Dota 2 'Midas Mode' tournament is coming in November

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The Dota 2 Midas Mode Tournament is as clever as it is simple. Teams are given equal amounts of virtual money called "Moonbucks"—named after Moonduck, the outfit that came up with the idea—which must be used to finance every action they take over the course of the tournament. Judicious money management will enable teams to make the right moves at the right times, but blowing it on bad calls will leave them struggling to compete with a no-budget lineup of Dota chumps.

Each hero will be assigned a cost based on its capabilities and popularity, which can change from match to match depending on its performance. But it's not just drafting a lineup that costs money. Want to ban a hero? Pay for it. Want to choose a side of the map? Pay for it. Want to pause the game? Pay for it. Everything has a cost, and so everything must be considered within the big strategic picture.

"Shit gets lit," as the video puts it, when a team blows its budget: They'll have to choose heroes from "a basket of peasants—the worst of the worst," or live with the results of a randomized draw. And of course they won't be able to make bans or pauses, putting them even deeper in the hole. It is possible to earn more money, however, by completing community-suggested "bounties." Teams can also wager their Moonbucks on matches they aren't taking part in.

The structure of the tournament hasn't been revealed, but the lineup of participating teams is impressive: Evil Geniuses, Immortals, Digital Chaos, and OpTiC for Team America, and Liquid, OG, Natus Vincere, and Mid or Feed for Europe. Midas Mode was originally announced in February and was expected to take place in April, after the Kiev Major. That didn't work out, but the schedule has now been nailed down to November 18-28. Find out more (although that's the extent of it for now) at midas.moonduck.tv.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.