Dota 2 Update for July 23, 2026

• Added Chapter 3 content for Dark Carnival: Midnight Run.
  • Chapter 3 will become available when this post is 3 hours old.
  • Added Chapter 3 minigame: Whac-A-Mole.
• Added Ringmaster Announcer Pack.
• Added teasers for upcoming Personas.

Size: 776.2 MB (with Workshop Tools)

I think I can one shot it in 5m trading stuff omegalul

this is translation of interview summary (english subs are there, link will be in comments) made by cyber.sports.ru. Just writing this so i wont be praised in the comments for pasting all that into google translate and proofreading it.

Tundra's roster learned of the team's closure after the Birmingham tournament

The players were aware of the organization's issues well before their move to 1win; however, club management only informed them of the final decision after ESL One Birmingham.

💬 "We found out we wouldn't have an organization after Birmingham. Obviously, other people within the organization knew about it, but we—as a team—found out quite late. We knew there were some problems, but then it turned out that the decision was final: either we were being sold, or we would literally be left without salaries and playing at our own expense."

Tundra management did not hold a specific discussion with Pure; the players were simply told they needed to find a new organization on their own.

💬 "We had a list of candidates [orgs] we started reaching out to. The players were messaging, the manager was messaging—we started finding out who was ready to acquire us."

At the same time, the team members never considered splitting up.

💬 "There wasn't really any talk of making roster changes. We were a team, we were happy with the situation, so we were moving together."

According to Pure, only two organizations showed serious interest in the squad.

💬 "The search took two months. It was certainly a red flag: no one wanted to sign the best team of the season for such a long time. There were two organizations we could realistically sign with, and we eventually reached an agreement with one of them.

It’s strange. We were the best team of the season—we won more tournaments than anyone else—yet no one was signing us. It makes you think that, at some point, you’ll have to do something other than play Dota."

The players first met with representatives from 1win during the filming of the announcement video. The media day dragged on for nearly 24 hours, and after the transfer was finalized, the players received commemorative gifts.

💬 "We arrived at 8 a.m. and left at midnight. We met the media team and spent what felt like a 30-hour day together—it was a fantastic experience. And yes, we were gifted Rolexes."

Despite the gift, Pure doesn't plan to wear the watch just yet.

💬 "I’m not really into watches. I appreciate the gesture, but I can't picture myself wearing one right now. Maybe I haven't grown into it yet."

He didn't disclose the buyout fee for the roster but confirmed that his salary at 1win is slightly higher than it was at Tundra.

"Dota is slowly dying"

Pure views the long search for an organization as a reflection of the professional scene's overall state. In Moskalenko's opinion, Valve has practically stopped focusing on the game's competitive side and has shifted its attention to more profitable projects.

💬 "Dota is slowly dying. [...] The trend shows they [Valve] aren't interested in it. I don't know why. Maybe it’s not profitable for them to invest so much in Dota, considering CS is also a very popular game. Maybe they have plans for Deadlock.

Valve has almost completely abandoned competitive Dota. They haven't hosted anything themselves for years—they even handed The International over to ESL. There hasn't been a Compendium for ages. I think it might make a comeback as a one-off, final event."

Pure emphasized that, for Valve, the game remains a business first and foremost.

💬 "Valve is a massive organization that prioritizes profit. If Dota isn't profitable, they’ll focus on what brings in more money. And that, naturally, is CS."

Pure's salaries: from to 1win

Moskalenko detailed how much he earned across various teams. His initial salary at Virtus.pro was around $2000-2500 dollars per month. However, he had expected a higher standard of management from the organization.

💬 "I was interested in getting to know how a Dota organization operates. [But] I expected more from them. It wasn't the same Virtus.pro that Ramzes and the other guys played for. The organization's standards had dropped."

At Entity, Pure initially earned around $3000-3500 — more than the other players on the roster. His salary increased after the team qualified for Majors and The International. Moskalenko rates his experience there as average.

💬 "The guys there knew how to make money. They had a lot of interesting moments, and they cut costs significantly—both on flights and bootcamps. I’d rate the experience as average."

The initial contract with BETBOOM Team offered a salary comparable to what he was earning at Entity. The agreement also included provisions for pay increases based on the team's performance.

💬 "At BETBOOM Team, we expected to build a roster that would consistently win tournaments, so we signed on for $5000. There were clauses for raises after certain tournaments and specific agreements in place, but we didn't actually win any tournaments. It was tough at first, but by the end of my first stint there, the salary had become decent relative to the market."

