Top 10 DOTA 2 Players of All Time – Best to Ever Play

Dota 2 is a long-running eSports sensation. Its age is comparable to that of Counter-Strike, and so is its respect and weight in the world of eSports.

Like any other of the games, Dota 2 has greats, greats that need to be put down and remembered for what they’ve done, what they’ve brought to the game, and how the game has changed because of them. Because this list is picking from the entire timeline of Dota 2, the order is not set in any intentional way. Here are the Top 10 Dota 2 players of all time.

Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi

Kuroky was born on October 28, 1992, and the disabilities to his legs that he suffered were what caused him to play video games. That would turn out to be one of the best decisions of his life, as Kuroky is today one of the best, if not the best, Dota 2 player ever. His roles are Support and Captain. His signature heroes are Rubick, Visage, and Lo.

KurKy has been an innovational player in the league, among the first to perfect the feats of role and lane swapping within a team, systematic drafting, and mechanically high-skill, active support. Puppey and KuroKy have shared a friendship since the early days and have been referred to as the Magneto and Professor X of Dota 2, respectively.

This player is truly a master, as he has played every single hero in Dota competitively and shifted between most roles throughout his near-decade long career. For all his recognition as the greatest of all time, KuroKy has regularly expressed a desire to revert to the simple life of a garbage man.

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov

Puppey mainly fills the roles of Support and Captain. He was born on March 6, 1990, and has had an extensive career in Dota. Such a long time on the game has been more than enough for this professional to sharpen his skills to a fine point. Today, he is widely respected as a tremendously effective Support, capable of sustaining big plays and reinforcing his teammates at the drop of a hat.

When his career first began, there was nothing to his name. That only changed when his first team, Xero Skill (XsK), placed third in the ESL Major Series of 2007. This victory earned Puppey the respect of professional players, which was all he could ask for.

His signature heroes are Bounty Hunter, Chen, and Enchantress. Puppey is the first player to win two Valve events and is one of three people to have actively competed in every International along with KuroKy and DDC.

Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi

After joining his first team at the beginning of 2015, he was removed four months later. From there, he played pub games and rose in the matchmaking leaderboards until he became the #1 player by MMR in the European division and the world. He was then invited to join (monkey) Business, a newer team, which then reformed as OG once they became sponsored.

With that team, Miracle played at the first-ever Dota 2 Major, the Frankfurt Major, and won the tournament in a series of upsets. Miracle’s performances on Shadow Fiend throughout the tournament have been widely praised as high-level, so much so that other teams were prompted to ban the hero. If that doesn’t prove crazy skill, what does? Miracle- later went on to win many more tournaments, but the world was struck by one of the biggest upsets in Dota 2 history when OG lost to TnC Gaming in the second round of the lower brackets at the main stage of The International 2016.

Miracle- was born on June 20, 1997.

Peter “ppd” Dager

Acknowledged as the best Captain to have come out of North America, ppd was born on November 2, 1991. His talents in The International 3 brought him into the eye of the recruiters of the team Super Strong Dinosaurs. He did not stay with that team for long, however, and soon he found himself as the head of the captain and drafting duties of the team S A D B O Y S. Immediately, his innovative drafting style was noticed, and the team went on a 19-game win streak including a first-place finish in the Electronic Sports Prime/Shock Therapy Cup. On February 21, 2014, S A D B O Y S was announced as the new Evil Geniuses roster.

Ppd’s signature heroes are Treant Protector, Crystal Maiden, and Vengeful Spirit. His primary roles are Support and Captain, both of which he is astoundingly good at. There even came a time where ppd was elected as the CEO of Evil Geniuses but shortly stepped down as it was at a farther distance from the game than he wanted to be.

Gustav “s4” Magnusson

S4 is not like some of the other greats who are Captains, but he belongs among them anyway. He was born on April 1, 1992, and began his career on Heroes of Newerth. His success in that game was not spectacular, but he did popularize the hero Beastmaster with his incredible plays. When he transitioned to Dota 2 in early 2012, he joined Team Empire for a few months before creating The Tough Bananas together with Balsam.

Later, he fell in with the team No Tidehunter. Throughout 2013, that team rose and rose in power with no small amount of credit due to s4’s Magnus plays. In fact, he played the hero so masterfully—with such a depth of understanding—that he earned the nickname Son of Magnus.

