The Path to Pro: Introducing Dotabuff Reach and ESL Academy
For the past year the teams at Dotabuff and ESL have been working closely together to bring you a new way to compete and gain recognition in the chaotic world of professional Dota. Today we proudly announce Reach—a platform where players can experience the highest level of play, win big prizes and get noticed by organizations to further their career.
Better Matchmaking
Matchmaking for high ranking players has always been problematic and Reach aims to provide a solution to these problems. On top of a constantly evolving algorithm for our Contender division, we are also introducing scheduled play sessions. With a consistent schedule we hope to lower the amount of time our players waste on waiting and allow them to better plan their training regimen.
Reach is role-based and strictly solo queue to promote fair competition and also features an extensive behavior score system. Our primary goal with Reach is to ensure that participants are playing their best, trying their hardest, and communicating productively. We hope to use the tools we've developed to create a more friendly, and competitive environment for everyone to train and compete in. We'll continually work to evolve this system and help curate a better Dota 2 community experience.
Better Opportunities
Committing to playing Dota full-time can be a risk that many talented players can’t take due to the lack of support in the tier 2 scene. Reach aims to alleviate some of the issues with a monthly prize pool of $20,000 USD for top of the leaderboard competitors, of which 50% is reserved strictly for up-and-coming amateur players. With skill and dedication our top players will be able to evolve their passion into an actual career.
Financial stability is only one obstacle between players and the world of high-profile professional Dota. That is where the ESL Academy program comes in. The top 40 players of each season will be eligible to be drafted into an unparalleled experience at ESL One Dota event, where they will get LAN experience, help from professional coaches and networking opportunities with Dota pros. Once you are at the top of any ladder, the only thing holding you back is a lack of recognition and ESL Academy can help you make that final step.
With this program you can accelerate your rise to the top and fully concentrate on the game. Reach and ESL Academy will take care of the rest. We are dedicated to supporting the developing talent, instead of giving more opportunities to established pros. While the pros can join in to partake in the competition, Reach is about the up-and-comers, and the prizes and opportunities we award are built to reflect that.
Better Future
The teams at Dotabuff and ESL have worked hard for the past year to give players the best matchmaking experience and the most opportunities to grow. Backed by Dotabuff player statistics and ESL expertise in the professional scene we are confident that Reach will successfully bridge the gap between pub players and their competitive goals.
The customizable Reach profile is built to be your competitive resume by highlighting your most competitive games, individual accomplishments, and your unique play style. All Reach matches will also be analyzed by TrueSight, giving detailed statistics about players to the potential teammates and sponsors, while simultaneously allowing us to refine the matchmaking algorithm even further. Going forward we hope to bring even more functionality to the platform and will be closely listening to the feedback from our players.
Dotabuff Plus subscription will give you free access to Reach, and a priority invite during our beta month.
Have what it takes to reach the top? Sign up for the beta at reach.gg.
Pog bois im gonna be a pro player now :)
This is pretty tight. Nurturing a scene here.
good shit lads, bought dota plus - rdy to plow :)
Good luck to all you teenagers out there.
Imma go pro now, Mom.
Good luck for all new pro players
This is sick
good luck all! great initiative!
Time to change the work schedule lol Very cool!
OMG IM PRO NOW XD
I am unsure I would call this 'accelerating' , and since there really is a finite amount of room at the top I can't imagine this will increase the number of people that become pro, but it should at least become the best way to be scouted. Even if there isn't more room at the top, there is probably quite a bit of opportunities in tier 2, and this is really the right way to invest in the future of the esport.
4000 mmr (pos 1/2) (lft) (serious)
Great initiative. But ESL ACademy website lists top 40 players while Dotabuff lists Top 50 players. Can explain?
@Slayer Edited. Was a typo.
So it’s the Dota equivalent of ESEA for Counter Strike, also by ESL. Pretty cool
Imagine the bloodbath competition now lmao
@ETdAWESOME yeah, exactly. We actually spoke with ESEA numerous times in developing this to learn from their experience, so it's very much in the same family, but custom built for Dota.
I want to see the effects this will have on Valve’s matchmaking. It’s like creating your own ranking system, so people growing separately from Valve’s ranked may be accused of smurfing because of the disparities. It happens in CSGO, where people who primarily play ESEA and Faceit and grew their skills there would queue for standard matchmaking with their rank being far below what they’ve grown into, and would be called cheaters and smurfs.
Though, will this only be accessible to the highest MMR players? It wouldn’t be so much of a problem in that case
I really hope that this is what I seek for years in DotA. It sound so good... as soon as I get the invite, I play, stream and make my Videos!
Absolutely love this. HUGE props to Dotabuff and ESL! Will support both!!
ESL ACADEMY is an empty page. Is it just me? Or is it just an awesome presentation?
Fracturing players pool is not good.
wow so if i make it to top 40 i can pay 1 ENTIRE month of RENT PogChamp obviously ill have to not eat anything but thats small price to pay for being a dota pro :) shite game and fuck valve
is there not a SEA region for reach or is it not implemented yet
Amazing Initiative...This is going to keep dota alive for the foreseeable future
@gor
That's kind of what the pro scene is though. Perhaps you won't see all the strats being attempted in pubs, but you also learn a lot about target bans, playstyle defenses, and playing under actual pressure.
Sounds amazing - can't wait for it to come to Australia!
actually pog
please come to australia
someone guide me to become pro player :( i have high and very high skill match ..
restrict russians and its great
this is amazing news
Rank 700 player here! I can confidently say, I LOVE this new system. The games are so much fun, good communication and usually at least one or two pros are in your matches.
Your TI9 predict sucks
no SEA region?
RANK IMMORTAL HERE! :)
Your TI9 predict sucks
how do i join?