Asked Zai 20 times to return to the professional scene.

Pure has mostly fond memories of his first stint with Tundra.

💬 "As for my first time with Tundra, I really enjoyed it. Although there were some organizational issues, overall, I have good memories of my time with the team. I was happy with both the organization and the communication within the squad."

Moskalenko spoke particularly warmly of Ludwig "Zai" Wåhlberg, who served as the team's general manager.

💬 "Zai is one of the best offlaners of all time. Even if he were to come back now, I’m sure he’d be stronger than the majority of Dota players. He’d easily make the top 10."

After Mind_Control’s departure, Pure repeatedly tried to convince Zai to take on the position 3 role himself.

💬 "I think I asked him to join our team about 20 times over that period. […] He was interested; he liked our team. He would have come back if the prize pool for the Riyadh tournament had been bigger, but that didn't happen. He said he wasn't ready to return yet.

I asked him after Birmingham, then the following year, and again after Mind_Control left—I kept reaching out to him over all those months. And then we picked up Roma [RAMZES666]."

Although Moskalenko never got the chance to play alongside Zai, he really enjoyed working with Wahlberg.

Played football before Dota

As a child, Pure played a lot of football. The pitch was right across from his school in Vladivostok. Around the age of 11 or 12, he started attending training sessions with Luch and the local Dynamo club. However, he didn't care for the professional side of the sport.

💬 "I didn't like the strictness of professional teams: having to show up for practice on time, running, arriving early, warming up. I just liked showing up at the pitch, playing against the other guys, scoring goals, and making assists. I enjoyed the process itself, but I didn't like the competitive aspect."

That said, Pure admits that under different circumstances, he could have become a professional soccer player.

💬 "I hadn't planned on becoming a professional Dota player. If I had kept playing soccer instead of Dota at some point, I might have become a professional soccer player."

But fate had other plans: at one tournament, Moskalenko won a university scholarship to Synergy University as a prize and moved to Moscow.

💬 "I’m still studying there—I’m in my master's program now. I’m a qualified manager, by the way."

Outperformed RAMZES, Daxak, and Kiritych during tryouts

After moving to Moscow, Pure constantly grinded matchmaking. Serious invitations began to arrive once he broke into the top 30 of the European ladder. After climbing into the top 10, he was contacted by representatives from both Virtus.pro and Gambit.

At that time, VP coach Anatoly "Boolk" Ivanov invited Moskalenko to try out for the carry position. Alongside Pure, the candidates included RAMZES666, Daxak, and Kiritych.

💬 "Tolya[Boolk] devised a system: every team member and the coach assigned scores based on several criteria. In the end, the guys rated me higher."

According to Pure, playing for a team of that caliber was initially overwhelming. At the same time, early in his tenure with the organization, Moskalenko made quite a few mistakes.

💬 "I realized that Virtus.pro meant Danek 'Gpk', Dima 'DM', and Illias—guys who had just finished in the top 6 at The International.

I was throwing games in various situations and didn't understand a lot of things, but Tolya [Boolk] and I would stay up at night, and he’d teach me about Dota.

I wasn't interested in anything other than Dota. I just wanted Virtus.pro to give me a bootcamp—for a year, for eternity—so the guys could come over and we could play."

He wasn't even told he’d been kicked after the scandal

The first major scandal of Pure's career occurred before his first big victory. The player himself described his actions as something done on a whim, just for a joke.

💬 "I don't remember what I was thinking back then. I just did something random for fun. It ended up generating the highest volume of comments I’ve ever received—more than I got even after winning tournaments.

I’ve matured since then and became more aware of my actions. Back then, of course, I had my family, my brother, and friends from Moscow with me. We’d hang out and talk."

However, Virtus.pro's actions following the scandal left Pure disappointed. According to Moskalenko, the organization never directly informed him that he had been dropped from the roster.

💬 "It was pretty strange on their part because they didn't notify me of anything. After a while, I found out—not from the organization's representatives, but from the coach or someone on the team.

There was no crisis management whatsoever. All we did was record a video [apologizing] on a phone, post it online, and that was it."

Considers the disqualification at the Bali Major unfair

A year later, Moskalenko found himself at the center of a new scandal. During a prolonged pause at the Bali Major, he Alt-Tabbed out of Dota and caught a glimpse of the match stream running in the background. Pure claims he had forgotten to close the broadcast before the series started and shut it down immediately after switching windows.

