From dead Canus Vulpus to rising star Ephey, our six Dota 2 stories you loved the most in 2021

Esports.gg only launched in March of 2021, but Dota 2 has become one of our flagship games. Since launch we have published analysis, features, interviews, community news and match reports and recaps. With the year coming to a close, we take a look back at the most popular Dota 2 news stories on Esports.gg.

In a fun interview with Esports.gg's Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling - Arkosh Gaming stand-in for the TI10 qualifiers - we heard tales from the anonymous demon camp. These included a ridiculous series of events where Arkosh tried to convince the TI10 admin that Canus Vulpus might have met his maker, and as such they'd like to use an emergency stand-in.

"We told the admin, Canus Vulpus visited a different plane often, and we were afraid he was dead as we couldn’t reach him. And the admin would not believe us!" said Aui_2000. If you missed this incredibly bizarre Arkosh Gaming interview back in September, it's definitely worth reading.

At the start of 2021, Mira "Ephey" Riad was an unknown but after a whirlwind debut at the WePlay AniMajor, the streamer became one of the hottest new talents on the Dota 2 Circuit alongside TeaGuvnor.

Back in June, not much was known about Ephey but she sat down with Esports.gg to talk about the AniMajor. She would later go on to appear as a panellist at The International 10 in October, and our Ephey interview continues to be read daily by fans looking to know more about her.

The glorious We Say Things podcast by Shannon “SUNSfan” Scotten and Troels Lyngholt “syndereN” Nielsen has been a blessing this year. The podcast often contains insightful discussions, and the Neutral Items article highlighted the thought-provoking comments about Neutral Items by SyndereN, sparking a further discussion on social media.

With Patch 7.29 about to be released, we decided to reach out to friends and community figures back in August tell us of their hopes and predictions. Needless to say the results were a comical mixed bag thanks to the wonderful minds of Lizzard, TeaGuvnor, Jenkins and SUNSFan among others. The talent Patch 7.29 prediction article was a big hit with our Dota 2 readers, and still makes us smile.

Jenkins: “Icefrog’s not an idiot, so he probably won’t add bridges”. Brilliant.

As part of a sponsored partnership with Esports.gg, We Say Things hosts SyndereN and SUNSFan did a tier list of the Dota 2 Arcanas as well as the Dota 2 Voice Lines. Both pieces did not disappoint and attracted thousands of readers to Esports.gg, who were keen to see the dynamic duo attempt to come to some kind of consensus. SyndereN made sure to outline criteria before they started, however, SUNSFan decision to completely ignore the criteria made for great content and banter.

In 2021, we've been responsible for introducing the English-speaking audience to incredible stories from the Chinese scene thanks to our staff member LeonArthur. His biggest piece of the year was on the aftermath of the TI10 Grand Finals.

PSG.LGD's defeat to Team Spirit left many Chinese fans bemused and rather frustrated. This PSG.LGD reaction piece collected the thoughts of PSG.LGD's Xiao8, Faith_Bian and XInQ, who all shared their thoughts on social media.

Our Dota section in 2021 was good, but we'll be pushing the Dota 2 section even more in 2022, so why not bookmark it and join us next year?