14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has confirmed that it's going to kick off the first official season of Dota 2 Fantasy League on May 19, bringing an official support inside the game for such a system that was already tried out in the previous Dreamleague tournament.
Dota 2 is a true global phenomenon and Valve is taking all sorts of measures in order to ensure its popularity and keep growing its appeal.
Now, after a test period with the Asus Dreamleague, Valve has confirmed on its website that it's adding official support for Dota 2 Fantasy League inside the game, allowing players to create their own fantasy teams with professional players worldwide and compete against the teams of their friends, based on the real-life performances of the pro players.
"Fantasy Dota is a game that you can play with up to nine of your friends, where each of you forms teams made up of pro players to compete against each other, earning points for your team based on how each of your pro players performs in tournament matches," the studio said on its website.
The creation process is fairly simple and Valve even posted a small description of how you can set up your fantasy league and draft players for your teams.
"Once one of your friends has created a Fantasy League, you can join their Fantasy League by creating a Fantasy Team. Then you'll recruit pro players onto your team through a live draft, alongside all other members of your Fantasy League."
"Once your teams are set, you'll play head-to-head against one of the other member each week, with players earning wins and losses based on the total points that their pro players have earned."
There are, however, quite a few differences from the Dreamleague iteration of the fantasy league system, as all matches of pro players now count to their score. The whole process kicks off on May 19 but players can already create and join fantasy leagues as well as complete their live drafts right now.
Of course, access to the system is tied into the Compendium for The International tournament.
"Creating a new Fantasy League, or joining one that a friend has already created, is now based on Fantasy Ticket items rather than purchasing a ticket to a specific tournament. Purchasing an International Compendium includes a Fantasy Ticket. The process of joining a Fantasy League has been streamlined as well -- now you just need the Fantasy League ID and its password and you'll be able to join," Valve added.
A comprehensive FAQ was also added on the official website, so you might want to hurry up before the fantasy league system kicks off on May 19 and ends on July 28.