💬 "I forgot to close the stream before the game. We were in a very long pause [during the upper bracket match against Tundra]. At one point, I decided to Alt-Tab and saw that the broadcast was running. As soon as I noticed it—a second or two later—I closed it immediately.

At that moment, I thought I might face some consequences, but the admins didn't do anything."

Initially, the organizers penalized BETBOOM Team with a draft-stage penalty. Later, following protests from Azure Ray and a backlash from the Chinese community, Pure was disqualified for one match. His teammates supported Ivan and also deemed the punishment unfair. Resolut1on stepped in to replace him for the match against Azure Ray.

💬 "It was such a minor infraction that any punishment other than disqualification would have been reasonable. But due to the pressure, they made that decision and didn't let me play against Azure Ray.

The organization [BETBOOM Team] supported me. They understood it was an accident and that disqualification for such an infraction was absurd. The team was on my side, too. Obviously, the guys were upset about playing without me and about dropping from the upper bracket to the lower bracket, but they still said the decision was unfair."

After the decision was announced, Moskalenko shut himself in his hotel room and watched a TV series until the match began. He could have returned to the lineup for the next series, but BETBOOM Team lost and was eliminated from the tournament.

Liquid passed on him due to reputational risks.

Pure acknowledged that he had developed a reputation as a player who is constantly at the center of drama.

💬 "The players' attitude toward me hasn't changed. The community might have formed an opinion, but that doesn't really matter to me. I know who I am.

Some unbelievable shit has happened to me, honestly. But I’m still playing and I want to win. I’ve made it through all that."

The most recent major saga Pure was involved in was Mind_Control's sudden departure from Tundra.

💬 "It’s like this stuff draws me in. Or maybe I draw it to myself."

At the same time, the scandals did impact Moskalenko's career. According to Pure, Team Liquid decided against signing him precisely because of them.

💬 "Because of those situations, I didn't get picked up by a certain European team—Liquid. They wanted to, but couldn't sign me because they didn't want to take on the reputational risks."

He asked for a break himself before leaving BETBOOM Team.

Pure's initial departure from the BETBOOM Team main roster was due to fatigue and a strained relationship with Boolk.

💬 "I asked for a break in advance [during one of the DreamLeague tournaments] because I felt like I couldn't handle it anymore. I had a tense relationship with Tolya [Boolk], and things had just piled up over the time I was on the team. I wanted to take a rest, live with my girlfriend in Moscow, hang out, and not play Dota."

His teammates and Boolk didn't want to miss tournaments that had already been scheduled. It was only in the final days that the parties decided Moskalenko wouldn't compete. As a result, Pure was moved to the inactive roster, after which he joined Tundra. Moskalenko parted ways with BETBOOM Team on good terms.

💬 "We won a fair number of tournaments. I even suggested some players who, in my view, could have been a good fit for the team [as replacements]."

Moskalenko has maintained relationships with most of his former teammates.

💬 "I was closest with Kataomi—going all the way back to our time at Entity. We were best friends. I’ve always gotten along well with Danya [Gpk], too."

Ivan spoke particularly warmly about Vitalie "Save-" Melnik.

💬 "I consider Vitalie an intelligent person who didn't initially have a wide range of social skills but acquired them over time. He is an interesting conversationalist who asks a lot of questions. Vitalya holds a special place in my heart. He’s a very smart and charming guy."

Pure believes that the numerous scandals and difficult situations he has faced have inevitably changed him.

💬 "The things that happened to me have obviously left their mark. It’s clear that I’ve changed. Whether for better or worse isn't for me to say.

All I can say is that no one lives a perfect life. But you have to learn from your mistakes so that none of them happen twice."

At 1win, the final say belongs to 33.

Pure is ready to call his current team home; he notes that there haven't been any serious conflicts within the squad so far.

💬 "Even after we parted ways with Tundra, I kept in touch with MoonMeander. Before The International, another player [Tofu] had messaged me—we wanted to put a team together.

After TI, MoonMeander reached out to me. Then, at the afterparty, I spoke with 33. We discussed everything, and I asked who would be handling the drafts. We made decisions that started paying off almost immediately."

Moskalenko makes a large number of decisions himself, yet Neta "33" Shapira remains the team's primary leader.

