Dota 2
CS2
All rdy: Your weekly recap of January 19-25th
Nothing is ever stagnant or dull when it comes to the Dota 2 scene. Amidst the constant swirl of drama, tournaments, patches, and roster swaps, there’s always something unfolding behind the stage. From surprise upsets and standout performances to off-stage hiccups, each week brings a fresh mix of chaos and exctiment to our favorite (and often times most hated) game.
Tournaments
ESL One Birmingham returns in 2026, after a single year break from the tournament. This year, the event takes place in March, with 16 teams fighting for their share of the prize pool, as well ass the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) Points on offer. Although the tournament is still two months away, nearly every qualified and invited team is now locked in. Only China’s qualifier remains, which comes our way at the end of January.
One of the biggest stories to come through the ESL One Birmingham qualifiers is that of Team Liquid. Having never missed an ESL One event since 2019, the team crashed out after losses to both Virtus.pro and MOUZ. With four slots available to Western Europe, the other surprise was the Nigma Galaxy finally getting themselves into a 2026 event, having already missed out on DreamLeague Season 28 and BLAST Slam VI.
The list of teams qualified to ESL One Birmingham 2026 is:
- Team Yandex (Direct Invite)
- Team Spirit (Direct Invite)
- PARIVISION (Direct Invite)
- Xtreme Gaming (Direct Invite)
- OG (Direct Invite)
- Tundra Esports (Direct Invite)
- Team Falcons (WEU Qualifier)
- Virtus.pro (WEU Qualifier)
- MOUZ (WEU Qualifier)
- Nigma Galaxy (WEU Qualifier)
- BetBoom Team (EEU Qualifier)
- Aurora Gaming (EEU Qualifier)
- REKONIX (SEA Qualifier)
- GamerLegion (NA Qualifier)
- Perú Rejects (SA Qualifier)
- TBD (ESL One Challenger China)
Players and Teams
ViCi Gaming
Last month the Chinese Dota scene went through full reshuffle madness before the start of the new calendar year. ViCi Gaming initially announced on Weibo dropping Lou "Lou" Zhen (Lou), Xiong "pyw" Jiahan, and Ding "Dy" Cong. They then picked up Guo "shiro" Xuanang, Lin "planet" Hao, and Zhang "y丶" Yiping. These three new players came in from Team Tidebound.
Now they have rounded out their roster welcoming Zhang "Faith_bian/Bach" Ruida. Bach is rejoining members of Team Tidebound, who he competed with from July through October 2025. Fans most remember him from when he took home the Aegis in 2016 with Wings Gaming.
The new team will compete in the PGL Wallachia closed qualifiers starting today and ESL Challenger China starting at the end of this week on January 30th.
PlayTime
There's a new kid in town in the Phillipines. PlayTime's foray into Dota 2 will feature fan favorites and veteran players Djardel "DJ" Mampusti, Carlo "Kuku" Palad, Kim "Gabbi" Santos, Julius "JG" Galeon, and Armel "Armel" Tabios. The team will make their debut in the PGL Wallachia closed qualifiers today against ViCi Gaming.
Virtus.pro
Abed "Abed" Yusop has not been competing with the team in the FISSURE Universe Play-in due to working on visa for ESL One Birmingham 2026. The team is currently in the lower bracket finals, fighting Power Rangers for a spot in the playoffs. Two teams will qualify for the main event.
Updates and Patches
After a new round of buffs, Largo has now joined the competitive scene, while plenty of other heroes got hit by the nerf hammer.
Along with balance changes, Dota 2's most recent patch has also fixed a long list of bugs, including Medusa’s infinite health exploit, Anti-Mage Magebane's Mirror Facet exploit, and Morphling replicating Monkey King with Aghanim's Sceptre.
If you can’t keep up with all the news happening, don’t stress — All rdy has you covered. Every Monday, we round up the biggest headlines, hidden gems, and moments you might’ve missed, so you can start your week informed and ontop of it all.