In my time with fiddly, complicated strategy games, I ve pulled off some pretty unlikely feats. I ve built empires to rival the height of Rome from the most down-and-out, hardscrabble noble houses of medieval Europe. I ve won the space race as the Iroquois. I ve ended World War II in the fall of 1940 by marching Belgian commandos into Berlin. But when I heard Supreme Ruler Ultimate s Trump Rising DLC allowed me to take control of the United States in 2017, after the hypothetical victory of The Donald in this year s election, I felt I might be facing my greatest challenge yet.Not only is Supreme Ruler one of the most complex and impenetrable strategy games I ve ever laid eyes on, the task before me would be a daunting one in the best of circumstances. Leading the United States effectively in the modern day is a feat that makes one long for the comparatively simple court intrigue, assassinations, dynastic blood feuds, and horrible plague outbreaks of the Middle Ages. Even our real-life politicians don t seem to know how to make it work. Doing it all as a reality TV star with no foreign policy experience is another order of difficulty above and beyond the norm.

Running through the tutorial took me less than a half hour and taught me the bare basics of what I might need to know, which felt appropriate. I was taking the reins with about as much practical knowledge as Trump himself would have with this whole Leader of the Free World thing. Since Supreme Ruler is a very open-ended game, I set some broad goals for my Trumpministration:

• Build a wall across the Mexican border. (Also probably the Canadian one, too: They come here, bringing their Tim Horton’s, their maple syrup. They make us look bad at hockey…)
• Destroy the greatest Enemies of Freedom™: North Korea, ISIS, and Switzerland. We’re not buying the whole neutrality thing, you watch-making scoundrels. No one needs that many army knives if they’re not planning to use their army for the downfall of democracy!
• Maybe if we have time, shrink the national debt and fix the economy.

Cumbersome as it is, Supreme Ruler gives me the option of doing what an actual President Trump would be wise to do: Put cabinet ministers who are more competent than myself in charge of almost every aspect of running the country. I tell State Department head Dan Johnson to focus on trade relations, because The Donald loves to make a deal. George Thompson, head of my Treasury, is given a standing order to increase taxes and aim for a balanced budget. Mostly because I know this wall is going to get expensive. Harold Burton great guy, just the best Secretary of the Interior, really is told to focus on profitable commodities. I set my science focus to Military, so we can hopefully invent some kind of terrorist-hunting terminators or something, and my Joint Chiefs of Staff are told to increase military readiness.

Part 1: Crusades and barricades

On my second day in office, work begins on the Wall That Was Promised, stretching from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas. Can the economy really support such a huge engineering project? I haven t the slightest clue. That s for my good friend George Thompson to worry about. The under-construction bulwark is represented on the map by a long chain of dollar signs arrayed neatly along the border. I believe this is the icon for all unfinished buildings in Supreme Ruler, but it s also how I imagine Trump would want his wall to look from space if he had his druthers.

With wall-building underway, it s time to go after ISIS with the full force of the US military. I ring my good pal Bashar al-Assad of Syria to negotiate for military access. He literally tells me to drop dead. Sad!

I could try to invade through friendlier Turkey and Kurdistan, but The Donald always deals from a position of strength. We won t brook that kind of attitude from the likes of Assad. On my third day in office, the United States declares unilateral war on Syria.

I m not quite sure how military invasions work yet, so I just mobilize all 1,600 of the United States inactive divisions, draw a box around them, and right-click on the Syrian capital. That should do the trick, right? Just to be safe, I launch a bunch of nuclear ICBMs. We ve had those things sitting around for so long. It s about time we used them for something.

On February 26, the first US ground forces arrive on the beaches. The Navy has been bombarding Tartus for a couple weeks, so they have a fairly clear path inland. It seems like the Syrian air force, for what it was, has already been removed from existence by our carrier-based fighters. Two days later, Damascus has fallen and by March 15, Assad has surrendered. We re given a choice to Liberate, Colonize, or Annex the country. You know, it s been a long time since a major, imperialist power set up a colony. I think it s about time we bring that concept back.

American Syria is already looking to be the best Syria there ever was. By some fluke, toppling Assad also destroyed ISIS (possibly because they are modeled as a rebellion against Syria rather than a proper state), and we own what used to be their base of power. Two birds with one stone! USA! USA! But we re not done yet. It s about time to have a chat with our friend Kim Jong Un.

Once again, my very nuanced strategy involves selecting every unit I have and right-clicking on Pyongyang. It worked against Assad, didn t it? Issuing the order causes the game to hang for a good, solid minute while my units sort out the finer details. It s as if my general staff are collectively confirming: Wait, are you freaking serious? Do I look like a joker to you? Okay, don t answer that.

As I wait for my troops to arrive for Korean War 2: Korea Harder, I open the geopolitical notification window to find that my imperialism has inspired some copycats. Putin has outright conquered Estonia, and China is simultaneously at war with Japan and Mongolia. Isn t Estonia in NATO? I think we were maybe supposed to protect them. Did we get a memo about that or anything? I don t know. Too late to cry over spilled leivasupp at this point.

