Dota 2‘s [official site] schedule for the latter part of 2016 will see pro players focusing in on the next Major tournament, which will take place in Boston in early December. Meanwhile, everyone else (and maybe the pros too) can take a peek at the latest battle pass if they fancy seasonal loot/cosmetics/competitive mini-tournaments.

I’m grouping these announcements together because there’s an autumnal map reskin as one of the rewards of this season’s battle pass and I associate Boston with that gorgeous, over-the-top changing of the leaves you get in the New England fall season.

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A non-major but still interesting Dota 2 [official site] patch has dropped. 6.88e is all about tweaks, as you’d expect from a patch with a letter on the end of it, rather than one which heralds a whole jump forward in numbering. The reason it’s interesting is more that it gives me a chance to talk about a thought related to patches and living games like Dota 2.

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A rash of hacks in the past two months has left the usernames, emails and passwords from at least twelve gaming forums compromised, including those of Unreal creator Epic Games and Secret World developer Funcom. Other breaches include a GTA fansite and, as previously reported, the official forums of Dota 2. All the attacks involved an exploit in the forum’s software, which the hackers used to hoover up details of members. And while the passwords are encrypted, they can often be easily cracked. In total, over 9 million user accounts have had their details stolen.

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It’s taken three years but Valve have now brought the full DotA hero lineup into Dota 2 [official site]. Underlord (formerly known as Pitlord) was the final hero, arriving in an update last night. He’s a four-legged fella loosely styled after Mannoroth from Warcraft 3 (shh! no one tell Blizzard’s lawyers), a strength hero with some nasty area of effect spells and the ability to teleport his whole dang team. Enjoy these few days when Underlord is picked in every game but no one knows how to play him or play against him. Next up for Dota 2, all-new heroes!

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After a week packed with phenomenal Dota 2 [official site] plays, combacks and upsets the winners of The International 2016 (and a casual NINE MILLION DOLLARS?????!!!!) are:

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This is it! The grand final of The International 2016, Dota 2’s [official site] ultimate world championship, is mere hours away. Two matches and three teams remain so if you’re still catching up with Friday’s action BEWARE SPOILERS!

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With the upcoming release of Underlord (The Artist Formerly Known As Pit Lord) there was more than a smattering of “What next for Dota 2 [official site]? Is that it for the hero roster?” Answering those questions at The International 2016 was Valve’s teaser trailer for new hero Monkey King! The simian sovereign will be coming in an update this autumn/fall called The New Journey. OBSERVE:

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The All-Star match at The International 2016 saw the reveal of new Dota 2 [official site] hero, Underlord. We wrote about it in our TI6 daily recap but he’s been so long anticipated that he deserves his own post.

Vrogos, the Underlord – formerly known as Azgalor, the Pit Lord in DotA and Warcraft thanks to DotA’s origins as a mod – will be added to the game from 23 August. Underlord completes the Dota 2 roster in terms of heroes also present in DotA so from then on we’re entering uncharted territory in terms of the Dota 2 roster and whether/when further heroes will be added*.

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Day four of The International 2016 main event was all about underdogs (and one Underlord, but we ll get to that in a bit) the incredible rise of one, the heart-wrenching fall of another. And, as fate and lower bracket scheduling would have it, these two young Dota 2 [official site] teams would have to face each other in the very first series of the day.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

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Much exciting Dota 2 [official site] occurred during the night, and now not only do we have our last eight teams left fighting at The International 2016, but we know two of the guaranteed top three finishers.

SPOILERS AND HEART-STOPPING COMEBACKS AHEAD!

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