Tomorrow Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018 All-Star Match will be played. In accordance with the latest global trends there will be two captains: Miracle and Sylar will choose players in their team and fight in a Bo1 Captain's Mode match.

There were examples of both spectacular and absolutely disastrous show matches in the history of Dota 2, and they are met with mixed reactions. Does this mean that such events are not needed? Is it only a problem with Dota 2 or with all of esports in general?





The history of show matches

American League All-Star Team at MLB All-Stars game in 1933.

When you hear "All-Star Game" you usually think of American sports. This tradition was born in North America. The first match that was a progenitor of such format was played in 1908. Back then hockey players wanted to help the family of Montreal Wanderers player Hod Stuart who had drowned three months after the Wanderers won the Stanley Cup in 1907. 3500 fans witnessed the match between Wanderers and All-Star team from Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association.



The first All-Star Game in major sports league took place 1933. Between 1930 and 1933, attendance at major league baseball games plummeted 40 percent, and people didn't have enough spare money: those who could still afford tickets migrated from the more expensive box seats to the bleachers, which cost 50 cents.

Back then newly elected Chicago Mayor Edward Kelly wanted to hold a major athletic event. The format of the All-Star match was created by Arch Ward, sports editor of the Chicago Tribune. Ward also introduced the idea of fans voting on the lineup. Babe Ruth drew 100 000 votes and this match was a huge success which helped MLB a lot.

Later, this idea was put into reality by the NFL (from season 1938), the NHL (from season 1947/48) and the NBA (from season 1950/1951). The tradition of fans voting on the lineup has not disappeared anywhere and to this day major leagues please us with show-matches between best of current players in the world.





Why do people love All-Star Games?

The legends of the NBA Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Credits: NBA



Fans love these matches because all of the current superstars are gathered in one place. Players are not constrained by sports interest and therefore do everything possible to please the fans.

Also, the leagues are trying hard to build a show around this match. Thus one game has evolved into a whole All-Star Weekend: players are offered to participate in various skill contests (slam dunk contest in basketball or the fastest shot in hockey), matches are organized between famous artists , and there is a chance for rookie players to shine.

Players also have their own benefit from taking part in All-Star Weekend: excluding Pro Bowl (All-Stars Game in NFL) all other ASG are scheduled in the middle of the season. Given the heavy schedule of matches, this event allows most players to get a short rest from the competetive environment. For example, take the statistics of some teams from several major leagues:

NBA (season 2017/18): Oklahoma City Thunder played 63 matches in 134 days.

(season 2017/18): played 63 matches in 134 days. NHL (season 2017/18): Dallas Stars played 50 matches in 111 days.

(season 2017/18): played 50 matches in 111 days. MLB (season 2017): Clevelend Indians played 88 matches in 99 days.

So, the basic model of an All-Stars Game is: an entertaining weekend with a friendly atmosphere in which players enjoy the game and various skills competitions and spend most of their time communicating with the audience. Such events attract great attention, which can be converted into money, and the players take a short break from the routine of regular season. The risk of injury is small, because the matches are not in full force.

While major sports leagues think hard over the most spectacular format of All-Star Weekend they don't consider a possibility to cancel it. This clearly shows us the success of Ward's idea.





What do we have in esports?

LoL All-Star Event has the format close to those in major sports leagues. Credits: Riot Games

Not all tournament organizers tend to use huge sports experience concerning All-Star Matches. This is largely due to the fact that not all games have established closed leagues. It takes tremendous efforts to organize such an event and that is why the only game where All-Star Weekends are made is League Of Legends. Taking advantage of the fact that Riot Games is the main organizer of all major leagues of the world, the developer synchronized the calendars of the competitions in different regions and singled out a separate weekend, which, like the Pro Bowl, takes place at the end of the season.



The advantages of this approach are obvious: players are not distracted by the ups and downs of the current season, fans get huge event before the start of the new season, Riot Games reaches its marketing and status goals by making a large-scale show event for everyone. Last year, the All-Star event was held in December 2017, and it featured All-Star teams from different leagues in the team tournament, as well as the 1-on-1 tournament to determine the best player.



Also this year Overwatch League will have its own All-Star Weekend. The event is scheduled for August, in the off-season, and, given the sports background of team owners, we can expect something in the spirit of traditional sports. Unfortunately, so far there is no more detailed information.



What about Valve games?

Both Blizzard and Riot Games are in complete control of major esports leagues in Overwatch and LoL. However Valve Corporation, which released Dota 2 и CS:GO, has a more liberal approach to respective scenes. Because of that it is almost impossible to host All-Star Weekend: it doesn't seem likely that Valve can be interested in this idea and other tournament organizers would prefer to host another tournament rather than show-event. It is difficult to imagine that players would rush to participate in such event in the middle of their season.

We already witnessed that not all of the players are interested in WESG, which provides huge prize pool for national squads. Fun event without competetive environment would attract even less players.

There is only one way left: show matches during tournaments. Yet the organizers are facing a number of problems that prevent such show-matches from being a success.

Both Dota 2 and CS:GO show matches share almost the same troubles:

Some players play in such matches just for fun and tend not to play seriously. At the same time there are players who want to do their best. Those players who are already eliminated from the main tournament may have bad mood which ruins all the fun. Those players who are still in the main tournament would prefer to spend time preparing for their next opponent. Taking part in show matches might be considered as a waste of time. Not all players are open enough to the public.

These problems are creating difficulties for every All-Star Match starting from the very first that took place on The International 2013. It should be noted that 1-on-1 tournament is a good idea that does not require anything extraordinary. Moreover, esports has advantage over sports because such events could be used to present something new. Valve played this trump card well when introduced Techies in 2014 and 10x10 custom game in 2015. However it is hard to imagine great All-Star Games from somebody else.

More All-Star Games were a fail than a success. This happened because not all organizers managed to minimize the problems mentioned above. EPICENTER found a great solution — have a show-match between talents. Organizers of CS:GO tournaments tend to use the same approach. The only problem is such matches can't be considered an All-Star Game.





The recipe for a perfect All-Star Game in Dota 2

There were great matches in the history of Dota 2, but they are very rare. It is really hard to host such game but it is not impossible. Let's highlight the components of a successful ASG:

Fun mode. Because there are players who take part in such matches for fun and there are players who try hard, organizers should offer a condition where every one would be on the same page. It can be All Random Deathmatch or even custom games. Fan vote. Usually players that are open to public have a larger fanbase than those who aren't. Thus, it will be possible to focus on those players who really love their fans and are ready to entertain them. Schedule. There are two compromise options: in some tournaments the last day has only one match scheduled, and that might not be enough for fans. All-Star Game can be an excellent warm-up though under one condition: players who take part in grand-finals should be released. Not all of fans will be satisfied with that. Second option: All-Star Game should be scheduled on the day before the grand-finals. Usually it has less tight schedule compared to previous days. But TOs should be ready to replace the players who just got eliminated. (Huge props to Solo for his professionalism at TI7 but you could see his shock during ASG after Virtus.Pro got eliminated). Only star players. If this is an All-Star Game than there should be no outsiders. It doesn't matter if they are fans or talents. Think about various contests. 1-vs-1 tournament usually goes well, why don't add something different? Like farming creeps with low attack damage, most artistic RAMPAGE or even some rage contest? Manila Masters presented some great ideas! It is not impossible to have an entertaining event.

However, DAC 2018 organizers are not going to follow all the points mentioned above. Chinese fans tend to love great performance more than jokes and entertainment. Because of that DAC ASG can be successful but it requires some serious approach from western players. Will All-Star Game be successful? We will know soon.