It’s finally here! The International 2019 Battle Pass has arrived!
Don’t waste time reading this intro, what’s wrong with you? Scroll down now to find out what it contains, as well as the first impressions of the Dota 2 professionals and casters.
The International 2019 Battle Pass Contents
First impressions of The International 2019 Battle Pass are great. It’s bright, colorful and content rich. Buying the first level of the Battle Pass gives you immediate access to on 2019 Immortal Treasure I, several Player Card Packs, the TI19 Music Pack and some Immortal Wards. In addition, you will gain access to an Immortal Treasure II and III when they unlock in a few weeks’ time.
The Arcana Voting system is back this year, so we’re looking forward to seeing which hero gets a sweet new makeover once TI19 comes to a close. As usual, 25% of the money spent on the Battle Pass goes directly to TI19’s prize pool.
Great new additions like the MVP voting system, a whole slew of new assist features, all new consumable items (similar to the snowmen and fireworks from previous events) and the beautiful new Versus Screen makes this year’s Battle Pass well worth a look.
There’s a lot of new stuff to cover, so let’s get started.
Party Finder and Avoid Player
New to the 2019 Dota 2 Battle Pass is the Party Finder function. This lets you add players to a new list, making them eligible for a group party invite. The Party Finder should make it easier to group up with players you’ve enjoyed playing with before.
Right now, this feature is only available to Battle Pass holders, but here’s hoping it sticks around after the Battle Pass has finished. We’re hoping it’s a proof-of-concept for a more permanent feature like this in the future.
Somewhat controversially, Valve has opted to add an Avoid Player feature. This lets you add players you’ve found particularly…challenging to play with to a list.
You will then never be matched with those players in the future. We can imagine these lists are going to fill up real far real fast.
Coach’s Challenge
Another exciting new feature of this year’s Battle Pass is the Coach’s Challenge. This feature lets you queue as a coach and help your team by giving suggestions and advice with the aim of leading them to a win.
Teams can rate their coach at the end of a match and successful coaches can earn Battle Points to advance their Compendium. It remains to be seen if you can opt out of this as a player. It can be annoying enough with five people pinging the minimap and yelling in team chat. Adding a 6th person to the mix might get a bit frustrating for players who haven’t specifically asked for it.
Jungle Expedition
As with previous year’s Battle Passes, they’ve added a new progression mode called Jungle Expedition.
These were always a great addition to the Battle Pass as they reward players for stepping outside of their comfort zone and playing heroes or roles they aren’t used to.
Unlocking the various paths requires winning games with certain heroes, often with additional stipulations. Inventory items are back to help you advance past particularly difficult sections.
The heroes at the end of the jungle paths this year are Ursa, at the end of the carry path, Dazzle, at the end of the Support path and Sven at the end of the Utility path. The new sets for each of these heroes look great, especially Ursa’s. Our favorite has to be Dazzle’s though. Just check out the nose on that mask.
Ceeeb!
Leveling up the Dota 2 Battle Pass has always been rewarding, but fans of the pro scene are now going to be especially incentivized to level past 100. At level 100, and then every few levels after that, players will be rewarded with new chat wheel shouts marking great moments from previous tournaments.
A favorite right now with those in the pro scene is the Ceeeb chat wheel line. This is a reference to an incredible Axe play from OG’s Sébastien “7ckngMad” Debs. Playing under the pseudonym OG.Ceb during TI18, Ceb landed a perfect Blink Call combination to turn a team fight around, eventually helping OG to a win in game 4 of the Grand Final.
At level 100 the chat line is actually fairly reserved, but for every 100 levels gained the length of the shout increases. Eventually, you will be able to spam All Chat with the full-length celebration as Gabe intended.
Mo’Rokai
At the time of writing, this feature is locked so little is known about it. The Dota 2 website offers some insight, suggesting that, when roused, two mythical beasts will help the teams in their fight for the ancient.
This sounds similar to the Year Beast Brawl from a few years ago. While certain heroes could get crazy over-powered during that event, it was a lot of fun. Let’s hope for an equally entertaining option when Mo’Rokai unlocks further down the line.
Living Towers
A really great little cosmetic feature is the addition of Living Towers. This adds fully animated tower models to the game as an unlock in the Battle Pass.
The Living Towers are a great little addition to the regular game and offer some unique flavor that players are sure to enjoy.
Living towers will unlock for players who manage to level The International 2019 Battle Pass all the way up to level 335.
If you want these animated sentinels defending your base then you’d better get grinding.
Reactions
As you’d expect, the internet has lit up with reactions from professionals, casters and fans alike.
Initial reactions certainly seem to be positive, largely praising the sheer amount of content in the Battle Pass as well as the aforementioned Ceeeb chat line. Casters such as Jorien ‘Sheever’ van der Heijden and Toby ‘TobiWan’ Dawson have been quick to share their positive thoughts.
Our favorite, however, is a tweet from Owen ‘ODPixel’ Davies, which reads (and you’ll have to forgive his lack of punctuation) “it is everything i wished for and more i love life”. A succinct and accurate summation, thanks ODPixel.
Other Great Stuff
The International 2019 Battle Pass really is crammed with content. There’s an (almost) naked Axe model completed with punching and kicking animations unlocked at level 425. There are custom creeps at level 182. There’s Planetfall, the new Earthshaker Arcana, unlocked at 365.
There’s even a brand new Hero Persona for Invoker. From what we’ve seen it looks like a completely new Young Invoker model, unlocked at 305. This is based on the excellent What Does A Hero Truly Fear animation for the TI7 Short Film Contest 1st place winner. It could be a sign of great things to come if Valve introduces more exciting Hero Personas down the line.
So Much More to Explore
There is so much to this year’s Battle Pass that we simply cannot fit it into one article. We’ve given you a breakdown of The International 2019 Battle Pass, now it’s up to you to explore the rest on your own.
Reading through all the amazing stuff in The International 2019 Battle Pass makes us about ready to Battle Pass out, but we’ll keep leveling up and pushing through those unlocks, if just for those sweet chat wheel lines.
While you’re here, why not check out some of our other great sports and esports articles at The Game Haus?
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