* Reduced the TI Battle Pass Shovel cooldown from 60 to 20 seconds

Over the next few weeks we'll be experimenting with toggling strict solo queue on and off, to see the impact it can have on match quality and matchmaking times. The primary reason we initially added this feature was because there was a much larger discrepancy in motivation between players competing for solo MMR and players competing for party MMR, resulting in a poor experience overall. This discrepancy is not as pronounced now as before, and each option that does a hard split of the matchmaking pools has to be considered carefully as it has a direct influence on the matchmaker's ability to find the best matches available.

Today's update rolls out the exclusive 'Majesty of the Colossus' prestige item set for Tiny at Battle Level 255—along with the 'Reptilian Refuge' custom Radiant and Dire creeps at level 182—to fill out the Battle Pass rewards line as we approach The International.

Featuring completely new models for each of his Grow states, plus custom animations and effects for Avalanche and Tree Grab, the 'Majesty of the Colossus' can only be earned by increasing your Battle Level to 255 before the conclusion of The International 2019 Battle Pass. Players who've already grown to level 255 can claim this item set from the rewards line and roll into the lanes in splendor and style.

To accommodate the release of this new item set, Tiny's item slots have also been updated and simplified to correspond to his four levels of Grow, and his materials have been optimized to allow for more robust content creation. This means he will soon become available on the workshop, and that artists will only need to focus on making items to fit four base slots and one weapon slot on any future Tiny designs.

The International Group Stage

The first Group Stage action of The International kicks off at 9:00 am on Thursday, August 15 in Shanghai. With seeding in the Main Event at stake right from the start, make sure to tune in to the main stream to see the first stage of the tournament unfold.

* Fixed Morphling's Morph resetting charge counts for Astral Imprisonment, Stone Remnants and Windrun when switching to and from the Morphed hero

Today's update delivers the second half of the Summer Scrub, focused on bug fixes and some quality of life improvements just in time for The International.

One of the first changes you're likely to notice is the implementation of a new version of the customizable hero grid. Players can now create multiple grid presets, each with their own unique layouts and categories. You can drag and drop heroes around the grid and rename or resize different buckets to suit your needs for any situation.

We've also added a new alternate layout for the in-game item shop that allows you to toggle the classic column view to a new grid-style layout that retains the Basic and Upgrade sections while adding multiple grouped sub-categories for ease of use.

On the game side, we decided to do a little house cleaning related to players exploiting matchmaking, botting or transferring accounts, resulting in a fresh ban wave for cheaters today. We've also made multiple performance improvements focused on minimizing hitches during teamfights.

There's also a whole host of bug fixes that you can read about over on the update page here. Thanks to everyone in the Dota community who helped us identify which things were most in need of a good scrub.

The International Group Stage is almost upon us. As the teams, fans, and broadcast crews make their final preparations for the crowning esports event of the year, it's time to unveil some of the final details for everyone watching.

Tournament News

Head over to the in-game Compendium for a complete list of Casters and Talent for this year’s event. Don’t forget to fill out your predictions for hero picks, team results, player performance, and tournament meta. Predictions lock before the start of Group Stage play.

We’ve also launched the official tournament website for The International 2019 as a hub for keeping up with the daily tournament proceedings. As the Group Stage and Main Event progress, you’ll be able to see updated standings and new social media content posted each day from Shanghai.

• Group Stage: August 15th – August 18th, 2019 – As before, two best-of-two groups of nine teams. Top four teams in each group advance to Upper Bracket, five – eight advance to Lower Bracket, bottom in each group is eliminated.
  
  
  
• Main Event: August 20th – August 25th, 2019 – The tradition continues as 16 teams battle through a best-of-three double elimination playoff. Lower bracket first round is best-of-one, Grand Finals are best-of-five.
  

Media

The top eighteen Dota teams in the world have earned the right to join the final test of the Dota competitive season. As the tournament progresses, check out the main stage and behind-the-scenes action on our media page, which features all content from our YouTube Channel, event-specific Twitter feed, and Instagram.

Pubstomps

Whether you're playing or watching, Dota is best enjoyed with friends. To help people around the world connect with each other for their own celebratory Dota events, we’ve once again partnered with Barcraft United to facilitate Pubstomp administration. Their official landing page will launch later this week to help find a Pubstomp in your area.

- Added a one time popup describing Ranked Roles before queuing for Ranked.
- Removed random hero selection from Ranked Roles matches
- Added The International Talent section to the Compendium

- The optional unit query panel has been removed. We started fixing a couple bugs with it and felt that the feature needed large design changes to be usable by a bigger portion of players, as less than 1% of players have used it after we added the option for it.

Introducing the first-ever Hero Persona—a completely different visual and thematic take on a classic hero—available now to Battle Pass owners who invoke level 305 or beyond. Featuring all-new models, animations, voice performance, and item slots for future customization, this first persona sends the ageless Invoker back to his earliest days studying the wizarding arts. Every legend has a beginning, and the Arsenal Magus is no exception.

Aeons before he was recognized as the most dangerous magician alive—in days even he no longer remembers—the Invoker was the adolescent star pupil at an ancient wizard's academy. Now, harnessing dangerous magics purloined from his headmaster's secret archives, young Carl has discovered the means to journey forward and join the battle of the Ancients well before his time.

Head over to the Acolyte of the Lost Arts update page to learn more, and then head into the lanes spry in step and brimming with powerful magics.

Congratulations to the six teams that have earned the right to join the twelve DPC standouts in battling for the Aegis of Champions. Mineski, Royal Never Give Up, Natus Vincere, Chaos Esports Club, Infamous, and Forward Gaming have all emerged from the Regional Qualifiers as worthy additions to the field of the world's finest Dota teams.

Now that the final list of eighteen teams is set and preparations in Shanghai are well underway, it's time to explore The International 2019 Compendium. To get started, Battle Pass owners are invited to unwrap Player Card Packs and begin assembling the perfect rosters for this year's Fantasy Challenge.

You can also select your Favorite Team to unlock customized emoticons, effigy banners, team sprays, team balloons in place of your sky snakes, and special Teleport effects. The Teleport effects even have upgraded versions for players who collect a full set of a team's silver or gold cards.

The International Compendium also includes Hero, Team, Player, and Tournament Predictions. Test your knowledge of the professional scene by correctly predicting the meta of the tournament before the first draft begins. The more results you correctly predict, the more Battle Points that await. All you need to do is choose.