posted by NanaKrustofski,
Some players have been part of the professional scene for ten years and teams often simply re-shuffle their rosters around the already well-established faces. New blood rarely enters the scene, uprising talents only have the chance to show their skill every now and then. There are several reasons behind this matter, but one of them is the lack of new talented players.

New leagues, new blood



In general, Dota attracts fewer new players than it used to. But among those who are playing nevertheless, there are a lot of obstacles to take the plunge of participating in the competitive scene. The tier-2 and 3 scenes are not sufficiently supported, neither by Valve , nor the fans, nor tournament organizers because it does not seem to be financially profitable in its current state. Some countries, particularly in South East Asia, are more advanced in this field, whereas some other nations completely lack a competitive environment for amateurs.



But for aspiring players, smaller tournaments and especially national leagues could be the stepping stone on their path to becoming a progamer. In a regular league, teams stay together for a longer time instead of immediately disbanding after a loss. Therefore, the squad itself as well as the individual players have a higher possibility to improve. With the possibility of having offline finals, they could also gain LAN experience – which is a crucial part of playing professionally.

A steeper learning curve



Not only do progamers need to have the necessary skills ingame. They also need to perform under pressure, in front of an audience, have some PR experience, a regular practice schedule and methods to prepare for opponents for example. A lot of skills can not be learned in pub games, but even smaller tournaments can get you to the next level.

For new squads it could also be a way to get sponsors, offering constant exposure to viewers thus getting players and teams another extra source of income. On top of that, already established but still smaller organizations would be interested in signing tier-2 or 3 teams. They profit from the exposure given to sponsors as well. Moreover, they can eventually sell contracts of promising players to bigger organizations, after they successfully forged their up- and coming players to professionals.

Not only players get discovered



National leagues would give a platform for talents of many kinds. Observers could be discovered, volunteers get their first steps in working in esports – and there would be opportunities for new casters. Even famous personalities such as Zyori sometimes struggle with the instability of the Dota infrastructure, so completely new casters have an even harder path.



Not the entire solution, but an important step



National leagues could uncover a lot more talented newcomers and make Dota more stable and attractive. Of course, the leagues would have to be professionally and reliably organised as a flawed system could be another unwanted obstacle.

Of course, there are a lot of other points and problems in Dota that can help to let the rookie scene flourish again, but more support by establishing better accessible LANs should not be neglected.

Would you actively play in a national league?



Photo credit: Valve

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