China recently passed a law requiring games which offer randomized loot for money—like Hearthstone's card packs—to publish drop rates so that players know exactly how likely (or unlikely) they are to get rare items or cards.

Yesterday, Dota 2's publisher in China, Perfect World, published the drop rates for the rare items available in the Treasure of the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017. That's the only Treasure currently available to purchase in China as Valve and Perfect World have taken the others off sale for now.

Regarding the Dota 2 Asia Championships Treasure, Eyes of the King has a 6 percent drop rate, and the Armor of the Shattered Vanguard has a 2 percent drop rate, if Google Translate can be trusted to get numbers right. (I especially love how Armor of the Shattered Vanguard becomes "disillusioned pioneer armor" by Google's estimation.)

These rates for rare items may only apply to this particular Treasure, and may not be the same everywhere outside of China—for all we know Perfect World has its own rates that differ from Valve's. But as more Treasures are added to the Chinese Dota 2 store and have their drop rates published, we may be able to make some deductions about how these items are handled outside of China.

Earlier this week, Riot published drop rates for League of Legends.

With a $1 million grand prize on the line, Dota 2’s Kiev Major was an event for the history books. It was the fourth Valve event won by European power squad OG, who swept the last games away from CIS team Virtus Pro in an intense back-and-forth series.

The event couldn’t have ended more explosively than a hometown CIS-region team taking on the defending champion of the Majors series. In fact, the event went into a full five matches for the first time since TI3. Each team demonstrated its strength and tact in draft and play every single game, and some drafts even seemed impossible to pull off, especially the tournament’s final game. In the end, OG managed to outplay their opponents through both strategy and skill.

Each team had a clean and strong run. While OG didn’t have quite as neat of a group stage, with a 6-5 record, they fought through their bracket well. Namely, they took out top American team Evil Geniuses in the semi-finals, plus Team Faceless and former TI6 squad Team Random along the way.

VP’s bracket run was much trickier. They started off by winning over iG.Vitality, but they eventually met VG.J, likely one of the top four squads in China right now. If defeating VG.J wasn’t enough to prove their worth, they eventually met tournament favorites Invictus Gaming in the semis, who took the grand prize against OG at the Dota 2 Asian Championships. This match was a surprising 2-0 sweep into the grand finals.

Aside from the finals, there was match-driven drama that kept fans, casters and even players on the edges of their seats. The continued use of single-elimination format meant that every match was life-or-death for every team. It was especially dire for teams that placed lower in group stages, as they were met with the team of the inverse seed (1-16, 2-15, etc.). In the past, group stage performances were often good predictors of how teams would do on the main stages. Many predictions were turned on their heads in Kiev.

For these reasons and others, the format was was met with some controversy at all stages. Still, given this was the second Valve tournament to use this format, teams needed to adapt. It also made for an excellent main event with unexpected storylines. After all, every team has their good and bad days.

The biggest surprise upset was when Brazilian team SG E-sports upset the top seed of the group stage, European favorites Team Secret. The latter had blasted their way through the qualifiers and the group stage, hitting an intimidating 19-0 win streak up to the main event. However, both Secret and Dota 2 fans were shocked when SG took the series and knocked the European squad out of the event. Prior, the community had generally negative outlook on South American teams, but this will likely give the region a breath of new life. Unfortunately, SG did fall in a hard-fought quarterfinal match to continental rivals Evil Geniuses, but not before taking a game off the TI5 champions.

Also predicted by many was event domination by Invictus Gaming, the Chinese favorites going into the tournament. However, Virtus Pro met them in the semifinals, overcoming the expected champions 2-0 and moving onto the finals. While TNC Pro Gaming had solid performance in the group stages, placing in the top three, the team was also overtaken by regional rivals Team Faceless in a tough match.

Team Liquid, which looked strong going into DAC and Kiev, met some unfortunate circumstances in each tournament. At Kiev, their group stage was fairly decent, and they had a main bracket run to match, beating the Chinese squad Newbee. However, they unfortunately met iG in the quarter-finals, who managed to defeat them.