Part 2: Ring-a-ding, Kim Jong

On March 26, we gain a powerful friend for life. German Chancellor Angela Merkel declares war on Switzerland, clearly privy to their depravity just as we are. I announce my public support for the war and hope this means I can hand off another of my campaign promises to someone who has a better idea of what they re doing than I do. By April 10, Geneva falls to the Bundeswehr and Switzerland becomes a province of Germany. Merkel has accomplished what not even the Third Reich dared, and another Enemy of Freedom is wiped from the map. Two down, one to go. But there s a slight problem. North Korea, while being bombed by the USAF, has declared an offensive war on China because reasons. This has now become a race to crush them before China does. We won t give them the credit!

It s the first of May and the marines have come ashore outside Pyongyang, mere days after a round of nuclear bombardment. I realize I m not actually sure at this point if I know how nukes work. I have yet to see their effects on the map. But I keep hitting the big, red button anyway. Even if it doesn t do anything, it makes me feel better. I imagine it s possible the joint chiefs are just telling me they launched our full nuclear arsenal to keep me happy. In any case, it takes less than a week to capture the capital, and the Chinese are nowhere in sight. They ve recently declared war on India, which I m sure has nothing to do with the destabilizing effects of the world s major superpower going on an imperialist rampage, so I imagine they re somewhat occupied with that.

The war in North Korea drags on until June 26 as we wipe out the last pockets of resistance, but we beat China to the punch and force Kim to surrender. The logical thing to do might be to reunify Korea, handing over the liberated North to our long-time allies in the South. But I think we can build a better Korea. The best Korea. An American Korea.

Epilogue: A greater America? 

American North Korea has been established, and the world is now safe for democracy. Kinda. Russia and China are in a mad dash to eat up all of the territory of the former Soviet Union like military-industrial Hungry, Hungry Hippos, because I guess all bets are off at this point. Meanwhile, alliances are forming in Europe to oppose U.S. imperialism. But guess what? That beautiful wall? Finished as promised. It only cost something like 80% of our cash reserves. ISIS? A thing of the past. The people of Seoul sleep soundly at night absent the threat of a madman with his finger on the nuclear button. Okay, maybe they get a little restless thinking about the new guy in charge. That s their right.

As for the economy? Uh well, the national debt has ballooned a bit. But that s just the price of freedom. And we have a whopping 24% approval rating, which is pretty respectable considering we ve raised taxes to over 50%, backpedaled on anti-colonialist foreign policy ideals in place since the 40s, and launched two of the most costly wars of the 21st Century. What can this tell us about a potential, real world Trump presidency? Probably nothing. Except, perhaps, that it could make a hell of a historical strategy game some day if society survived it.

Quadrilateral Cowboy is a retro-hacking heist game in which you dial into security systems with your trusty 56K modem to open doors, disable security, and perform other feats of digital derring-do in the service of the highest bidder. It's quite good, a smart puzzle game, overflowing with personality, and now developer Blendo Games is giving players the opportunity to hack it up for real by releasing the source code.

Quadrilateral Cowboy uses the idTech 4 (Doom 3) engine. The source code is written in C++ and includes the solution files for Microsoft Visual C++ 2010, the studio said in a note on the FAQ, which includes the download link. The source code is released under the GPL license.

Putting out the source code like this is unusual but not actually unexpected at least for those of you who were paying attention three-and-a-half years ago, when developer Brendon Chung committed to doing so. He also offered a pretty good idea for what someone with the appropriate expertise might want to do with it:

@floatvoid Yup. Quadrilateral Cowboy source code will be released with the game. Sooooo if you want to add Oculus Rift support that'd be radFebruary 26, 2013

Chung also recently committed to providing deleted scenes from the game as extra levels, which will be available for free via the Steam Workshop.

Bottom lane has always rewarded players with a keen eye for teamwork and punished those who fail to communicate with one another. Excellent synergy is at the heart of any successful game of League of Legends and can make or break a team. The marriage of AD carry and support demonstrates that good teamwork between champions can go a long way to securing a victory.

In the 2016 summer regular season certain pairings have proven more popular than others. The mid lane and jungle have demanded more attention in the banning phase, leaving AD carry and support relatively untouched. As a result, the duo lane has seen notable play from certain champion pairings. However, the popularity and strength of each champion doesn t always correlate to their general effectiveness and overall success as a duo.

The statistics used are from Oracle s Elixir and are based on the 2016 summer regular season across the NA LCS, EU LCS, LCK, LPL, and LMS, and includes data collected as of July 31st 2016.

Sivir and Karma 

The Battle Mistress currently has the largest pick or ban rate (68.2%) and continues to be one of the most contested AD carry picks in the game. It s not hard to see why when you look at what Sivir brings to the table. Her impeccable wave clear and tower taking speed make defending objectives a nightmare, while her ultimate makes potential teamfights even more deadly. On The Hunt (R) allows her to rally herself and all nearby allies for 8 seconds, granting bonus movement speed for the duration. This lethal cocktail of utility and damage has led to her partnership with Karma.

