Dota 2 Fantasy is a particularly niche activity, enjoyed by the most passionate Dota 2 fans. For starters, it’s similar to pick’em or fantasy team-building games, where it tests participants’ knowledge of Dota 2 pro players and how often do they outperform others.

Now, if Dota 2 Fantasy seems enticing already, then you’re in luck because there is an official Dota 2 Fantasy event, curated for the International 10 (TI10). It’s free and chances are you already have ten free Player Packs when you log into your Dota 2 client.

Dota 2 the international fantasy predictions

Dota 2 – The International 2021 Fantasy

How to play Dota 2 The International Fantasy Predictions

In most cases, the most picked TI10 Fantasy Picks would be the top powerhouses for the season. The Chinese titans, PSG.LGD, held first place in Dota Pro Circuit 2021 (DPC 2021), won the WePlay AniMajor, and finished third at the Singapore Major.

Hence, the most confident teams should usually be your simplest and most effective options. Even so, filling all your TI10 Fantasy picks with the entire PSG.LGD line-up isn’t always the best idea. Instead, with decent knowledge of the TI10 players, you would find yourself with more accumulated fantasy points if you chose the best players by game stats.

The Dota 2 Fantasy page will be open on September 10 in the Dota 2 client. Where you can access the Fantasy tab on the free TI10 Compendium. There will be Player Cards tab as well, where Valve was generous enough to give ten Player Packs to get you started.

While Dota 2 The International Fantasy predictions can be a free-to-play event, there are also in-game purchases available. You can splurge some cash for player packs of your chosen team for only $0.49 each. Moreover, 50% of the revenue generated from player pack sales go directly to the teams!

If you have any duplicate or bronze player cards, you can recycle them for dust and redeem a Player Pack. After all, only Gold and Silver cards have bonus stats to increase your fantasy points. Finally, a word of precaution: as TI10 progresses day-by-day, your chosen players or teams may be eliminated. Hence, perhaps save some wild card players that you feel are playoffs material.

© Player Card and Fantasy tabs in Dota 2

TI10 Fantasy Picks

Here are some of our main picks for every role. There are five slots, two allocated for the Core/Carry role, another two for the Support role, and one for Mid.

Position 1 – Hard Carry

Hard Carry players typically have the highest Gold Per Minute (GPM), especially in winning matches. However, the stats on cards can vary on what you have on deck. But for hard carry players, ideal stats include GPM, (lower) Deaths, Towers Destroyed, or any carry-related stats.

We recommend Wang “Ame” Chunyu or Artour “Arteezy” Babaev to be in your Core slots. These carry players are notable for their insane farming speeds, and hard carry players in a formidable team usually get bolstered support from their teams.

Position 2 – Mid

Mid slot is reserved for the feistiest of players. Even among mid players, some players are extremely aggressive, such as “Abed” Azel L. Yusop, while others are more reserved like Linus “Limmp” Blomdin.

In the Mid slot, we recommend picking cards with Kills stats, Towers Destroyed, and Runes Collected. Since it’s a general rule of thumb for mid players to contest for runes and exert pressure on the enemy team by killing. Besides Abed, decent options include Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen and Quinn “Quinn” Callahan.

Position 3 – Offlaner

We don’t recommend any offlane players for Dota 2 The International Fantasy predictions. Since there is no limit to how many hard carry players you can include for your TI10 fantasy picks. However, a gold Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg card isn’t too shabby either. After all, zai is infamously known for stomping opponents as an offlaner.

Position 4 – Soft Support

Soft supports play a vital role in your TI10 fantasy picks, as much as cores. These are often your playmakers in the game, so ideal stats are Assists, Stuns, Wards, Team Fight or Runes Collected.

Recommended players include Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen and Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat.

Position 5 – Hard Support

Hard support players share a similar issue with offlane players, where they are usually the worst in stats. Offlaners due to being neglected and harassed in most games, while hard supports often sacrifice too much on purchasing consumables.

Nevertheless, hard supports can excel in Wards Placed and Stuns stats. For these specific stats, we recommend Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and Clement “Puppey” Ivanov for their supporting prowess.

Dota 2 Fantasy Alternatives

The Dota 2 The International fantasy predictions may seem like child’s play given the flexibility in roles. If anything, it barely qualifies as an appropriate team since there are no offlaner or hard support.  Well, DraftKings offers a more profound Dota 2 Fantasy experience, which extends across TI10 and many major Dota 2 tournaments. For each tournament, you accumulate fantasy points to be the top in leaderboard and win exclusive prizes. Besides the rewards, DraftKings’ Dota 2 Fantasy has more rules to adhere to, such as having one allocated slot for pos1-5 roles. Furthermore, it’s unlike Esports betting, which requires real money to participate, but Dota 2 Fantasy is all about the experience instead.

However, there are more bonuses and competitions available at this provider then at any casual platform, including Valve. For more details, check out DraftKings bonus.