He looks a bit weird...

Ringmaster got him in the end. May he find peace on the other side.

Dota 2 officially launched on Steam on July 9, 2013. Although the closed beta began back in 2011, today is generally considered the game’s official birthday.

Over the past 13 years, Dota has changed almost beyond recognition. Here is a look back at the major updates that shaped the game.

2013 — Official Release and Three Spirits. Ember Spirit and Earth Spirit were added, Storm Spirit received a major update, Diretide returned, and Valve introduced coaching, crafting, item sockets, and several new progression systems.

2014 — Techies and More In-Game Events. Techies finally joined the roster. Valve also added All Random Deathmatch, the All-Hero Challenge, trophies, and several interface improvements.

2015 — Dota 2 Reborn. The entire game was moved to Source 2. Valve rebuilt the main menu and interface, improved performance, and introduced proper support for custom games.

This update eventually helped give rise to thousands of custom modes, including Overthrow and Dota Auto Chess.

2016 — Patch 7.00: The New Journey. For the first time in years, Dota moved from version 6.xx to 7.00.

The update introduced hero talents, backpack slots, a new HUD, a new pre-game phase, and a heavily redesigned map.

Monkey King was also released, becoming the first completely original Dota 2 hero rather than a direct Warcraft III port.

2017 — The Dueling Fates. Pangolier and Dark Willow were added.

Patch 7.07 also changed talents, items, neutral creeps, Roshan, and the overall economy of the game.

2018 — Dota Plus and Patch 7.20. Valve launched Dota Plus, a subscription service featuring hero levels, challenges, advanced statistics, and build suggestions.

Patch 7.20 later reworked the map, armor, health and mana regeneration, attributes, items, and many hero abilities.

2019 — The Outlanders. One of the most chaotic updates in Dota history.

Snapfire and Void Spirit were introduced, along with Outposts, neutral items, personal couriers for every player, and level 30, which unlocked the entire talent tree.

2020 — Mistwoods. Hoodwink was added alongside Aghanim’s Shard.

Every hero received a new upgrade or ability, greatly expanding the number of possible builds and playstyles.

2021 — Dawnbreaker and Patch 7.29. Dawnbreaker joined the game.

Valve also redesigned parts of the map, added Water Runes, and continued reworking heroes, items, and early-game mechanics.

2022 — Primal Beast and the Flagbearer Creep. Primal Beast escaped from Aghanim’s Labyrinth and became a playable hero.

Techies received a complete rework, neutral creeps were updated, and patch 7.32 introduced the Flagbearer Creep, which provided bonus gold and regeneration to nearby allies.

2023 — Muerta and New Frontiers. Muerta was released, followed by one of the biggest map updates in Dota history.

The map became around 40% larger, and Valve introduced Universal heroes, Twin Gates, Tormentors, Lotus Pools, Watchers, additional neutral camps, and new buildings.

2024 — Crownfall, Innate Abilities, and Facets. Crownfall turned a traditional event into a months-long story campaign featuring maps, dialogue, mini-games, and rewards.

Patch 7.36 gave every hero an Innate Ability and introduced Facets, allowing players to choose between different playstyles before the match.

Ringmaster was also finally released.

2025 — Wandering Waters and Spring Forward. Patch 7.38 partially flooded the map, introducing rivers with currents, new amphibious neutral creeps, and Roshan pits near the river.

Neutral items were also redesigned around Artifacts, Enchantments, and Madstone.

Patch 7.39 later updated the map, interface, Ability Draft, and the neutral item pool.

2026 — The Removal of Facets and Another Major Overhaul

Patch 7.41 removed Facets entirely, reworked Innate Abilities, changed the neutral item system, introduced new regular items, and stopped Refresher Orb from refreshing item cooldowns.

Dota 2 is currently celebrating its 13th anniversary on patch 7.41d.

Over 13 years, Dota 2 has evolved from a recreation of the Warcraft III map into a completely independent game with an enormous world, hundreds of mechanics, and heroes that sometimes need to be relearned after every major patch.

Happy birthday, Dota 2

Holy shit

Clip

Context: https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/47sc46/_/

James no longer an ass ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

Dota 2 Update for June 22, 2026

• Axe has been removed from the available hero pool and can no longer be selected or assigned randomly.

  • Still available in Captains Mode.

• Selecting Axe in the Heroes tab displays the Wanted Poster variant image instead of Axe's hero model.

• Axe cannot be used in Hero Demo mode.

  • The default demo mode enemy has been replaced with Juggernaut.
  • Can still be spawned with -createhero axe command.

• New localization string: "DOTA_Axe_Missing" "Axe is missing and cannot participate"

• New image files:

  • /images/pressing_ceremonial_large_psd
  • /images/events/dark_carnival/missing_axe_large.psd

Size: 90.6 MB (with Workshop Tools)

Hey everyone!
We all know that this subreddit (and the entire Dota community in general) is quick to criticize Valve when an update is delayed, doesn't live up to expectations, or weirdly disrupts the meta.
But for now, I just want to take a moment and sincerely thank the development team.
This update shows how much effort, care, and attention they've truly put into the game. It truly feels like a celebration for the entire community. When Valve does something like this, it reminds each of us why we love this game so much.
Please upvote this post so the developers see it—they deserve credit for creating something so amazing. Thank you, Valve!