The Enlightened One has featured in 89 games alongside Sivir and has a steady win rate of 57.3% when paired with the Shuriman. Karma s ability Inspire (E) compliments Sivir s kit perfectly and helps her to achieve some even speedier lane plays. The added burst and slow from Inner Flame can be especially potent when twinned with Sivir s high damage output, providing them with excellent kill pressure in lane.

Sivir managed to find her way into a wide range of team compositions and played alongside a broad number of support champions. The Battle Mistress has enjoyed success with Braum, Alistar, Karma, and Taric. This synergy has led to her appearance in three of the top ten winning duos. Unfortunately, Karma has not enjoyed the same success. While being a popular pick, she has produced sub-40 percent win rates when paired with Lucian, Caitlyn and Jhin. These particular pairings suggest that she had been drafted as a flexible pick as opposed to the synergy she provides for her AD Carry. It s obviously appealing to have the safety net of being able to have a support that can go mid or bot, but it may not be worthwhile if the team AD Carry lacks synergy with Karma as the data in this case shows.

Lucian and Braum

Lucian and Braum are third place just under the potent Sivir and Karma paring with 83 games played. It may be fair to assume that Lucian and Braum would be the best of friends, but in fact the data paints a very different picture. The Heart of the Freljord has a 59.9% pick or ban rate, and has proved popular among the top AD Carries, helping them to achieve some solid win rates. However, out of the 83 games played the Lucian and Braum partnership has yielded rather lacklustre results with a 44.6% win rate.

This may come as a surprise considering how potent Lucian s Lightslinger and Braum s Concussive Blows can be when synergised together, but the duo seemed to be having a rough time. This could be down to the lack of 2v2 fights, difficulty landing stuns, or bad matchups against picks that can outrange them, making it difficult for them to create kill pressure. Similarly, his pairing with Karma has also resulted in an even lower win rate of 34.8% with 66 games played, which proves that popularity doesn t always equate to overall effectiveness on the Rift.

Ashe and Alistar

The Beauty and the Beast come together once again for another classic duo proving that the synergy between the two doesn t just apply to the classic French fairy tale. With 40 games played together and a 62.5% win rate, Ashe and Alistar have a very clear and effective game plan. The crowd control offered from Ashe s Enchanted Crystal Arrow and Alistar s combination of Headbutt and Pulverize can make for an incredibly effective duo lane. When these abilities are successfully coordinated they can turn a teamfight into a game winning play, but if executed poorly it can lead to frustration and disaster.

While Ashe and Alistar enjoy a healthy win rate, the role and strategy they play within a team comp is easily readable to their opponents. This can make a team s game plan difficult to mask, leading to counter-picks which attempt to negate the effects of their synergised abilities. This could suggest why the pick rate is considerably lower than the previous pairings with just 40 games played together, but the win rate suggests that under the right circumstances straying away from popular picks can yield significant payoffs. Whether it s worth the risk is largely down to team preference, but it shows that top tier picks aren t always the answer to securing that all important victory.

Jhin and Trundle

With only a mere 22 games played together Jhin and Trundle seem to be one the unpopular pairings of the competitive scene, but don t be fooled by this unusual duo as this lane offers an interesting cocktail of slows and unavoidable skill shots that ooze synergy. The Troll King compliments Jhin s long-range skill shots perfectly with the use of his Pillar of Ice ability, which knocks up and slows those caught within its radius. While his enemies are slowed Jhin can capitalise on their reduced movement speed and fire off a successful Curtain Call with devastating consequences. Trundle s high mobility and tankiness allows him to effectively bully his opponents by constantly harassing them and making them burn their summoner spells. This compliments Jhin s abilities and makes up for the Virtuoso s lack of mobility and range.

The 2016 summer duo statistics clearly show that top tier picks are not always destined to do well. Instead teams who are willing to get creative and draft from outside the meta can greatly benefit from well thought out synergies between champs, as opposed to following a clearly defined tier list. Of course popular picks and counter picks will change with every new patch and the competitive scene will continue to unearth some truly terrifying pairings. But as the game continues to evolve, knowing when and where to stick to the meta game will always remain crucial. It s also important for teams to sometimes stray ever so slightly from the top tier lists and find some truly exciting builds/team comps that surprise their opponents and the League of Legends community. Of course this path doesn t come without its dangers, but teams who are willing to be creative with their drafts can often reap the biggest rewards.

Throwing myself down an opulent corridor in a hail of bullets, dressed as a painter, was not how I pictured my return to Hitman: Blood Money. As I stumble down a flight of stairs, still holding a bloody hammer, I m forced to concede that picking a lock in plain view of a guard wasn t a good idea. Nor was using the hammer in the undignified kerfuffle that followed.

