Moonduck dota 2

Get ready for the chaotic premiere of Midas Mode, an economic Dota 2 tournament

In this event, you need to buy heroes, pay for pauses and maybe do a few chores along the way.

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Being an entirely free-to-play game, Dota 2’s gameplay and meta have never really found harmony with the whole economic theory thing. Starting this weekend, via Moonduck. TV, Midas Mode may be able to change that, bringing together the Keynesians and Monetarists, Marxists and Capitalists (though we’re not sure about that Capitalist, the dude).

Midas Mode is not just a tournament, but an economics-themed “macro” game mode with mechanics spanning the entirety of the tournament. Teams are gifted fictional currency, or “moonbucks,” at the start of the event, which are required for hero drafts and other tactical necessities. More interestingly, the heroes’ prices shift through the whole event.

A proposal for the event was made earlier this year via an extravagant YouTube video. Now, Moonduck has finally found the time, teams and manpower to run the event, even in the chaos of the Pro Circuit, plus the Thanksgiving holiday for American participants, staff and spectators.

From community chores to paying for pauses and even a mysterious bell with a purpose yet to be discovered, Moonduck has given plenty of reasons for fans to keep up with the action all ten days. We’ve got your start-up guide to what we know about Midas Mode so far and what to expect.

The Format

In regards to team advancement, Midas Mode has ensured plenty of matches as possible while and ensuring every match counts.

The four European teams will play within their region, as will the four American teams.

The teams and event will progress as follows:

All four teams will play each other in a round-robin stage.
The top team goes directly to the event’s finals.
The bottom team is eliminated.
The remaining two teams will play a match to determine the second finalist.
Finals!

The Teams

Eight teams of international fame have opted into this experimental event—four from Europe, and four from America. Moonduck dota 2 The participants are as follows:

North America

Evil Geniuses
Immortals
OpTic Gaming
VG. J Storm

Europe

M >In addition, all eight teams have opted to donate any and all winnings to a variety of charitable causes!

The Money

Part of the charm and appeal of Midas Mode is the buy system through the event’s “moonbucks.” Basically, the entire event revolves around buying heroes—literally.

Before every game, the values of the heroes is calculated based on the general Dota 2 meta, as well as, eventually, the meta of the event itself. More valuable heroes cost more or less to ban.

So what costs moonbucks?

Picking heroes
Banning heroes
Pausing m >This likely isn’t a definitive final list, according to the site, but it appears to be the core mechanics of the “buying” system.

On the other hand, there are a few things that will earn a team Moonbucks:

Randoming
Opting out of a ban phase
Bounties (explained later)
Betting on other teams

Basically, if you’re taking a risk, or going out of the way to entertain the community at large, you’ll earn advantages as the tournament goes on.

The Bounties

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the community will have a way to provide input for the event Before each day, Moonduck will open a thread for fans to submit “Bounty” suggestions, meaning tasks that teams can accomplish throughout the course of the game or match. If a team manages to successfully complete these tasks, they’ll earn some moonbucks.

From the looks of it, though, Moonduck is expecting some simultaneously feasible yet off-the-wall suggestions. They want them to be “easy to quantify and observe,” while also remaining “creative” and “entertaining”—giving the example of, “A hero with the Aegis in their inventory must die in the enemy fountain.”

The Schedule

Midas Mode spans over ten days, and which region plays varies by day.

The exact times of the matches have not yet been announced, as of the time of writing. However, Moonduck have outlined the matches that are currently planned:

Saturday, November 18

Start time: 11 AM ET

Na`Vi vs OG (Europe)
Na`Vi vs M >Start time: 1 PM ET

Optic vs Digital Chaos (North America)
Optic vs Immortals (North America)

Monday, November 20

Start time: 1 PM ET

Evil Geniuses vs Digital Chaos (North America)
Evil Geniuses vs Immortals (North America)

Tuesday, November 21

Start time: 10 AM ET

Evil Geniuses vs Immortals

Fr >Unknown

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated November 19 at 2:25 PM to include participating teams.]

Moonduck’s SirActionSlacks, SUNSfan Chat Events

Kendryx spoke with SUNSfan and SirActionSlacks about Midas Mode 2.0 and all things Moonduck.

