in North America, there should be high-quality play to watch wherever you are.

Hearthstone: Spring Championships Asia-Pacific

Hearthstone's next regional championship concludes tomorrow, with games beginning at 09:00 PDT/18:00 CEST. This will determine which of the best players in the Asia-Pacific region will represent Hearthstone at the World Championship in November. You'll find the livestream at http://www.twitch.tv/playhearthstone.

Heroes of the Storm: Summer Global Championship

The world's best Heroes of the Storm players clash in Sweden with a $150,000 grand prize to fight for. Group play has been going on for a while, but continues on Saturday and Sunday starting at 03:00 PDT/12:00 CEST. Find the livestream at http://twitch.tv/blizzheroes.

Dota 2: ESL One Frankfurt 2016

Group play began today for this, one of the last premier Dota 2 events before the International in August. You can catch games starting at 01:30 PDT/10:30 CEST on Saturday and Sunday, and you'll find the livestream at http://www.twitch.tv/esl_dota2.

CSGO: DreamHack Summer 2016

The cream of the CSGO scene returns to Sweden for the next three days. Group play begins on Saturday at 06:00 PDT/15:00 CEST on Saturday, and continues at 03:00 PDT/12:00 CEST on Sunday and 01:30 PDT/10:30 CEST on Monday. Find the livestream at dreamhack.tv.

Overwatch: ONOG Operation Breakout

$15,000 on the line for the best Overwatch players in North America. Games begin at 17:00 PDT/01:00 CEST on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Europe) and you'll find the livestream at https://www.twitch.tv/onenationofgamers.

Rocket League: Open Qualifier 2, Week 2

Rocket Leagues latest round of open qualifiers takes place in NA and EU over the weekend. As with last week, these won't be officially streamed. Keep an eye on Twitch, however, to see if any players choose to stream their matches. You can find out more at https://www.rocketleagueesports.com/.

League of Legends: NA LCS

Another week of drama in the North American League of Legends scene. There's a full day of play on Saturday starting at 12:00 PDT/21:00 CEST with a slightly shorter day to follow on Sunday. Find more details and the livestream at www.lolesports.com.

Smite: Masters at Dreamhack Summer 2016

This is the climax of Smite's spring split, a $450,000+ tournament featuring the world's best players. You won't find higher-profile Smite than this outside of Worlds in January. Play begins at 02:30 PDT/11:30 CEST on Saturday and continues at 08:30 PDT/17:30 CEST on Sunday, with the finals taking place on Monday. Find the livestream at http://www.twitch.tv/smitegame.