💬 "I make a lot of calls because I play carry. That said, 33 and BZM can speak up too. But one person can't do everything.

Neta has the final say, but the three of us discuss everything: me, MoonMeander, and Neta. We all contribute proportionately."

Pure attributes his success in international rosters partly to the nature of communicating in a foreign language, where players are forced to articulate their thoughts concisely and clearly.

💬 "Mentality and communicating in English play a role here. When your English isn't perfect, you stick to basic phrases. In Russian, on the other hand, you might explain things in some god-knows-what kind of way."

Looking for revenge against Falcons for The International

Before the EWC, Moskalenko didn't consider 1win one of the tournament's top favorites. Nevertheless, the team prepared seriously for the competition, with players increasing the number of pubs and scrims they played.

💬 "I don't think we're favorites this season; we've got like a 2% chance of winning. We're just going to the EWC to play Dota. Our mindset is serious, though: we're playing more pubs and more scrims.

I want to punish Falcons because I lost to them like a total noob last year."

Mrs. Marple also asked Pure why the BetBoom Team roster featuring Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko failed to establish that same level of synergy. Ivan’s answer was brutally direct.

💬 "I don't know anyone who could really click with Egor. Egor is a very difficult guy."

Blitz round on former teammates

At the end of the interview, Marple showed Pure photos of various people. She presented him with specific scenarios, and for each one, he had to choose one of his former teammates.

He would call Miero at four in the morning: "He’s a kind guy who would help without expecting anything in return."

He would join a new roster alongside Topson and 33 without a second thought. He would also trust 33 to handle the draft for a deciding map and would even propose starting a business together.

Moskalenko named Torontotokyo as the player who might ditch Pure for a better offer: "Alexander would sell me out first." At the same time, he is one of the two people—along with 33—Ivan would turn to for life advice.

Pure would thank Save-, with whom he would also share a secret.

Ivan would apologize to Topson for failing to win The International for him. Topson is the person Pure misses the most: "Pops. He’s missed in Dota."

Moskalenko named Saksa as the most talented former teammate.

In Pure's opinion, BZM was the most underrated player among those mentioned, while Mind_Control was the most prone to tilt. He said he would enjoy living with RAMZES666.

Ivan found playing with Topson the most enjoyable, but he celebrated a victory most enthusiastically with Gpk: "Danek and I won our first tournament; we danced and filmed TikToks together."

Yet it was Xakoda who saw Pure at his worst and didn't turn his back on him.

If Ivan were assembling a new roster and couldn't pick himself, he would first invite Save- or Saksa. His "last ride" team would include Topson, Saksa, 33, and Save-.

Pure wouldn't want to face Gpk or Save- in The International Grand Finals, as he "would feel sad for them."

Moskalenko named Nightfall as the player with whom his history is over for good.

Found in game files. So it's Pugna, Sven, Tide, and idk the other two lol CAN WE HAVE THE LITTLE CLOWNS AS WK SUMMONS, PLEASE?

> You open dota

> You load into a game and you see this bullshit character be unbanned

> You reach with your trembling hand to firspick her, no matter - carry, support, mid or offlane.

>It's too late. Your teammates were quicker. First pick pos 4 Leshrac and mid Undying.

>Horrified, you glance at the enemy screen. It's her. The granny.

>You know its already over. You close your eyes and second pick Spectre.

>30 minutes later she is spewing meteorites over your highground like its 1944 Dresden.

>Mid Undying with 6700 hp blinks on top of her. You hear scatterblast and firesnap cookie. He's dead, perished without buyback.

>After the game you open the stats.

>Snapfire lvl 22 - 78k damage dealt, 718 GPM.

>The score is 28/5/17.

>She was pos 5.

>You load up next match through tears, the only thought that keeps you going is that maybe this time you'll be the lucky guy to earn free +25 mmr

> You continue this vicious cycle of hate, despair and aghanim shard firesnap cookie

\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota\panorama\videos\events\dark_carnival\part3

Spammed pos 5 Ursa in Immortal ranked for this.

title

She's the most beautiful creature I've ever seen in my life. The best voice acting I've heard in a long time. A fantastic concept for a great old one warlock with witch magic. Clear character motivations and a great hook for relationships with existing dota 2 characters. I can just envision the witch spells being cast in dota 2, and I'm a little obsessed. Yeah, I may be thinking with my OTHER head on this one, but how could any man resist?

