Although battle royale games have taken the world by storm the last few years, MOBAs are still holding their own on the market. League of Legends and DOTA2 continue to be among the most popular and classic MOBA titles available, with Heroes of the Storm as a solid third contender.
However, the age-old rivalry between DOTA2 players and LoL addicts continues to plague the gaming community: which of these two games is ultimately better? While much of it is subjective, we’re here to shed some light on five pros for each game.
10 DOTA2: Free Gameplay
DOTA2 was among the first big MOBA games out there, and sort of paved the way for titles like League of Legends. What makes it even more special is that Valve took the original DOTA, a mod of Starcraft, and made it into a classic.
Since its birth, it has always been completely free to play, unlike League which involves unlocking Runes and farming to unlock new Champions. As long as you have a Steam account, you can play DOTA2 and will always be on an even playing field with other players, aside from sheer skill and cosmetics.
9 League: Clear Hero Rotation
League might require a bit of grinding to unlock all the possible Champions and Runes needed, which can be frustrating. However, the good thing about the hero rotation which forces players to pick from a certain pool of heroes in the beginning is that you won’t be overwhelmed right off the bat.
You’ll also know what to expect the enemy to run and will quickly familiarize yourself with the different Champions, without having to sink in hundreds upon hundreds of hours.
8 DOTA2: Challenging, But More Rewarding
While in League the simple objective is to push to the enemy Nexus and destroy it, DOTA2 is much more strategic and cerebral in the sense that it has tons of micro-mechanisms that count towards you winning the round.
One such mechanisms is creep pulling and managing the runes on the map to build a clear advantage overtime against your enemy. All these mechanics are hard to learn, but outwitting your enemy through these strategies is what makes DOTA2 so much more rewarding to play.
7 League: Easier To Get Into
While a challenge is always nice, a good game should be at least moderately accessible to new players. This is where League holds an advantage over DOTA2, because how easy it is to get into it. There are less micro-mechanisms, and the gameplay is more simplified.
However, while it’s easy to understand the game and get into it, it’s still a complex MOBA title and will be extremely difficult to master. The good news is, your learning curve won’t be as steep to climb as in DOTA2.
6 DOTA2: More Custom Metas
DOTA2’s hero pool is full of counters and somewhat well-balanced heroes. Each patch usually introduces pretty major changes to the game, but players are never tied to a certain meta. Because the game isn’t just decided on meta heroes but micro-level plays, items, builds and such, you can successfully run almost any composition.
This allows for a great level of creativity, which is what we love having in most competitive games.
5 League: Stable, Long-Lasting Metas
League’s meta changes are almost the opposite to DOTA2, in the sense that metas rarely if ever change. This can be stale for some players, but on the bright side, if you take a break for several months you won’t be that much out of the loop.
Moreover, a stable meta makes the game easier to learn for newcomers, which increases the accessibility of the game. That way, players know to focus and get good on a core pool of heroes and can find success in their games without having to memorize dozens of different builds and heroes.
4 DOTA2: Less Snowballing
Because the way DOTA2 is balanced, picking certain heroes won’t necessarily ensure that you’ll win the game. There’s plenty of room for additional strategies and factors that influence your chances.
Even if you suffer a lot early game and die in lane quite a bit, you can still make a reliable reverse sweep in the middle and late game, as long as you manage your build and resources properly and plan your team fights. While dying in a MOBA is usually a serious thing as it gives your enemy an advantage, in DOTA2 this advantage has a chance of being turned on its head.
3 League: Rolelock Before Match Starts
A common issue in DOTA2 is that people will often throw games because they are denied their favorite hero that gets picked during the hero selection phase. League perfectly solved this issue by ensuring that you pick your position and champion early on.
This way, you get to pay exactly the spot that you want without upsetting your teammates, or getting upset yourself. It definitely contributes to a healthier community, which is something DOTA2 could work on.
2 DOTA2: Realistic Graphics
While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’re going to argue that DOTA2 just has a better look in general due to its slightly less cartoon-like and pixelated graphics. The terrain is really beautiful and vibrant, and the hero details in-game just provide some extra that isn’t found in League.
The heroes are also a bit more unique due to being predecessors to most MOBA archetypes, with incredibly unique abilities and spells. What makes things even better is that DOTA2 just looks good for a game that’s entirely free, and that’s a rarity these days.
1 League: Shorter Games
The pacing in League is much, much quicker than in DOTA2. Even though fights do last longer, dying is a much bigger deal in the game, and allows for a team to snowball easier. This means that the rounds in League tend to be over quickly and that makes the game a lot more dynamic to play.
Who wants to spend 45 minutes or more in the same game? It sounds like madness in a world where most games have an increasingly quicker pace allowing for instant satisfaction.
NEXT: 10 Games To Play If You Loved Red Dead Redemption 2
