Dota 2 Player Ranking

MOBA games are all about competition. Dota 2 players have always strived to be the best at their craft. Above, you can see the list of the top players who have proven their worth through dozens of matches.

How Does the Ranked System Work in Dota 2 eSports?

It is not easy to enter a list of top Dota 2 players. First, anyone who even dares to approach this height must be dedicated enough to get into eSports. It may sound like a mediocre task for someone unfamiliar with Dota 2, but players know how hard it is. Ambitious competitors must spend at least a couple thousand hours honing their skills in Dota 2 ranked matches. Once the player’s skill is high enough, they will have access to minor tournaments and competitions where they can get noticed by an eSports organization.

If the Dota 2 player is lucky and skilled enough to get into the team, they can start building their way onto the top of the Dota leaderboard. To go higher in the Dota ranked eSports system, the player will have to score as many wins during the season as they can. Each win will become a stepping stone, putting the competitor higher and higher among other players.

Pro Dota players participate in tournaments of various scales. Thus, if a competitor crashes their opponent in local tournaments with little prizes and weak teams, they will not move up in the leaderboard significantly. But if the player shows their skill and gets wins among high-level teams in bigger tournaments, their achievements will be rewarded with rank-ups. For example, Dota Majors and International tournaments are considered tier 1 competitions and bring the most fame and DPC points (will be discussed later) to participants.

Still, you should know that not each leaderboard ranks players according to their victories. Some use a different approach, counting the total Dota 2 player salary. So, if the player has won the most money among others, they will be placed at the top of the list. You will see how the wealthiest players are ranked below.

The Best and Richest Dota 2 Players

Wondering which Dota 2 competitors have obtained the biggest wealth and tournament cups? Get ready to know the five absolute best professional Dota 2 players with the biggest winning history.

N0tail (Total Winnings – $7,175,339)

Anyone who has ever explored the Dota 2 pro scene should know the name of this legendary Danish player. N0tail (Johan Sundstein) started building his MOBA skills at the age of fifteen (2008), playing HoN (Heroes of Newerth), where he has won four consecutive DreamHack events.

Later, in 2012, HoN lost its popularity, which made N0tail and his teammates transfer to Dota 2, where he started off under the Fnatic banner. Due to great performance during the season, N0tail’s team got invited to The International 2013, where his team scored eighth place.

But the real success of N0tail’s story as a famous Dota 2 player started in 2015 when he, along with his former teammates, created the OG team, where N0tail was the captain in a support role. Their first tournament was the Frankfurt Major, where the team managed to climb through the entire loser bracket and get to the finals, scoring a win against their rivals, Team Secret. That competition opened a winning streak for N0tail, which was stopped by The International 2017, where N0tail hit eighth place again.

But N0tail didn’t make us wait long for his comeback: both The International 2018 and 2019 were won by him and his team, adding $26,854,339 to their total winnings.

JerAx (Total Winnings – $6,485,874)

The next Dota player to follow has quite a similar path as N0tail, and his nickname is JerAx. JerAx (Jesse Vainikka) is a Finnish player who started MOBA gaming with HoN, but in 2013 he entered a Dota 2 realm as the game got very popular.

At the beginning of his career, JerAx was in quite unsuccessful Dota 2 teams: Rat in the dark and Red Pandas. Later JerAx disappeared from the Dota eSports radar and got back on track in 2014. But what happened before 2015 is not worth describing, as there were no major achievements. But in 2015, JerAx was picked by Team Liquid and finished the year on a high note, getting third place at WCA 2015.

The biggest trophies with Team Liquid for JerAx were hitting second place in Shanghai Major 2016 and Manila Major 2016, and most importantly, winning an Epicenter tournament. However, at the end of 2016, JerAx was noticed by N0tail, who had offered him a semi-support position in OG: an offer he couldn’t turn down.

Since then, JerAx has won a couple of Majors and has succeeded his opponents in The Internationals of 2018 and 2019, making his total personal prizes worth $6,485,874.

KuroKy (Total Winnings – $5,281,424)

KuroKy (Kuro Salehi Takhasomi) is a veteran player from Germany who has started conquering the MOBA genre since DotA (a Warcraft Mode). He was a pioneer who entered the world of Dota 2 at its beginning in 2011, and his first appearance was at The International 2011. Unfortunately, KuroKy had no success at that time with his GosuGamer team.