The Jeremy Lin-endorsed squad VG.J, considered one of the top four in China, started off their run reasonably well, taking down American fan favorites Digital Chaos (formerly the Team Onyx squad). In the next round, though, they met VP and were taken down in the quarter finals.

Other fan favorites also met unfortunate doom in the round of sixteen. Mousesports, the former Ad Finem squad acquired before Kiev, was taken down by iG. Thunderbirds, the ex-Digital Chaos squad, was also knocked out in a regional rivalry match against Evil Geniuses. In a nutshell, it was a difficult tournament for many teams, which means tough times ahead for a number of players.

What happens next? 

The dilemma comes from Valve’s roster lock system, if the rules from last year apply. Valve prioritizes squad composition over team banner or organization. For that reason, they heavily consider player swaps leading into their official tournaments, especially if there’s a major swap and very few third-party events the team attended to show for it. Fortunately, there are five tournaments between now and The International, with many regions (especially China) using in-house leagues to fill the spaces.

Teams that didn’t place in the top four (and even some that did) have difficult questions to ask. Is it worth risking a new squad to create an optimal team that can fight to the top from square one? Is it worth investing in the current team—does it have potential?

It’s easier to answer this question for many of the bottom eight teams. While they may be able to grab regional invites, other teams are always sharpening their blades, and regionals may become more cutthroat than expected. Therefore, it may be worth it for many teams to swap out certain players and go for a shot at regionals. Valve may even give them a direct invite if they can pull off a smooth circuit between their main events.

If Kiev demonstrated one thing, it’s that anything goes in Dota 2. The same will likely apply into the shuffle period, whether through surprise disbands or surprise team coherence. There hasn’t been a more exciting time for the competitive Dota 2 scene in a while. 

The Kiev Major and DreamHack Open are well underway: it’s going to be another busy weekend across the world of digital sports. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational to the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series. We even have the Overwatch Apex Season 3 to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: Mid-Season Invitational

The 2017 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) is kicking off its international tournament at the CBLoL Studio in Brazil. This year, all 13 regions will participate by sending their split champion (Spring Split or Split 1) to face off against other regional champions. However, only three teams from the Play-In Stage will advance to take on the champions from Europe, China, and Korea. The format remains the same as last year with the six teams competing in a best of one double round robin, which means every team will play each other twice. Oceania’s Dire Wolves will face Brazil’s Red Canids today at 11:00 PDT / 20:00 CEST, while the remaining Play-In teams will duke it out over the course of the weekend. The full schedule and stream can be found on LoL Esports.

Dota 2: Kiev Major

The Group Stage for this year’s Kiev Major has finished and the main event is starting today with the remaining brackets. Invictus Gaming is the third seed of the Kiev main event, and arguably the strongest team in the world given their recent results. They beat mousesports 2-1 yesterday and the team will be looking to continue their winning streak this weekend. TNC Pro Team will be looking to continue their climb when they clash with Team faceless today at 00:00 PDT / 09:00 CEST. Matches will be played throughout the day, so make sure you check out the schedule and stream over on the official Kiev Major site. 

StarCraft 2: World Championship Series

This weekend, 80 of the world’s best StarCraft II players are heading to Austin, Texas, for the World Championship Series and a chance to win the $100,000 prize pool. Last year’s DreamHack saw Hydra clinch a 4-2 win over Neeb in a tense final. This year Neeb will be hoping to climb the ladder to claim their seat at the the global championship finals. The group stages start today at 17:00 PDT / 02:00 CEST, while the quarter finals start the following day at 14:35 PDT / 23:35 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

CS:GO: DreamHack Open 2017

The DreamHack Open returns this weekend and on this occasion the tournament will be held in Austin, Texas, United States. Eight teams from Europe and the Americas will fight it out for the lion's share of $100,000 at the LAN finals event. Last year's tournament saw Luminosity Gaming take first place after defeating fellow Brazilians, Tempo Storm for the champions’ title. You can check out the full weekend schedule and stream over on DreamHack’s official site. 

