'Dota 2' Midas Mode Tournament Made The MOBA Into A Game Show
"Dota 2" tournaments are often high-stakes events where teams battle it out using skill and strategy without room for error. However, Midas Mode is not just any other tournament because by commodifying the game's mechanics, it has turned one of the most intense eSports titles into a Saturday morning game show.
The tournament is the brainchild of Jake "SirActionSlacks" Kanner, a Dota 2 host, caster and content creator. The tournament features two divisions, North America and Europe, with four teams each will play it out to determine a winner, with the teams donating their winnings to a charity of their choice.
However, there's a catch. Each team has a bank account, and playing the game can cost some a few bucks, "Moonbucks" to be precise. Teams have to spend a portion of their balance to draft their five heroes with each hero costing a certain amount to pick. Hero prices will also fluctuate as the tournament goes on and trends change. Moonbucks can also be spent to ban, bid on being the first pick, and even bet on the game's outcome.
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To earn Moonbucks, players need to complete certain tasks in-game, some even requiring them to get out of their comfort zone or worse, force them to make mistakes that could cost them the game. This deviates from a traditional "Dota 2" game where players are often discouraged to take unnecessary risks.
Viewers can even join in and earn Moonbucks by simply watching the game and bet on the hero stock market or on match outcomes. The rules of the tournament are definitely quirky but so is its organizer.
SirActionSlacks went to great lengths to host the tournament even getting sponsors from the unlikeliest of places. One of these is the Kennedy Space Center who, according to the organizers, thought that the off-brand, goofy sponsorship of this tournament can really work in their favor.
The best part of the tournament is that it's not part of Valve's newly-implement "Dota 2" circuit meaning that teams aren't pressured to win. It's just a tournament organized for a good cause where players and viewers can have fun.