In light of the new game s release, and with its Paris Showstopper shredding me, I decided to return to arguably the Hitman series crowning glory. And I just had to pick the Paris Opera House, didn t I?

Feet that had been so used to the layout of the grand building suddenly falter in the labyrinth of passages. Where the hell am I? Why is there inadequate signage? In the event of a fire, this place would be an outrageous death trap. The irony.

I m too busy getting worked up about Parisian health and safety standards to pay attention to where I m going, and get stuck in a door that opens inwards rather than outwards. I m turned into a bullet sponge. Again. My time in the Opera House is a three-act farce, more lethal to my self-esteem than I am to my two targets.

As my former prowess with the game fails to materialise I keep going back for more, working towards an ending where my targets, not me, get carted off in body-bags. This time I decide to stay out of trouble hah by engineering an accident, and set off to sabotage the winch for the chandelier, tucked away at the top of the opera house. One little problem... I can t find it. I only have to go up. How hard can that be? Staggeringly, it seems. I yank open doors, alarm guards, barge into the ladies dressing room and retreat amid a shower of screams. I pick locks and swear at staircases that go the wrong way. Fate and a shitty sense of direction conspire against me and I end up accidentally killing someone in a toilet before being gunned down by guards.

Restarting, and this time attempting to be a smart arse, I disguise myself as an actor, complete with a fake World War I pistol. I appear on stage as an executioner, hitting my mark beautifully. Then, in an unforgivable bit of overacting, I accidentally shoot my target a second time. My cover s blown. Shots erupt around me, I stumble off stage, and, in the ensuing chaos, inadvertently discover the door I d previously spent an age searching for. Feeling a Basil Fawltyesque meltdown coming on, I rattle up flights of steps to the roof space of the auditorium and find myself near the bloody winch room. There s no time to whip anything with a Silverballer because, in my frustrated rage, I slip off a gantry and die an ignoble death on the stairwell below.

As an assassin and an actor I ve failed. Worst of all, I died wearing an embarrassing moustache.

Despite the curtains closing on yet another of Agent 47 s lives, I couldn t help but conclude that Blood Money s sense of fun remains. I may have failed multiple times but I enjoyed it. I also learned that you should never send Frank Spencer to do an Agent s job.

By Lorna Reid

As Agent 47 gears up for his fourth episodic outing this time to the Thai capital of Bangkok it seems IO Interactive and Square Enix s sporadic stealth-meets-murder sim has another two seasons planned, once this one s done and dusted.

Paris, Sapienza, Marrakesh, Bangkok, USA and Japan make up the hunting grounds of season one, however the game s official Twitter account has now revealed there will be three seasons in total although a second and third are unconfirmed at this stage.

@bergf89 Of course, our plan is to have three seasons. Although Season Two hasn't been confirmed yet.August 6, 2016

There s nothing to go on beyond that for now, however as the current pay model lets prospective players fork over 39.99/$49.99 for the seven-episode season one full experience (which includes the locations noted above plus a summer special), future seasons might well follow a similar path.

At any rate, Hitman lands in Bangkok for its fourth episode on August 16.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

When Phil reviewed Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair the updated PC port of 2014 s Earth Defense Force 2025 a couple of weeks back, he noted that while it had no polish or refinement it was also ridiculously fun at its best, which it frequently is. Today it adds to said fun, as well as its 80 campaign missions and arsenal of 800 weapons, with its first mission pack Time of the Mutants.

Prepare to challenge 26 of the most intense missions the EDF has ever faced! reads the DLC s Steam page which marks today as the expansion s date of arrival. Some of these missions will come from Earth Defense Force 2025, we re told, while some are brand new. They all have one thing in common, the blurb continues. They're really, really, REALLY hard. Can you survive the Time of the Mutants?

That s a question you can answer yourself later today when the add-on unlocks. It s without a price tag for now, however Time of the Mutants cost $9.99 when it launched on the PlayStation Store in January (where it incidentally boasts a five-star rating).

Happy giant ant blasting!

It's been over a year since Rocket League came out, and the once absurd sight of rocket-powered vehicles nudging oversized balls around futuristic stadiums has now become normalised. So it's lucky that Psyonix is soon to release a new Rumble Mode, which introduces a range of over-the-top power-ups in a battle royale-style setting. If you pine for the days when Rocket League seemed cu-razy, this may appeal.

The mode, which will roll out some time in September, will appear in online playlists, and will be available as private and exhibition matches. There's a video at the bottom of the page showcasing some of the power-ups, but check out this list, taken straight from the horse's mouth:

• The Boot (Kicks an opponent’s car)
• Disruptor (Forces your opponent to drive uncontrollably)
• Freezer (Freezes the ball in-place)
• Grappling Hook (Pulls you towards the ball)
• Haymaker (Punches the ball)
• Magnetizer (Attracts the ball to your car)
• Plunger (Grabs the ball via plunger and cord)
• Power Hitter (Allows you to hit everything harder)
• Spike (Attach the ball to your car when you bump into it)
• Swapper (Change positions on the field with your opponent)
• Tornado (Sweep up the ball and opposing cars into a giant funnel cloud)

Meanwhile, Rocket League's crate and key system was leaked late last month, and while Psyonix has acknowledged that they are indeed installing the system into Rocket League, the studio has yet to detail it thoroughly.

