The Greatest Play in Dota 2 History

Dota 2 is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character, known as a "hero", who all have unique abilities and differing styles of play.

The game itself during this year has peaked at 11 million active players making it one of the most played video games on the planet. Since it's release in 2013 Dota 2 has garnered a prolific professional scene which culimnates at the annual tournament The International. This tournament has boasted prize pools upwards of $20 million since the year 2016. It was during The Second International where "The Play" happened.

In the Dota community, it's known simply as "The Play." But perhaps the most perfectly executed moment in professional Dota history, in a game between Invictus Gaming and Na’Vi at The International 2, was almost impossible to understand for the average viewer. You can hear the crowd begin to roar, but the action on-screen is a mess of particle effects and magic overloading the monitor.

It's a shame too, because everybody should be able to appreciate this beautiful moment in Dota like the fine bourbon that it is. Check out the video below before the full explanation below. Feel free to rewatch as you read further.

It's Invictus Gaming(IG) versus Na'vi during The International 2. At 17 minutes in Na'vi is holding a decent lead and decides to push the bot lane inner tower. At this point in time IG decides to attempt a play to turn the game around in their favor. They group up and use an item called Smoke of Deceit to make their entire team invisible. They get in position to flank Na'vi hopefully catching them blind.

IG's player Zhou heads in first using his Heroe's (Naga Siren) ultimate ability putting all the nearby Na'Vi players to sleep. However while sleeping Na'Vi's heroes are immune to damage. While asleep this gives IG the perfect opportunity to set up their onslaught of damage when Na'Vi finally wakes back up. What they didn't know is Na'Vi has planned for this exact scenario and IG played right into their hands.

Na'Vi has two heroes who have ways to become immune to magic as soon as the sleep ends. Juggernaught, one of those heroes, has an ability built into his kit that makes him immune to magic and Enigma is the other who built an item called Black King Bar(BKB) which when activated also grants immunity to magic. IG is relishing in the fact that they are set up to normally destroy Na'Vi's entire team during this fight while in reality Na'Vi have two characters who are difficult to kill.

One professional player "TC" gives some insight into what goes on during "The Play", stating, "One of the things about the Naga Siren ultimate in general is that when you use it, your team will group up around the sleeping characters so when IG uses the sleep they're going to group up. And because Enigma has a BKB it sets everything up, because these heroes are now clumped up for the Black Hole."

At 15 seconds in the video one of IG's heroes named Dark Seer uses his ability called Vacuum to pull most of Na'Vi's team closer together with the thought in mind that the closer together they are the easier they will be to hit with big abilities. Usually in this instance IG has set everything up for the perfect kill on Na'Vi. IG's hero Tidehunter uses his ultimate ability which causes those tentacles to shoot up out of the ground dealing damage and stunning Na'Vi's heroes, but both Juggernaught and Enigma have immunity.

This becomes the beginning of the end for IG and the start of "The Play". Since Enigma isn't stunned by Tidehunter's ultimate, he's free to use Black Hole which grabs and locks down four of IG's heroes. Juggernaught then uses his ability "Blade Fury" where he takes his sword and spins very quickly. So to recap: 4/5 of Invictus' characters are clumped up, stunned, and stuck next to an enemy (Juggernaut) spinning his sword like a madman. You do the math.

But the best part is something only a trained eye can see. At 0:17, Rubick - played by the inimitable Dendi - uses the item Force Staff to launch himself out of the fight momentarily just as Tidehunter is using his ultimate. You have to squint to see it, don't blink. He escapes the damage and stun, but not content with just one incredible play, Dendi seals the deal with another.

One of Na'Vi's most prolific all time players "Dendi" during this game was playing a Hero called "Rubick". Inside Rubick's bag of tricks he has the capability to steal an enemy Heroe's last used ability. While all the chaos above ensues Dendi uses an item called "Force Staff" to maneuver his way out of the Tidehunter ultimate, saving himself from the stun and damage. Now with Rubick out he steals Tidehunter's ultimate ability and uses it against IG, which is why you see the tentacles erupt a second time.

With the massive amounts of damage being slang out by Na'Vi they have no problem cleaning up all of IG and going on to win the game. Now nearly 7 years later there hasn't been a single play with as much notoriety as this one in all of professional Dota. You'll no doubt have to watch this video a half dozen or more times to fully understand all that happens in that tiny 5 second window, but it's worth the effort. This was a symphony of perfection for Na'Vi.