Although, KuroKy is not the one to give up. In 2013, he entered a Na’Vi team and fought against Alliance in the finals of The International 2013. The last, sixth game was more than intense, but sadly, Na’Vi and KuroKy lost, scoring second place. Since then, KuroKy has changed his roster to Team Secret but had no major achievements.

The tables turned in 2015 when KuroKy came to Team Liquid as a captain and chose all his teammates. At this point, KuroKy’s fate as a leader of Team Liquid was predefined. His first achievement was in the Shanghai Major 2016, where he scored second place. Later, Team Liquid, with captain KuroKy, won two Epicenters in 2016 and 2017 and the third season of StarLadder. Still, their biggest accomplishment is first place in The International 2017, which brought $10,862,683 to the team prize pool. Even though they won no Internationals later, KuroKy and Team Liquid scored second place in 2019 and fourth in 2018.

Miracle- (Total Winnings – $4,871,734)

When we talk about the best Dota 2 players, the legendary mid-laner, Miracle- (Amer Al-Barkawi), can’t be missed. Miracle- is a Jordan/Polish player who has gained fame through a matchmaking grind. After being kicked from the Balkan Bears team in 2015, Miracle- started climbing the ranked ladder and eventually reached the highest MMR in the European division and the world.

The next step in Miracle- career was trying his best in Dota 2 eSports again, and he did it by joining N0tail in his (monkey) Business team, which later turned into OG. In this team, Miracle- has won a couple of Majors and ESL One Frankfurt in 2016.

After the loss in The International 2016, Miracle- decided to leave OG and became a part of Team Liquid. Unfortunately, his career in the team started poorly, as they failed to qualify for the Boston Major. However, Miracle- started gaining rapid momentum with Team Liquid in 2017 when they won an Epicenter and StarLadder. Shortly after, the biggest success of the Miracle- didn’t make us wait as he won The International 2017. Further, Miracle- has stepped on The International’s pedestal once more in 2019, getting second place in the competition. Given the experience and income of the gamer we can easily add him to the top Dota 2 players.

Puppey (Total Winnings – $4,218,461)

Puppey (Clement Ivanov) is some of the most controversial Dota 2 pro players in modern eSports due to his attitude. Still, Puppey was one of the first five players to win The International 2011, the first tournament of that scale to be conducted. In those days, Puppey was a part of Na’Vi, where he remained until the middle of 2014 when he created a Team Secret.

Having vast Dota 2 experience and being a support role player, Puppey has become a captain of Team Secret. The first big fish to catch for Team Secret was getting a winning position at The International 2015. The team performed well before the tournament and won a couple of LANs, but they took just seventh place at The International.

After the tournament, the team split, and Puppey was the only one remaining; giving up wasn’t an option. He has created an entirely new formation around himself which was destined to become one of the most successful Dota 2 teams of all time. Later, Puppey will win a couple of Dream Leagues and Majors. Sadly, the 1st place International trophy was never held by Puppey since Na’Vi times. Still, he has managed to get fourth, third, and second places.

DPC Points and Their Impact on Dota 2 Leaderboard

To create a Dota 2 player ranking, Valve has introduced a thing called DPC (Dota Pro Circuit) points. DPC points are issued to the teams performing best during seasonal tournaments and regional events. Based on how many Dota Pro Circuit points a team has, it will be moved to the corresponding palace in the leaderboard.

When the season comes to an end, and The International is about to start, Valve checks the DPC leaderboard to send invitations to the tournament to the best Dota 2 teams.

Roles and Positions Played by Professional Dota 2 Players

Dota 2 is a complicated game that demands a strategic approach from teams. To spread the resources from the map most efficiently, Dota 2 pro players play five different roles:

The Best Dota 2 Players Will Always be in Major Tournaments

All the Dota 2 players you have seen in these compilations have had enough time to prove their talent. They underwent a treacherous road full of barriers and problems. But with the help of their courage and dedication, they’ve developed essential skills to become the best and surpass all the difficulties. They have invested so much time and effort in Dota 2 that their future grind is inevitable. So, you can only expect them to get better players over time and move even further in leaderboards.