This week on the Mod Roundup, you can play a violent version of Pok mon Go in GTA 5, capturing NPCs in Pok Balls and recruiting them to fight for you. Also, a Fallout 4 mod brings custom interiors to all those boarded up buildings in Boston, and another mod adds six new Legendary Lords to Total War: Warhammer.

Here are the most promising mods we've seen this week.

 Poké Ball, for GTA 5

Download link

This script for GTA 5 gives you six Pok Balls. Chuck one at an NPC and he or she will be sucked inside. However, they will typically bust out until you weaken them, meaning you'll have to punch, kick, or gently shoot them to make them docile enough to be captured. Once nabbed, they'll join you and fight your enemies.

This mod actually appeared back in January, but considering the current Pokemon Go craze, why not give it a try now?

Legendary Lords, for Total War: Warhammer

Steam Workshop link

Looking for some new talent? This mod adds six new Legendary Lords to Total War: Warhammer, each with their own custom Legendary items, mounts, and skills. They include Reiksmarshal Kurt Helborg, Belegar Ironhammer, Gorbad Ironclaw, Vlad von Carstein, Taurox the Brass Bull, and Gorthor the Cruel.

Beantown Interiors Project, for Fallout 4

Download link

Do you hate those boarded-up buildings in Fallout 4? Doesn't it make sense that someone would have pried them open by now? The modder who created new interiors for the boarded-up buildings in Fallout 3 and New Vegas is doing the same for Fallout 4. It's still a work in progress, but currently opens up a lot of buildings that were formerly impenetrable.

Looking for more mods? Visit our list of the best mods for Fallout 4 and the best mods for Total War: Warhammer. You can also read previous Mod Roundups right here.

The International 2016 is the biggest event in the Dota 2 calendar. Now in its sixth year, the stakes have never been higher: with an extraordinary prize pool nearing twenty million dollars, the winners of this week s tournament will earn a pot that exceeds the total career earnings of top-level players in other games.

Yet the prize itself isn t the reason you should watch this year s International. You should watch because this is one of the most exciting team esports on PC, and because every year Valve improve the production that surrounds the tournament. This is a very dynamic scene, too: Dota 2 is internationally competitive and no one region or team dominates the competitive world. Last week s dramatic group stages were full of upsets, setting us up for a dramatic main event. This year s winner could easily be a team that didn t even exist last year, or from a region that has never won an International before.

This guide is intended to help newcomers to enjoy the event, and to get returning fans up to speed if you ve not followed the competitive scene closely in the last couple of months. Over the following pages you ll find everything you need to spectate the event, along with a summary of the group stage and a beginner-friendly overview of the key heroes and items of the current metagame the pro community s collective sense of which characters and strategies are in the ascendant.

If you re looking for more information on the teams themselves, please check out last week s in-depth round-up, now updated for the main event. It s up to you how you use these resources: you can dip into the team guide when it s relevant to the game you re watching, or you can read it all to help you shape your predictions going into the playoffs. If you're looking for newcomer tips for Dota 2 in general, check out our Dota 2 beginner's guide: some of the resources listed may well help you follow the International, too.

Contents

What happened in the group stage?A beginner s guide to the TI6 metaThe teams of the International 2016

 EVENT OVERVIEW

Dates, times and places

This year s International takes place from Monday the 8th to Saturday the 13th of August at KeyArena in Seattle, USA. Play will begin at 10:00 PDT/13:00 ET/18:00 BST/19:00 CEST every day, with the longest days taking place towards the beginning of the week. The exact timing of each match is variable because Dota 2 games have no fixed length: they end when they end. There have also been unfortunate issues with delays and DDOSing at previous Internationals, so keep checking Twitch and Twitter for updates if there s a particular matchup you want to see.

From the semi finals onwards, expect to be able to gauge the start time of matches with a little more certainty. For a full schedule, check out the official International site.

Where to watch

You ve got a lot of options for watching the International online. The most straightforward are the Twitch and YouTube streams, which, well, y know. They re streams. You can also watch using Valve s own streaming site, DotaTV this is more closely integrated into the game and allows you to manipulate vital stat-tracking graphs and charts yourself. It s also less popular, so the chat is usually less of a trainwreck than you might find elsewhere (no guarantees on that front.)

You can watch the games through the Watch tab in the game client, which allows you to control the camera yourself, pick which commentary team you want to listen to, and so on. You can also load in with a group of friends, which is a great way to watch the tournament if you ve got buddies who share your interests. Doing your own ad-hoc cast of a pro game can be more fun than tuning into the official broadcast.

