First of all, you may be asking a rather striking question: what transitional phase are you talking about, Samuel “DarthBotto” Horton, you stupid adolescent yank? I will close my eyes and nod my head, pretending that I am in deep thought about answer your question. I understand, Defense of the Ancients is a six year-old mod that has a developer who is a master of fine-tuning and balancing. It is hard to believe that a game with such a very concrete genre and game play constraints could be undergoing a transitional phase. However, there is a massive transitional phase that IceFrog, Riot Games and S2 Games are acknowledging and very intentionally, are adapting to. However, only the creators of League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth are the specific players in the future of the DotA genre that are actively publishing and publicizing for their titles in order to be named as potential successors. Between Riot Games and S2 Games, it would seem that League of Legends is actively pursuing a new frontier with the DotA genre, relying upon more than transitioning the Warcraft III JASS code to a unique program. As such, it is Riot Games that deserves a brief eSport nod, in the very least.

To thoroughly examine the overall necessity of a successor to DotA, a critical eye must examine the history that sparked this necessity. DotA was truly first seen in the customized StarCraft map, Aeon of Strife, which in turn, was passed on to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2003. The original map maker, Eul, intended to utilize Warcraft III’s capabilities to make a further customized descendant of Aeon of Strife. However, DotA underwent a massive expansion when Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was released, adding what seemed like limitless capabilities to the DotA mod and allowing a talented map maker like Guinsoo to take control of the entire scene. Guinsoo created the vast majority of what comprises of today’s DotA hero lineup. The game was then handed over to IceFrog, who has held the mod ever since and has focused exclusively upon fine-tuning, hero balancing, new game modes and the expansion of the community.

As you can clearly see, DotA has evolved with new expansions and releases to Warcraft III as an individual game. The clear pattern is that the game is dependent upon Blizzard Entertainment’s development of a now seven year-old title. StarCraft II is now on the horizon, meaning that Warcraft III will become what StarCraft has been since its release. This, however, will mean that DotA will have to evolve, with or without Blizzard and possibly even IceFrog. IceFrog, when asked about a possible retail version of DotA, claims that he has big plans for the genre, fully acknowledging the threat that looms with StarCraft II’s 2010 release. Either IceFrog will bring DotA to StarCraft II, build it into its own package, or else his work will be left behind and other developers will flood Battle.net 2.0 with their own takes on DotA and League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth will fight for supremacy, with them being very similar in structure.

This now leads us on to the title of this entire review; where does League of Legends stand in the face of StarCraft II, the amazing mega-RTS sequel that will redefine competitive gaming and the DotA front? First of all, S2 Games and their title, Heroes of Newerth, have been aggressively seeking publicity, claiming to be the next and graphically-improved DotA installment. Claiming to be the only DotA clone free of the constraints of the Warcraft III World Editor is false, considering that League of Legends has been a known highlight of DotA evolution since October 7th, 2008. However, Heroes of Newerth has been gaining more attention every day, considering the strong North American DotA fan base, with its attention being drawn by S2’s centralization of gaming community websites. However, League of Legends has been gaining superior publicity amongst gaming review organizations, such as Game Spy, G4 and many other organizations of their stature. Therefore, the community differentiation has been playing an extreme role in the public perceptions of League of Legends.

The curious thing, however, is that Riot Games has been centering their attention directly upon professional DotA players, such as fnatic, Ravens and other top teams. For example, there was a DotA tournament hosted at GamesCon in August with a prize pot of $15,000, (not deficient by the professional gaming standards). After fnatic had successfully defeated all other competition, Riot Games hosted closed beta sessions for the competing games with the sole purpose of gaining feedback so they might adjust the game for the greatest players’ standards. This way, the DotA concept could be adjusted, due to the fact that the game is by no means perfect. With what has been taken in from the professional European DotA players, League of Legends is a cartoonish, fast-paced and stylized RPG that has improved the lesser qualities of DotA and still paid great homage to the best of it. As it stands, League of Legends is lacking the needed testimony of many eSport websites and the North American player base, but is sufficient in the European realm, at least as far as the beta portion of development is concerned.