Street Fighter V: DreamHack 2017

The fourth Premier Event of the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour season will also be at this year’s DreamHack event. Players from around the globe will square-up in Street Fighter V at the Austin Convention Center today for a chance to win their share of the $15,000 prize pool. The winner of the last premier event will also be making a return and PG Punk will be looking to combo his way to victory once again. However, Capcom Cup 2016 champion Liquid NuckleDu will be looking to take revenge after PG Punk delivered a critical blow at the NorCal Regionals. The event could see these two giants clash once again, so be sure to tune it to the live stream on Saturday at 08:00 PDT / 17:00 CEST.

Hearthstone: Grand Prix

The DreamHack Hearthstone Grand Prix will see 200 competitors clash this weekend and only 16 players will advance to the single-elimination stage. Notable participants include GreenSheep, Chakki, amnesiac and Rdu. The winner will receive $25,000, while $1,500 prize pool is at stake for those who don’t make it through the grueling Swiss stages of the main tournament. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to battle.net.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament is well underway, and a few teams have begun to establish themselves in the early stages of the tournament. The USA are off to the best start out of anyone in the Global Games so far – securing two match wins and only dropping one game. Edwin ‘HotMEOWTH’ Cook and 2014 World Champion James ‘Firebat’ Kostesich have given the team the power they need to climb the rankings and beat their opponents. It’s a long road ahead for the pros and every team will be fighting hard to secure the $300,000 prize pool. The full schedule and stream for week three can be found here.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

The Overwatch Apex Season 3 begins in Korea today and we finally know the two Western teams that have been invited. Rogue has been placed in Group A alongside Lunatic Hai who are expected to be the group winner, thanks to their recent Season 2 victory. Meanwhile, EnVyUs has been placed in Group D where they will battle it out against the likes of MetaAthena and BK Stars. EnVyUs have a significantly easier group stage, but the team will need to be at their best if they wish to make it to playoffs. Lunatic Hai will face KongDoo Panthera today at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while RunAway will clash with Afreeca Freecs at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship is wrapping up week nine of play this weekend and the tension continues to build up. Teams from around the world will be aiming to continue their journey towards the Mid-Season Brawl and secure a top spot in the regular season. Tempo Storm still remains at the top of leaderboard in North America, while Team Liquid are the team to beat in Europe. However, Gale force and Fnatic are creeping up the rankings and they’ll be looking to snag another victory this weekend. You can check out the standings for each region and view the tournament schedule for your area over on the Heroes of the Storm’s official site.

SMITE: Masters

The SMITE LAN Masters continue this weekend and North America, Europe, Latin America, Oceania and Brazil will be battling for the Masters title, as well as the $120,000 prize pool. The quarterfinals start today at 08:00 PDT / 17:00 CEST, while the semifinals start tomorrow at the same time. Hi-Rez will be randomly dropping skins of each team’s choosing whenever they win a game, so make sure you link your Twitch and Hi-Rez accounts in order to have a chance of receiving a skin while you watch. The Masters format, stream and Twitch drops can be found by heading over to SMITE Esports.

Thanks to Valve, Dota 2 players that take their rank seriously have a chance to stop seeing blue. They’ve finally added an authentication system to ranked play, which involves registering a phone number to any accounts wishing to queue in the game’s ranked mode (and no, you can’t use numbers from VOIPs such as Skype.) 

According to the devs, it’s a response to a longstanding issue of duplicate accounts, or smurfs, used by players to enter matches outside of their assigned skill rank. The rank disparity seems to go both ways: high-skill players smurf in lower matches for entertainment or education, and low-skill players buy higher-level accounts. There’s no single reason for the latter, though accounts in the 6000s and higher can likely play with celebrity pro players. Even players using smurfs in lower accounts can feel accomplished if their higher-level team carries them to victory. Either way, it creates imbalance in the match  for the other nine players (provided that they’re not smurfs too).

