Congratulations to Team Secret, winners of the second Dota 2 Major Championship. Having now appeared in consecutive Major Grand Finals, Secret advanced through the Upper Bracket with wins over OG and EG—each recent champions themselves—and a determined Team Liquid. Liquid would later defeat EG in the Lower Bracket Finals to set up a thrilling rematch in the Grand Finals, where Secret turned in a convincing 3-1 series win to claim first prize. After this championship showing in Shanghai, Secret fans must have their hopes set on similar celebrations in the future.



While there were amazing performances by all of the teams participating in the Shanghai Major, we recognize that the viewing experience and the overall execution of the event were very disappointing. Dota fans and professional players alike have high expectations for a Major event—expectations that we share—and it is ultimately our responsibility to make sure those expectations are met and exceeded. A Dota Major should be a celebration of the amazing community that shepherded the game from humble origins to the global passion it has become. Disappointment should come from the elimination of a favorite team in a hard-fought match, not from the experience of just trying to watch a game you love. With that in mind, we will be increasing our involvement moving forward to ensure that future events deliver a high-quality experience.

Congratulations to Team Secret, winners of the second Dota 2 Major Championship. Having now appeared in consecutive Major Grand Finals, Secret advanced through the Upper Bracket with wins over OG and EG—each recent champions themselves—and a determined Team Liquid. Liquid would later defeat EG in the Lower Bracket Finals to set up a thrilling rematch in the Grand Finals, where Secret turned in a convincing 3-1 series win to claim first prize. After this championship showing in Shanghai, Secret fans must have their hopes set on similar celebrations in the future.



While there were amazing performances by all of the teams participating in the Shanghai Major, we recognize that the viewing experience and the overall execution of the event were very disappointing. Dota fans and professional players alike have high expectations for a Major event—expectations that we share—and it is ultimately our responsibility to make sure those expectations are met and exceeded. A Dota Major should be a celebration of the amazing community that shepherded the game from humble origins to the global passion it has become. Disappointment should come from the elimination of a favorite team in a hard-fought match, not from the experience of just trying to watch a game you love. With that in mind, we will be increasing our involvement moving forward to ensure that future events deliver a high-quality experience.

With the dust still settling after four days of intense Group Stage matches, The Shanghai Major Playoffs begin today. While the top two teams from each group have earned some breathing room and best-of-three matches, the bottom eight teams find themselves facing consecutive rounds of best-of-one elimination matches to stay alive in the tournament.

Each of these teams regroups with dreams of replicating the lower-bracket run that turned OG into Frankfurt Major Champions, but the strong performances of the top eight teams give no indication any will be obstacles easily overcome.

See how it all unfolds as the Upper Bracket Quarter Finals kick off with the reformed Alliance facing off against a determined Liquid on the main stage of Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena at 10:00 AM SGT.

With the dust still settling after four days of intense Group Stage matches, The Shanghai Major Playoffs begin today. While the top two teams from each group have earned some breathing room and best-of-three matches, the bottom eight teams find themselves facing consecutive rounds of best-of-one elimination matches to stay alive in the tournament.

Each of these teams regroups with dreams of replicating the lower-bracket run that turned OG into Frankfurt Major Champions, but the strong performances of the top eight teams give no indication any will be obstacles easily overcome.

See how it all unfolds as the Upper Bracket Quarter Finals kick off with the reformed Alliance facing off against a determined Liquid on the main stage of Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena at 10:00 AM SGT.

- Added the GameRules:IsCheatMode() API to detect lobbies with cheats enabled or sv_cheats 1 in custom games.
- Fixed a crash on exit with the Convars:RegisterConvar() API.
- Added the SendToConsole() API to the client.

As the countdown to the Shanghai Major approaches the zero hour, teams and fans alike make final preparations for the start of Group Stage play. Kicking off February 25 at 9:00 AM SGT in Shanghai, each day of the Group Stage will feature four teams battling through a double-elimination bracket. The top two teams will move into the Upper Bracket of the main event while the bottom two teams will settle for seeds in the Lower Bracket. After the Group Stage has completed and the tournament brackets are set, play will resume on the main stage of Mercedes-Benz Arena on March 2, with a champion to be crowned March 6.

For Winter Battle Pass owners, all Shanghai Major Compendium Predictions must be locked in prior to the start of the Group Stage at 9:00 AM SGT, so make sure to finalize your choices to maximize your Battle Point potential and earn more level rewards if your predictions pay off.

All Shanghai Major matches can be viewed live in the Dota 2 client, via Steam Broadcasting, or on Twitch. Find the full schedule in your Compendium or here.

For fans tuning into the Dota 2 client to watch, you can now have your say in selecting the MVP of each match. Once you have witnessed an Ancient's destruction and completed spectating a live match or recent replay, you can vote for the Most Valuable Player on the in-client ballot. Cast your vote to see real-time voting stats compiled from all the other fans watching along.

As the countdown to the Shanghai Major approaches the zero hour, teams and fans alike make final preparations for the start of Group Stage play. Kicking off February 25 at 9:00 AM SGT in Shanghai, each day of the Group Stage will feature four teams battling through a double-elimination bracket. The top two teams will move into the Upper Bracket of the main event while the bottom two teams will settle for seeds in the Lower Bracket. After the Group Stage has completed and the tournament brackets are set, play will resume on the main stage of Mercedes-Benz Arena on March 2, with a champion to be crowned March 6.

For Winter Battle Pass owners, all Shanghai Major Compendium Predictions must be locked in prior to the start of the Group Stage at 9:00 AM SGT, so make sure to finalize your choices to maximize your Battle Point potential and earn more level rewards if your predictions pay off.

All Shanghai Major matches can be viewed live in the Dota 2 client, via Steam Broadcasting, or on Twitch. Find the full schedule in your Compendium or here.

For fans tuning into the Dota 2 client to watch, you can now have your say in selecting the MVP of each match. Once you have witnessed an Ancient's destruction and completed spectating a live match or recent replay, you can vote for the Most Valuable Player on the in-client ballot. Cast your vote to see real-time voting stats compiled from all the other fans watching along.

6.86f:

* Deafening Blast's knockback is no longer a hard disable (affected units can cast abilities and items)
* Deafening Blast's disarm portion rebalanced to keep same overall effectiveness as before (it previously applied disarm only after the knockback disable, numbers rescaled to keep same overall duration where they cannot attack)

* Reduced time it takes to start up the game by a second
* Added a custom Poison Touch ability icon for the Darkclaw Emmisary set

* Updated the new Naga Siren set to only require one Infuser (affected users were granted back their extra Infuser)