Unlike DotA, League of Legends focuses primarily upon the PvP aspect of the game play, whereas much of DotA involves grinding creeps and escaping pursuing opponents. This way, destroying opponents is a much more rewarding experience and there is more of a definite change in experience, opposed to the limitations of the Warcraft III World Editor. Also, the towers, (which resemble as closely as the two sides of a chess set), play a much larger role in League of Legends. The combat is quite a bit faster paced, although the adjustments placed on the towers make them more central beacons on the battlefield. Therefore, League of Legends is superior to DotA, Heroes of Newerth and Demigod, in the case of player-on-player and defensive expansion.

This, however, does not necessarily mean that League of Legends is a completely flawless game. Like all games, (except for maybe StarCraft,) League of Legends is plagued by small, frustrating features. First, it takes several minutes to begin a match of League of Legends. You cannot simply skip past the timer which demands that you wait for a pre-determined period of time; you must actually pace yourself to the game itself, therefore placing an unnecessary limit upon the player. Another concern with this game is its user friendliness. It purposefully does not play by the constraints that plague DotA, which does have its benefits, but also creates new complications. Understanding the runes and summoner system proves to be hectic when attempting to learn the game; however it soon becomes apparent that this in itself is an attempt to cut the lines between DotA and its sometimes unreliable host, Warcraft III. Interestingly enough, this creates a similarity between the majority of today’s MMOs and this DotA spinoff.

A feature that can be taken either way is the graphics of League of Legends. Much like the controversial change from Link to Toon Link in 2002’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the graphics are a debatable subject. An issue that has been haunting the development of Heroes of Newerth is how very dark and exaggerated the tone is of the game. The polar opposite plays a part in League of Legends, where the graphics are light, vibrant and in the same fashion as Warcraft III. The exaggerated tone of the game follows Samwise Didier and Chris Metzen’s art styles for their RTS games. Although it may not be impressive as far as polygons are concerned, the game still holds its merits as being daring in a world where beauty often determines sales, (albeit the PlayStation 3, whose sales have consumed its competitors with its new, refined version).

All things considered, League of Legends is a fine game that is a spawn of the unique genre that is DotA. It is still in its beta phase, so it is open to change, so the little errors and graphical bugs that are holding back the game’s true potential may not appear in its final form. The question to ask now is whether or not League of Legends is fit to become an eSport in its full form. As shown by the select few that merit professional players with sustainable salaries, it is extremely difficult to create an eSport title and even more difficult to create the title from the start with the intent of it becoming an eSport title. Take for example, Eul’s original version of DotA for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, which was eventually released to public domain. He stated that it was intended to be a little pastime for him and his coworkers to play on the weekends. He had absolutely no idea that it would become a mod that is so unique that it is considered a game separate of Warcraft III with a larger fan base than the RTS itself.

With this in mind, the comforting ideal about this whole deal is that Steve “Guinsoo” Feak, the man who united the DotA community under one map, is the creative force behind League of Legends. Therefore, the original creator of DotA Allstars is aiming to repeat his triumphant success and hopefully capitalize upon his high hopes. Most of what consists of today’s DotA is thanks to Guinsoo’s development of DotA and if it were not for him, IceFrog would never have gotten into the position he is in.

However, the future of DotA relies more upon IceFrog than either S2 Games or Riot Games. This is much like what ex-SK and current fnatic player Jonathan 'Loda' Berg agreed at the Summer DreamHack tournament with SK|merusame, “As long as IceFrog keeps on going.” With the release of Version 6.60 several months ago, IceFrog wrote in his blog that he would continue development of the game for at least a couple more years. With him being the iconic overlord of DotA, his word will either make or break the game. By what he has commented on in our emails, IceFrog most likely bring DotA to new fronts, whether it be a first-party DotA retail package or an evolved version for StarCraft II. Either way, his word determines the genre and all games connected, including League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. Therefore, if he discontinues DotA support without a plausible successor, League of Legends and its competitors will have a serious disadvantage with the several million-plus main player base leaving. In short, much of League of Legends’ future depends largely upon its inspiration, predecessor and competitor’s own future. In this way, League of Legends is limited so long as it remains in DotA’s shadow, thereby reducing its chances of becoming a full-fledged eSport. However, it still holds the needed potential and that is why it is a worthy addition to the emerging DotA genre.

This article was conducted with assistance from former PMS Clan DotA member, Neha 'Rinoa' Nair.