Moonduck Studios is behind memorable tournament series such as Midas Mode, Elimination Mode and Captain’s Draft. Instead of the usual Captain’s Mode system, with the familiar ban and pick drafting system, Moonduck’s tournaments utilize, as you might imagine, Captain’s Draft, Elimination Mode and a custom game mode. They provide a rare opportunity for Dota 2 fans to see “fun Dota” rather than “serious Dota. Moonduck dota 2 ”

Hotspawn’s Gillian “Kendryx” Linscott had the opportunity to sit down with Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner and Shannon “SUNSfan” Scotten to talk about the origins of Midas Mode, the inspiration behind it and who actually came up with the Creep Takeover concept.

For those unaware, BETWAY Midas Mode 2.0 is a tournament using a custom game map and an out-of-game economy system to challenge professional players in entertaining and often fan-interactive ways.

Moonduck’s love of alternative modes was really underlined when they hosted Captain’s Draft 4.0 as a Dota 2 Pro Circuit Minor in January 2018. As the only DPC so far to stray from Captain’s Mode, some saw it as a welcome change while others criticized the inclusion. In the interview, SUNSfan disclosed that the event was run with a US$50,000 deficit. Breaking it down, SUNSfan makes it clear that the cost of running a DPC Minor, with the need to fly in and house all the players, was simply too expensive, without a good way to make money.

So what’s the alternative?

LANs for Fans

The fan-LAN of BETWAY Midas Mode 2.0, or LAN 1.5 as it was called in the video, is one solution. The event focuses on the fan experience rather than having to manage the needs of several teams of players and staff. The priority here is on the live experience, engaging viewers at home, but also the people who came to the event.

With multiple ways for viewers to get involved in the games from home and on-site, Midas Mode’s truly catered to the fans. SirActionSlacks has really enjoyed giving fans unique ways to interact with pro players, especially through the Creep Takeover and the VR Roshan.

One of the biggest tidbits that SirActionSlacks shared about the way that about the process of brainstorming ideas for the event is that Gabe Newell himself had a hand in things. He apparently proposed the Creep Takeover concept, though as is pointed out in the interview, probably he didn’t envision the creeps harassing players and spamming memes all over the map.

In the interview, SUNSfan expresses, “And so far from the spectating standpoint, from everybody we’ve talked to, they’ve really enjoyed themselves. So that part has been a resounding success.”

Not All Smooth Sailing

What hasn’t been so successful? The custom map has been one headache after another. Even there, the Moonduck-ers can spin it into a positive for fans attending at LocalHost Arena. Moonduck dota 2 Those fans have been enlisted to playtest, helping out in ways that fans typically cannot.

Another issue that’s carried over from the first Midas Mode is perfecting the economy. In 2017, the teams gamed the system by bypassing bans and randoming heroes to earn Moonbucks. Moonduck thought they’d corrected the problem by removing the payoff for randoming, but giving bonus Moonbucks for winning. Some teams, like J. Storm, took the cheap route, and amassed more Moonbucks than any single team really needed. Others decided to bypass the whole system, as when Clement “Puppey” Ivanov “negotiated” for changes in the semifinals.

Looking Ahead for Moonduck

Fans of alternative game modes, rejoice! There’s hope for future events as Midas Mode 3 is discussed, at least as a theoretical. To the delight of Kendryx, SUNSfan suggests an Elimination Mode event might be next on the table for Moonduck. Of course, all things are fluid in Dota 2, and this shouldn’t be taken as written in stone.

Advice

To close out the conversation, Kendryx asked about advice SUNSfan and SirActionSlacks would offer to anyone trying to break into the industry. SUNSfan’s tip is, “Do something unique, if you just stand out somehow and you’re good at what you do, then you’ll make a way for yourself.” SirActionSlacks advises “Do what you love…Don’t be fake, don’t try to do something someone else is doing more.” His caution is that you don’t want to be trapped pretending to do something you don’t love.

Check out the full interview in the video above for all of the behind-the-scenes conversation!

Disclosure: Hotspawn is sponsoring BETWAY Midas Mode 2.0. We will be in attendance, providing unique coverage of the event each day. Stay tuned to our site for further information!