This year there s also the spectacular Dota VR Hub, if you re lucky enough to own a HTC Vive. This allows you to watch the games on a massive virtual screen surrounded by life-size statues of the heroes being played before leaping down into the game itself to stride the battlefield like a giant: or experience it from ground-level, as I attempted last week. It can be a little tricky to follow games closely in VR, but if you ve got the kit then you ve got to try it at least once.

The format

Six teams were invited to the International directly, at Valve s discretion. Then, a series of four International qualifiers Europe, North America, South East Asia and China provided two teams each for a total of 14. The third place teams in each region entered the wildcard, a mini-tournament that was played last week. The top two teams from the wildcard won spots in the main event, rounding out the final 16.

In the group stages, those teams were divided into two groups of 8. They then played a round robin over three days with a best-of-two format. The top four teams in each group get to begin the main event in the upper bracket, and the very best among them got to choose their first opponents. Teams that did poorly in the group stage will have to fight for their tournament lives on day one of the main event in the lower bracket.

Via the official site, here are the current standings:

The first day will see two games played in the quarter finals followed by all four best-of-ones in the lower bracket. The latter are particularly brutal, as each team and there are some fan favourites in there only has one chance to stay in the tournament. Expect upsets, pocket strategies, and surprises. Don't miss it.

The prize pool

• First place: $8,758,391
• Second place: $3,284,396
• Third place: $2,090,070
• Fourth place: $1,393,380
• Fifth and sixth place: $895,744
• Seventh and eight place: $497,636
• Ninth to twelfth place: $298,581
• Thirteenth to sixteenth place: $99,527 

Expect all of those numbers to go up over the next week, too: for every $1 that is spent on the in-game International Compendium and Battle Pass, $0.25 is added to the pot.

Last year, I measured the size of the International prize pool in killer whales. This year, the winners will be able to afford their own island in Washington state. Trump Island (no relation to The Donald) near Decatur is the perfect place to train for next year's International and will only set them back $8,750,000. If the players don't want to share, however, then their cut of the top prize is enough to get them a large island in British Columbia each.

Those who drop out of the main event early will need to settle for sharing a freehold in Fiji.

On the next page: the drama of the group stage.

 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GROUP STAGE?

Upsets, is what. If your Compendium predictions weren t in tatters by day three of the group stage, you re Nostradamus. Tournament favourite OG did as well as expected, winning group A. Noted Chinese outfits Wings and Newbee also did well but that's where the expected results end. Wildcard team EHOME emerged as the shock winners of group B, while returning champions EG demonstrated a confident return to form that placed them second only to OG in their group. Underdogs Digital Chaos emerged as another surprise smash in group B, while Alliance and MVP Phoenix dodged the lower bracket by inches.

Wildcard second place finisher Escape Gaming was the clear loser of group A, while Vici Gaming Reborn's pre-tournament visa issues seem to have condmened them to same fate in group B. The surprisingly poor performance of hot tickets Secret, Liquid, and LGD put their place in the top-tier in question, while Na'Vi struggled to find wins consistently enough to make the cut. Through all of this, another underestimated team TNC Pro Gaming snuck ahead and only narrowly missed out on the upper bracket.

Day one

The first day began with an incredibly tense, hard-fought series between OG and LGD suggesting that the latter hadn't been held back too badly by the visa problems that necessitated a last-minute roster switch. Elsewhere, Wings got off to a shaky start against EG and Na'Vi and Escape both traded wins. Alliance cleaned up against TNC before being themselves wiped out by OG. EG and LGD picked up steam against Na'Vi and Escape respectively, but Wings fell short, surprisingly, against underdogs TNC before reclaiming some points against Escape as the remaining group A teams traded even.

In group B, Secret got off to a strong start against Vici Gaming while EHOME beat Fnatic and the rest of the group traded evenly. Secret would later trade wins with MVP Phoenix while Newbee and DC cleaned up. EG, LGD and OG emerged as the leaders of group A while Secret, EHOME, Newbee and DC shared the top spot in group B.

Day two

This was a great day for EG as they won their two sets 2-0 against Escape and TNC. The return of the classic Na'Vi-Alliance matchup went Alliance's way in both games but the Swedes later conceded two to Wings, curbing their momentum somewhat. Na'Vi bounced back with a 2-0 victory over LGD while OG beat Escape and traded evenly with Wings. Continuing on from day one, OG and EG emerged as the leaders of group A.

The real surprises of the day took place in group B, where Digital Chaos a team often overshadowed by the likes of EG, OG and Liquid cleaned up with 2-0 victories over both Secret and Newbee. Secret had a terrible day in general, losing out to both EHOME and Fnatic and plummeting down the standings. EHOME emerged as the biggest winners of the day, cleaning up in all of their sets, while MVP Phoenix, Vici Gaming Reborn, Fnatic and Liquid struggled for position in the middle. When the smoke cleared, EHOME a wildcard team was the clear leader in group B, with DC unexpectedly close behind.

