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JDL S1: Tobi Talks

"We wanted a structure that […] creates a huge amount of matches for commentators to cast"



Tobi thinks the best is yet to come! Tobi thinks the best is yet to come!

Tell us a bit about how JDL first came to be. Whose brainchild was it, and when did you guys first start planning it out?

Holymaster was the man that always wanted to create the joinDOTA League, ever since the first days of joinDOTA. During those early days in the 2 years that followed we never really found/took the time to create it but with the departure of Mortiz and the arrival of Jacob (Maelk) priorities changed and the system was built from scratch.



Of course it was a little easier to create the structure/frame work for it as it is a modification of the old system used back on Dota-League. Now it is up and running and nearing the end of its first season we might review the structure a little bit, overall I believe Holymaster was happy with the season.

What are the JDL's primary goals?

The initial goal of the joinDOTA League was to have a place where player can grow/train/achieve, and beyond that also have a place for commentators to do the same. A structure that matches your team’s skill level against a similar opponent and creates a huge amount of matches for commentators to cast from (and helps you you avoid 'Public Game' casting).

What made you decide to make room for such a wide variety of teams and players in the JDL, instead of just making it a league for pro and semi-pro teams?

The initial plan was to never cater for any professional teams, that is why we had a low prize pool (100% community donated). When so many top teams signed up, we couldn't help but be happy as it made the draw of the tournament so much bigger while at the same time catering to our desire to grow the teams in the community.

How much do you and JD keep track of the amateur scene worldwide? Do you feel the community on the whole could do more to nurture it? How important do you feel is the amateur scene for Dota on the whole?

Most people have a hard enough time keeping track of all the top tournaments let alone follow the amateur scene, and I am no different. The joinDOTA League isn't really about following it though, as most of the lower ranked matches are simply places for teams and players to develop, where you get noticed is when you work your way up in the league to the premier divisions and then commentators find you and give you the exposure required to make the step up from Amateur to Pro-Am.



The community is of course not focused on the amateur scene, and you can't blame them as there is very little interest in watching lower level DOTA when you could be watching Na'Vi vs DK level matches. We tried to give people a way to support the scene (with a prize pool funded by the community), and give them a place to develop as without such places we will find no new talent to replace the retiring players or to give depth to the player pool in each region.

Do you think this first JDL brought some interesting new teams and players into the limelight? Anyone we should be watching out for next season?

This is a question I think I can answer more in the next season, as Season 1 was manually set. With up/down matches coming up we will see new teams fight for spots in the higher divisions and that is where we will find the new teams/players to put into the limelight.

The JoinDota League playoffs started this week , and we thought it would be a good time to sit down with the face of JoinDota, Toby "Tobiwan" Dawson to see what he has to say about the amateur league and where it's going.