Their victory at StarLadder Season 5 confirmed No Tidehunter’s position as one of the best teams in the West. S4’s signature heroes are Puck, Magnus, and Batrider. His primary roles are Offlaner and Solo Middle.

Johan “N0tail” Sundstein

N0tail was one of the world’s youngest Heroes of Newerth competitors (where he played Solo Middle), born on October 8, 1993. His true prowess came into view when he switched to Dota 2, and his performances as Chen and Wisp became very well known. He was keen on micromanagement, which led to his infamous Meepo play. His signature heroes are Chen, Nature’s Prophet, and Enchantress.

From June 21, 2014, until the creation of the team OG in 2015, N0tail went by the name of BigDaddy. He’s the first player to win four Valve sponsored events and the International, and the first Danish player to win the International. The performances of this Captain have been excellent, leading him and his team to secure first place victories in four consecutive DreamHack events. His primary roles are Captain and Support. Throughout his career, he has been on five teams and played the longest for his current team, OG.

Clinton “Fear” Loomis

Fear has a concrete legacy in professional Dota. Anyone who argues against it would be crushed by the overwhelmingly respectful community across the globe that recognizes what he has done and how long he has been around. Born on February 19, 1988, Fear is admired for his versatility in playing every position at the competitive level; this trait makes him a very desirable addition to any team.

North America has not put forward many of the greats, but Fear is one of them. His work as a coach even in the days before Dota 2 was a thing that will forever keep him respected among the eSport. His signature heroes are Bane, Shadow Shaman, and Rubick. His primary roles are Support and Carry, making him yet another one of the greats that are not Captains.

But nearly every interviewed teammate has spoken of him as a co-captain for his impressive in-game leadership and strategy. His move to coaching was instigated by “recurring health issues”, but since The International 7, he has returned to competitive action.

Alexei “Solo” Berezin

Solo is a player with some controversy in his past; his career is not the bright and shining record like many of the others on this list. In 2013, Solo received a lifetime ban from StarLadder for betting fraud against zRage. He was later removed from RoX after admitting his involvement. Later still, the ban was commuted to one year.

Solo was born on August 7, 1990, and his own scandal has been innovative for the game. The amount that he would have won from betting against his own team was $322, so commentators and viewers have frequently begun using the phrase “322” for particularly bad plays—the implication being that the player in question is trying to throw the game. Not many players have had such an impact, but nevertheless, Solo’s impact is not the reason he is counted among the greatest players of all time.

He has not been a Captain a lot, but in the few instances that he has, he’s shown very good judgment and leadership when it comes to drafting. His primary role is Support, and his signature heroes are Disruptor, Bane, and Shadow Demon.

Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

Arteezy was born on July 1, 1996. His professional career was delayed from what it could have been due to his young age and commitment to his studies. But that sort of commitment was already a strong character trait that drafters and recruiters kept an eye on. His primary roles are Solo Middle and Carry.

His professional story truly begins with his standing-in for Speed Gaming and unexpectedly winning MLG Columbus. Since then, he has risen in skill and fame (arguably the most famous player in the West) consistently. His high-level play is marked by his ability to carry his team out of the mid lane and his fantastically efficient farming patterns, which have been such the subject of admiration that Arteezy embraces the fan-given identity of a real farmer.

His playstyle is still very relevant today, but everyone agrees that it’s disappointing that he did not win either The International 2015 or The International 2016. His signature heroes are Arc_Warden, Terrorblade, and Lycan.

Danil “Dendi” Ishutin

Right away, it must be said: under the strategic captaining of Artstyle and Puppey, Dendi made it to three International finals for three consecutive Internationals—no other team has accomplished that feat so far. Dendi is an inspirational figure for Mid Laners of the younger generations, and for a good reason.

He was born on December 30, 1989. His primary roles are Solo Middle and Captain, which is a pairing that has brought him wild success throughout his considerable career. But that success has anything but gotten to his head: Dendi is regarded as the face of Dota and an extremely humble and amicable person. He cut his teeth on games like Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft 3 before finding DotA and eventually transitioning to Dota 2.

Recently, he has fallen on some hardships. Four years of roster instability and poor results resulted in Dendi’s removal from the Na’Vi organization’s active roster in September 2018. For eight years, he had played Mid Laner for that team. But, being the person he is, Dendi won’t stop playing professionally.