Day three

Several teams knew that their position in the upper bracket was safe going into day three, while others knew that they were going to be fighting elimination in the lower bracket. The day's real drama took place among the teams in the middle, whose hopes of survival in the main event not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars rode on a handful of games. Alliance were the big winners, here, inching close to disaster by trading 1-1 with Escape before scoring a surprise 2-0 victory over EG to earn a spot in the upper bracket.

Na'Vi were less fortunate. Their day started well with a 2-0 win over Wings, but they were outmaneuvered by OG and failed to get the points they needed to avoid the lower bracket. In group B, EHOME and DC continued to clean up, only ceding losses to each other. Meanwhile, Vici Gaming Reborn emerged as the group's clear loser, while Liquid, Secret and Fnatic all tied 5-9 overall: allowing MVP Phoenix to inch into the upper bracket despite having a negative 6-8 record.

On the next page: a glance at the new meta.

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO THE CURRENT META 

This year s metagame is going to present a challenge to newcomers, as Dota has rarely been as varied or competitive as it is this year. Across the group stage, 101 heroes were picked out of the 110 that are available in competitive play. That s an extraordinarily high number, indicating the enormous amount of viable drafts and strategies available to a top-tier team. Even so, a couple of themes are emerging.

Momentum is tremendously important to every team s success in Dota 2. That can mean something tangible, like a gold or experience lead, or it can be subtle: psychological pressure, information about enemy movements, and so on. Teams work to build this momentum during the early part of the game, the laning phase, at which point much of the drama of a match comes from that team s success or failure at converting that momentum into objectives like towers, barracks, and Roshan.

Many of this year s top picks are contested because they re very good at building momentum for their team. Drow Ranger and Huskar are great examples of this, but for different reasons. Drow gives a passive damage boost to all of her allied ranged heroes, making it easier for characters like Invoker to win their lanes. She s also a fantastic siege unit when time comes to push towers.

A well-supported Huskar has a similar effect. This hero, once out of favour, becomes almost unkillable the closer he gets to death. If his supports can sustain him on the brink, the character is almost broken: a snowballing spear-tossing flaming ball of death that ends games very, very quickly. He s been the source of multiple upsets during the group stages.

There are plenty of other examples, many of which are unpacked below. While it s impossible to give a rundown of every character that might be picked particularly in this meta these are characters you can expect to see a lot. Where possible, I ve also included a picture of their Immortal particle effects: cosmetics that alter the way certain abilities look, which is potentially confusing for returning spectators. First, however, let s run through the items that newcomers need to be aware of.

I should stress that you needn't worry if you don't take all of this information in right away. Read it through, and return here if something confuses you later on. Dota 2 is best absorbed slowly, not crammed in all at once. The best way to learn is, as ever, by watching the games.

THE ITEMS

Town Portal Scroll

TP scrolls are a vital part of the game. These allow players to teleport to a friendly structure, saving essential travel time. These cost money and are on a fairly long cooldown, and being caught unable to teleport can be lethal. They can also be used as an escape, but the channeling process can be interrupted by crowd control effects. Look for the telltale circular ring of light.

Blink Dagger

A Blink Dagger allows any hero to teleport a short distance on a relatively low cooldown. This is essential for many initiator heroes like Tidehunter, Batrider and Sand King. You ll hear a lot about a player s blink timing this is how fast they re able to build this essential item. Blink can also be cancelled by damage, meaning that it gains a short cooldown whenever the hero holding it takes a hit.

Black King Bar

Dota 2 s most impactful defensive item, Black King Bar makes a hero immune to magic damage and most crowd control effects. It also makes them huge and gold, which is a bonus. You ll see this come out often on carries, and its arrival is often a sign that a team is ready to take fights as a unit. BKB lasts 10 seconds the first time it is used and then loses a second of its duration with every subsequent use down to 5 seconds. For this reason, you ll often hear casters lament if a player wastes their 10 second charge.

Eul s Scepter

Eul s Scepter allows a character to propel themselves or an enemy into the air atop a swirling cyclone. Heroes are immune to damage while in the air, and it can be used to interrupt channeled abilities and TP scrolls. Sometimes used defensively, it s also often used to catch fleeing heroes or set up combos with skillshots.

Force Staff and Hurricane Pike

Force Staff allows a character to thrust themselves, an ally or an enemy forward a certain distance. It has loads of defensive and offensive applications, and if you see a character suddenly boost out of danger then chances are they or one of their supports just forced them. Hurricane Pike is a new item, an upgrade to the Force Staff with an additional use: when used on an opponent, both heroes will be forced away from one another: but the Pike user will still be able to attack their opponent with unlimited range.

Armlet of Mordiggian

Often just called armlet , this item is one of the most visible momentum boosts in the game. When activated, it gives melee carries a big boost in damage and hitpoints (and purple hands) while draining their health until it is switched off. You re very likely to see a technique called armlet toggling , where a character switches their armlet on and off in between damage instances in order to continually reapply the hitpoint boost and soak up damage. This is incredibly risky, as between each toggle the hero has only a single hitpoint and the bonus health doesn t kick in straight away, but in the hands of a skilled player it s a breathtaking way to absorb obscene amounts of damage.

