Gaming
Gaming
The highest earning Dota 2 teams of all time
We take a look at the top ten squads, by winnings, across the history of the game.
So much so, in fact, you have to look down to number 33 to see three time League of Legends world champion Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok appear on the list; and he’s the very first competitor on the list outside of Dota 2, according to esportsearnings.com. We had a look at the top earning teams across Dota 2, and here’s what we found.
10. CDEC Gaming – $3,508,932
9. Natus Vincere – $3,647,986
Natus Vincere are a team that everyone in Dota 2 knows, and often loves. Although their powers have somewhat waned in recent years, their incredible record of three consecutive The International finals is still incredible. Having won the inaugural The International, coming second to Invictus Gaming at TI2 and not quite overcoming Swedish giants Alliance at TI3, their record is seriously impressive. Should they have put the run together when the prize pool had ballooned, they would be sitting considerably higher up the table. The face of Na’Vi, Daniel ‘Dendi’ Ishutin, remains perched atop the Na’Vi leaderboard, with $727,632 from tournament play.
8. Team Secret – $3,899,644.61
7. Digital Chaos – $3,920,041
6. OG – $4,153,716
5. LGD Gaming – $4,969,812
The Chinese team are one of the most long-standing names in Dota 2. With iterations now such as LGD.Forever Young, LGD.CDEC and previously the likes of LGD International it’s safe to say that the name has been around and competing amongst the best in the scene for a considerable time period. Recently a fourth place at the Manila Major is the crème de la crème of their results but the bulk of their winnings come from their run at The International 5 where Evil Geniuses would eventually knock them out in the Lower Bracket Final, granting them a respectable third place and over $2m in prize money.
4. Vici Gaming – $4,987,169
Sitting fourth in the list is another Chinese powerhouse in Vici Gaming, a team that has historically performed very well on the largest Dota 2 stage. At TI4, they fell to only Newbee in the Grand Finals leaving them languishing in an agonisingly close second place and taking home just shy of $1.5m before being runners-up again at DAC for $366,902. Merely due to the way that the Dota 2 scene has grown, their fourth place at TI5 netted them just over $1.5m which is actually more than their second place just a year prior. Since their performance at TI5, their power has somewhat waned with new team Vici Gaming Reborn appearing at the Manila Major and TI6, but struggling to really leave their mark on either tournament.
3. Newbee – $7,197,305
The conquerors of Vici Gaming at TI4 are perched at number three in the list, with their $5,025,029 win in Seattle enough alone to lift them above their peers. The International 4 is not looked back on particularly fondly by the community due to the “death-ball” meta that developed as the tournament went on. The Newbee roster had crafted and perfected the style that would eventually see them immortalised in Dota 2 history. The team haven’t disappeared, though, with last year also proving successful. Although they too experienced an underwhelming run in Seattle, they were part of the OG, Liquid, Newbee triangle that seemed to be above and beyond the rest before the biggest tournament of the year.
2. Wings Gaming – $9,688,187
Wings Gaming have only won money across 17 Dota 2 tournaments but sit second in the list. Compare that to the 90 tournaments that Natus Vincere have competed in and you get some idea of just how new this squad are in the burgeoning eSports world. They were wonderfully inconsistent at every tournament that they qualified to and competed in on the run up to The International 6 just gone; the tournament with the biggest prize-pool in the history of eSports. There was always potential within the roster and the feeling was that once they found consistency they could become a serious force in the world of Dota 2. Their run of form came at exactly the right time, as very rarely did anyone look like they could touch them back in Seattle in August. They won over $9,000,000 in their barnstorming run and from that huge pay-out alone they sit second in the rankings.
1. Evil Geniuses – $13,618,199
The North American team are undoubtedly the most successful team in Dota 2 history and sit firmly atop the earnings table. They’ve achieved an incredible top three in the last three TI tournaments; an achievement almost unparalleled in the Dota 2 world. Whilst Na’Vi may have done the same, there’s no doubt that the competition and level of Dota has exponentially increased since the days of The International or even TI2. EG’s victory at DAC and TI5 saw them net just shy of $8,000,000 but add to that another two top three finishes at TI and two top three finishes at Majors and it’s clear to see why they’re head and shoulders above the rest. Their huge wins came just after taking a gamble on Syed Sumail ‘SumaiL’ Hassan, a relative unknown, and thus changing the landscape of the Dota 2 competitive scene forever.
With DAC set to take place at the end of March and the Kiev Major in April, there’ll be chance for another team to propel themselves up the leaderboard. If previous form is anything to go by, we will have to wait until the summer with The International 7 to see who the big movers will be. There’s bound to be a huge amount of money to be won, but with the crowd-funding element of the prize-pool it remains unknown as to how much the teams will compete for. Surely it can’t get bigger again, can it?
For more eSports coverage, follow @RedBulleSports on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