The phone registration system has been frequently requested of late due to Valve’s implementation of a similar system in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Known as “prime matchmaking”, the system certainly hasn’t reduced the number of bitter players in each match, but it’s reduced the number of smurfs that serious players encounter. Dota 2 players are hoping for the same results. 

Already, though, criticism has arisen about the obstacles that the system creates for aspiring professional players. Some are concerned that the phone system isolates players in much poorer regions. The game is certainly popular in LAN cafes in regions such as South America, the Philippines and rural Russia. However, there’s also the case that mobile ownership, and even smartphone ownership, is booming in such regions. Since the Dota 2 authentication system only requires a basic telephone, most players will likely avoid this issue. 

Even age may not be an issue. In America, at least, the average age of initial smartphone ownership was estimated at about 10 years old, which may not be too far off for other countries as parents rush to keep their kids caught up with their peers. Even then, younger players can borrow a parent’s phone, or use the house phone. In that case, no issues should arise—unless there are multiple Dota 2 players in the house. 

For most players, the new system has no real consequences besides a temporary inconvenience. After all, it’s part of the long and complicated history of Dota 2 matchmaking, which is certainly neater than it used to be.

The original DotA actually didn’t have a matchmaking system. Warcraft 3 custom maps such as DotA lacked the perks of default multiplayer, which included regional and ping-based matching. For the most part, players could technically just jump into any public games, but this didn’t necessarily make for a better game. Community leaders stepped in to help alleviate some of this trouble, forming in-house leagues with their own rankings and hierarchies. This was how most DotA players socialized and played. 

Then, Dota 2’s beta was released, hoping to improve on many things that were limited in the Warcraft 3 mod. Sometime during this beta, Valve quietly added an unlisted matchmaking rating. Dotabuff, the stat aggregation site, was able to group players into normal, high or very high rankings. Still, the lack of a formal matchmaking system meant that players were free to play with others of any rank, though that wasn’t a major concern in the beta days. 

The matchmaking system as we know it today came about in late 2013, after the game came out of beta. It introduced the numerical matchmaking rank, with no upper ceiling but a floor of, of course, zero. Players needed at least 150 games, a fair 85-100 hours for most players, and a series of calibration matches needed to be played for placement. The only major change since then is that the requirement to queue in ranked was changed to a level 13 profile with the summer 2015 Reborn update (and the phone number, of course). 

For the most part, it’s remained a pretty acceptable system, and even Overwatch has taken a similar approach with its Competitive Mode matchmaking by using a numerical system plus period calibration. However, that’s generally where Dota 2’s general similarity to other games’ matchmaking ends, and some of the criticism it warrants begins. 

While there’s been mostly positive feedback over the general ranking system, some have argued that Dota 2 should have a decaying MMR—that is, if a player is absent for a while, their MMR should go down. In many games, such as League of Legends, this system has a floor, meaning that it only applies above a certain rank so that lower-level players don’t need to worry about keeping up. It also means that players coming in after a long hiatus are essentially re-tested in order to prove their rank. 

Games like LoL or Overwatch are more active in maintaining an up-to-date hierarchy of players. They also have a seasonal reset and give out vanity rewards for end-of-season success, including a custom real-life jacket for Challenger players in LoL. Players with such high rankings, then, can’t just sit in the lowest Challenger rank and expect a jacket: they need to remain active and competitive. Meanwhile, Dota 2 doesn’t reward high MMR with anything other than pride.

So does Dota 2’s ranked matchmaking have anywhere to go from here? The answer isn’t clear, as ranked MMR is a controversial subject for many players. It’s clear, though, that the community has tried to push Valve to make sure everyone has a good competitive experience, whether in the trench or at the top. Prime matchmaking is a step in that direction.