THE HEROES

Beastmaster

Beastmaster has had a place in the meta for a long time now, and for good reason. His ultimate, Primal Roar, is a lengthy and reliable AoE stun. He s also able to summon a scouting hawk and a boar with a nasty slow, providing his team with good general utility, pushing power, and the potential to secure pick off kills.

Elder Titan

Elder Titan is now a common pick and ban thanks to his unique disable. Echo Stomp activates after a short channeling period, applying a lengthy sleep effect to every enemy caught in its blast. Elder Titan can also project an astral duplicate of himself that casts Echo Stomp whenever he does, extending the ability s area of effect. Enemies that are asleep wake up if they take damage, but skilled players can work around this and its disruptive effect on a teamfight, as well as its power against massed pushes, accounts for the hero s new popularity.

Riki

Once simply the bane of low-level pub games, a reworked Riki has now found a home in the pro scene as a roaming support. His permanent invisibility gives him obvious potential as a scout and he provides control in fights with his silencing Smoke Screen. His new ultimate, Tricks of the Trade, removes him from the map while he invisibly strikes every enemy within a circular AoE. If you see a lot of people dying inside a big pink ring, Riki has happened.

Shadow Demon

Shadow Demon has made a triumphant return to the meta lately as a long series of buffs finally bore fruit. He provides utility to his team as a support hero with much of his power centring around Disruption. This encases an enemy or ally in an orb for several seconds, during which time they re immune to damage and completely disabled. As they emerge they re joined by two illusory duplicates under the control of Shadow Demon. Disruption has offensive potential, particularly in combination with heroes with skillshot disables like Mirana and Elder Titan. It also helps Shadow Demon s team transition into a push, as using it on a beefy ally creates illusions that can help with a siege.

Mirana

Changes to Mirana s abilities and itemisation have given her new life as a roaming carry with powerful magical burst damage. Her skillshot, Sacred Arrow, now instantly kills any creep it hits with the exception of ancients. This makes it much easier for Mirana to farm, as she can start killing high-level jungle creeps from the very start of the game. This farm is increasingly going towards items that boost her magic damage, like her new Aghanim s Scepter upgrade that causes her to trigger her Starstorm nuke constantly as long as she s near an enemy.

Io

Io has been first ban material for a long time, and this was particularly true in the group stage. He plays well into the current meta due to his ability to sustain allies with Tether and Overcharge: he s one of a number of supports that plays well with Huskar. Relocate is still a powerful ganking and map control tool, giving Io and his tethered friend the ability to suddenly appear anywhere on the map.

Drow Ranger

Much of Drow s power in this meta comes from the ranged damage boost that she grants her team, as mentioned earlier. But she has useful control options in her toolkit, too. Gust is a knockback and silence that makes her a little less vulnerable to heroes that can blink on top of her, and players have started picking up Hurricane Pike as a way of giving her increased survivability and control. She's certainly benefited from better item options after the last couple of patches.

Huskar

A Huskar pick is risky because, if anticipated and countered, he s terrible. Get the right start, however, and he s terrifying: a leaping, flaming spearman that becomes more powerful the closer he gets to death. His ultimate, Life Break, is what you re seeing when he leaps through the air at a target. This sacrifices a chunk of Huskar s health in order to rip out an equivalent chunk of his opponent, making him naturally strong against characters that rely on deep HP pools to survive. He needs the right support, however.

Dazzle

Dazzle is one of those supports. The key ability here is Shallow Grave, pictured. For as long as an ally is encased in Dazzle s column of pink light, they can t be reduced below 1 hitpoint. This has obvious synergy with Huskar s love of danger, but it s a powerful sustain tool regardless of the character that Dazzle is supporting. Expect to see a lot of the Shadow Priest at TI6.

Oracle

Oracle is one of Dota s newer supports and also one of the more confusing. The main thing you need to know is that he provides damage, control, damage mitigation and healing, and that all of these things are mixed together and different effects can be produced based on how he times his abilities. The game changer, however, is his ultimate False Promise. This purges most negative status effects from an ally while temporarily pausing all damage and healing done to them. This damage and healing isn t applied until False Promise s duration ends, and healing is doubled. In the right circumstances, this allows Oracle to guarantee that an ally survives a battle and allows them to soak up a tremendous number of nukes while they re at it.

Batrider

A perennial favourite, Batrider s ability to roam the map setting up kills for his allies with Flaming Lasso is once again relevant in the new meta. Batrider can also pump out a respectable amount of magic damage with Firefly, which allows him to fly over obstacles while leaving a trail of flame in his wake.

That s all for now! Hopefully this guide will help you get the most out of one of the year s most exciting esports events. Check PC Gamer Pro every day during the international for highlights, analysis and more.