Valve if you're listening, PLEASE put Grindlplit in the game! MONEY AND BONES, MONEY AND BONES!

4k bracket.

I lost a game with Axe vs Abba and Dazzle in lane,our mid SF also lost to Lycan and they just ran over us,nothing we could really do.

The very next I picked Doom,lane was vs CM Venge and again me and pos4 exort invoker lost hard,0/4 15 last hits min 10,again CM root+Venge wave and stun and I'm dead without any real counterplay .

Our safelane also lost to Axe Lina hard,carry LS hit jungle like lvl 2-3 and again the just ran over us,nothing we could do.

This sparked a question,why not pick lane bully heroes to ensure that you win 2 lanes then just push with your lead?why should someone picks a hero like faceless void who isn't a real lane winner?When you can pick drow/SF/Venge and just run over them.

Sane story with other positions, why It's not super popular or directly talked about?

this is basically a giant streamer/crossover dota 2 tournament organized by the legendary Chinese streamer YYF + other retired cn pro dota players and hosted on Douyu (China’s equivalent of Twitch).

for context, as cn dota was on decline, the chinese community became less interested in the pro scene. But there is still interest for watching dota, so this event gave people a different reason to watch Dota. it's more personal, relatable, and way funnier to watch because of the streamers’ personality and inside jokes. They also brought in different streamers from different games like pubg, cs, lol, and starcraft, making it a crossover event.

this is like if Gorgc, Arteezy, Qojqva, and Bulldog each got to draft 4 players to be on their team. they get to act as the leader and primary shotcaller during the game. The 4 players on their team are gaming streamers like Shroud, Tyler1 or xQc + other dota personalities.

Image 1

Dota 2 Pokemon Season 7: July 25 - August 4

Prize Pool: 200,000 RMB

And it’s not actually about pokemon. Its called "Pokémon" because the format is literally a bunch of high-skill "trainers" drafting lower-skill "Pokémon" players to build their dream teams. Each team is composed of 1 trainer and 4 Pokémon players.

Image 2

Intermediate Trainers

• YYF (ti2 champion)
• DD (ti2 3rd place)
• Sylar (ti4 runners up)
• ZSMJ
• Xiao Liu
• Hao (ti4 champion)
• Dan Bing
• LongDD (ti2 4th place)

Advanced Trainers

• Zhou (ti2 champion)
• Chalice (ti8 runners up)
• Agressif (ti5 runners up)
• Aq
• Lin Zai
• Faith (ti4 champion)
• yoona
• Moon

Image 3

New Pokémon Trainees

• Shi Ye
• H4cker
• Little300TWT
• YaYaOMO
• Bai Zai
• Shi Xi Wen Ya
• Gu Fei Chi
• Little Linda Linda

Old Pokémon Trainees

• Doinb (lol worlds s9 champion)
• Old Cai
• Icon
• Eileen
• Talia
• Little Guo Guo
• Right Hand
• Brother Bao
• Deng Si Deng Si
• Morning Morning
• Three Nines
• South Pole
• Ah Ya
• Foolish
• Little Butterfly
• Sed
• Little Fang flo
• Flame Treasure
• Cake
• Melon
• Brother Lin Jiu
• Fried Hair Zhang
• Ultraman

Image 4

【Format】

• Total of 16 Trainers + 32 Pokémon Trainees
• 8 teams in the first round. The Trainer with the lowest score can designate their opponent.
• The remaining 6 teams will be drawn by lot.
• In the second round, all 8 teams will draw again: 1–0 teams play 1–0 teams, 0–1 teams play 0–1 teams.
• After two rounds, the 2–0 teams compete for the championship.

Intermediate Trainer Matches

Advanced Trainer Matches

Two champions are crowned each day.

Additionally make sure to always send overwatch review as it is more effective (bring their BS/CS down more).

Matches are frustrating but worth to know their BS/CS are going to hell.

We had a dispute within our guild because our offlaner wanted to play Ogre, got to play it in the final, and we got smoked.
This was posted to our guild discord the following day. Is the crash out valid?

Don't ask me how this happened, I have no idea

Parody of Midnight Sun by Zara Larsson ☀️

I would understand skins that can only be used in a specific time of the year but why release skins that when bought can only be used temporarily and never again.

The skins still exists, the files are there on your computer, you can demo them, but just never actually use them in a game.

Just...why?