League of Legends vs. DOTA 2
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Corey Pollack
An introduction to the two
League of Legends and DOTA 2 are two of the most prominent MOBA’s or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games on the globe right now. The two might seem worlds apart, but they are actually both based on the same game mod which was Defence Of the Ancients which was released in 2003, with that itself being a mod for Warcraft III. However, skip back to the modern day we find fans filling up stadiums watching professional gamers of both League of Legends and DOTA 2 respectively. So what makes them so popular when it comes to E-Sports? And how is League of Legends pitting itself against DOTA 2?
One of the main things that attract players to MOBA’s is the strategy behind the game. If we look at the number of different team possibilities in LOL E-Sports, it is a staggering 765 quintillion or 7 with 20 digits following it. Not only this but there are many different strategies your team can take in terms of where to attack an enemy or to flank them at a certain point in time. There is also the vanity aspect where players can purchase customized skins for their favorite champions through micro-transactions. There are also constant updates to the game such as introducing new champions, making alterations to existing champions and introducing new maps.
How does League of Legends fare against DOTA 2?
Although the two MOBA’s are both based on the same game, there are plenty of differences between the two. We’re going to look at what gives League of Legends the edge over its fierce rival. Both games have the same base layout where there is a middle lane, a top lane, and a bottom lane. Typically you’ll have two players in the top lane, one in the middle and two at the bottom. The first significant difference is that there are more skill shots when it comes to League of Legends, a skill shot is where a player must manually aim and sometimes predict the movement of the opposition a couple of seconds ahead adding a new element of skill to the game.
League of Legends is also a lot faster paced than DOTA 2 where your champion can turn and move instantly, whereas the mechanics in DOTA mean that you have to wait for your character to turn before moving. The roles of each player in League of Legends is also a lot simpler. There are five leading roles, your ADC or Attack Damage Carry, Top, Mid, Jungler and a Support. However, this gets a bit more complicated in DOTA 2 with there being a total of 9 roles.
The E-Sports scene for League of Legends began in 2009 when the first professional league of legends tournament was hosted by Riot Games, the developers of the game. Since then we’ve seen tournament pots reach more than $2 million in 2014 and 2015 with the World Championship Finals being held in South Korea’s National Stadium.
A final few words
Last year there were roughly around 120 million people playing League of Legends and with the player base for DOTA 2 being approximately around 20 million. League of Legends was released after DOTA 2 however the amount of effort Riot Games has put into both the updates, the vanity aspects of the game and the E-Sports scene has seen them take the industry by storm; however the prize pots in League of Legends are dwarfed by the biggest DOTA 2 pot which was a staggering $25 million, with many of the wealthiest E-Sports stars being DOTA 2 players.
Image via: Redbull.com
Corey is a team member of one of the world's largest esports organizations. Corey is also the founder of Wave Digital Media, one of Canada's 60 fastest growing companies. You can learn more about Corey via our About page.