As the snows of winter recede and the river ice turns to slush, it's time to clear the lanes and climb the towers for Dota 2's vigorous yearly cleaning.

Featuring a variety of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, the Spring Cleaning 2016 update will arrive this week, bringing with it hero-specific ability bindings, camera control group hotkeys, Neutral Creep spawn box indicators, and much more.

Check out the update page for some highlights and a complete list of changes.

Tickets for The Manila Major—the third and final Major this season in advance of The International 2016—will go on sale Saturday, March 12 at 1PM SGT. This Major will be produced by PGL, with the main event to take place June 7 - 12 in the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. With three seating tiers available, pricing for event tickets will be ₱200/100/50 per day for the weekdays, and ₱400/200/100 per day for the weekend days.

Watch the trailer

With an eye towards The Manila Major Qualifiers, running May 3 - 6 with Open Qualifiers on April 29 - May 2, all teams must finalize roster changes by March 27. Rosters will remain locked from that date through completion of play at The International, making this the final opportunity for players and teams to choose their squads for the remainder of the competitive season.

Looking ahead to The International 2016, Regional Qualifiers will be held in the second half of June, right after conclusion of The Manila Major, with the Main Event set for early August in Seattle to determine which team will carry the Aegis of Champions into the next year.

Tickets for The Manila Major—the third and final Major this season in advance of The International 2016—will go on sale Saturday, March 12 at 1PM SGT. This Major will be produced by PGL, with the main event to take place June 7 - 12 in the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. With three seating tiers available, pricing for event tickets will be ₱200/100/50 per day for the weekdays, and ₱400/200/100 per day for the weekend days.

Watch the trailer

With an eye towards The Manila Major Qualifiers, running May 3 - 6 with Open Qualifiers on April 29 - May 2, all teams must finalize roster changes by March 27. Rosters will remain locked from that date through completion of play at The International, making this the final opportunity for players and teams to choose their squads for the remainder of the competitive season.

Looking ahead to The International 2016, Regional Qualifiers will be held in the second half of June, right after conclusion of The Manila Major, with the Main Event set for early August in Seattle to determine which team will carry the Aegis of Champions into the next year.

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.