Longest Dota 2 Game Ever
It can be hard to believe how far professional Dota 2 players are willing to go to achieve victory. They often face intense pressure, as the game’s pro scene is even more demanding than its already mechanically complex casual matches. Moreover, sometimes, both teams play so well that neither of them can destroy the enemy’s throne for hours at a time. Today, let’s find out which one of the famously protracted pro matches is the longest Dota 2 game ever.
Gaimin Gladiators VS Quest Esports | Bali Major 2023 Group Stages (2023)
Although the confrontation between Gaimin Gladiators and Quest Esports wasn’t the longest Dota game, it’s undoubtedly worth mentioning in this list. Spanning 2 hours, 16 minutes, and 39 seconds, this battle impressed the audience not only with its duration but also with its mind-blowing statistics. Just look at Gaimin Gladiators’ astonishing numbers in this game:
- 14 Divine Rapiers purchased (some of them were just wallowing in the river by the game’s end);
- 11 Roshan kills;
- 42 buybacks.
In addition to these impressive results, the Lima and Berlin Major champions destroyed all of Quest’s barracks. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, the Qatar team players Snapfire (No!ob), Medusa (Naive-), and Silencer (kaori) managed to stabilize the situation.
The long match had a lot of back and forth, like a large-scale smoke-backed attack from Gaimin Gladiators at the 110th minute. However, Quest proved too much for their opponents. After the 130th minute, the Qatar team launched a series of successful counter-attacks, occasionally retreating to their base to protect the throne from mega creeps. Impressive multitasking skills, perfect timing, and ideal implementation of the heroes’ abilities allowed Quest Esports to claim victory over their more experienced opponents.
Vega Squadron VS Team Empire | TI7 CIS Qualifiers (2017)
The second longest Dota 2 game took 2 hours, 20 minutes, and 30 seconds to complete. It was the second match in the best-of-three series between the legendary Team Empire and Vega Squadron. The Russian team started the game somewhat inspired by their victory in the previous 49-minute encounter, which did wonders for their motivation.
Nonetheless, Vega Squadron changed their tactic and opted for a more brutal game style. Focusing on killing the enemy heroes, they didn’t miss an opportunity to punish Team Empire for even the tiniest mistake. Moreover, despite the destruction of all the barracks on Vega’s base at the 55th minute, the team kept fighting desperately for another 35 minutes.
Although the game turned into an endurance test, all the participants still showed excellent performance, especially Vega’s star player, Ilya ALOHADANCE Korobkin. Along with his teammates, ALOHADANCE had almost managed to reverse the game’s momentum. Nonetheless, Team Empire used the advantage of mega creeps and managed to launch a game-ending attack on Vega’s base, getting closer to the International 2017 finals.
Cloud9 VS ScaryFaceZ | StarLadder Series Season XII: Europe and CIS Qualifiers (2015)
On the 20th of March, 2015, Cloud9 faced ScaryFaceZ in a best-of-three series of StarLadder XII. Their first game was already quite impressive, with the North American team taking the win. However, it is the second match that sent shockwaves through the entire pro scene. The longest game in Dota 2 lasted 3 hours, 20 minutes, and 24 seconds, beating the previous record set by 4FC and Team Dog during their April 2024 confrontation (2 hours, 5 minutes).
Although Cloud9 managed to destroy almost all of their opponents’ barracks, the Ukrainian team didn’t give up and organized a strong defense, relying on powerful heroes like Sniper and Bristleback. For over 2 hours, they kept slaughtering their enemies every time Cloud9 attempted to close the match. As a result, after another unsuccessful enemy assault, ScaryFaceZ managed to secure victory by launching a devastating attack down the middle lane.
What’s even more interesting is that the longest Dota 2 pro game had seemingly exhausted not only the players but also the game itself! The heroes caught on fire (without receiving damage), strange beams of light appeared around the map, and a whole new fountain spawned in the middle of the Radiant base.
Conclusion
The longest Dota game ever, as well as other prominent matches, have forever solidified their places in the history of this popular MOBA. Many ordinary gamers often try to use the tactics from these famous matches to test their enemies' endurance, but in a less competitive environment, this usually ends with the less passionate players leaving the game. Nonetheless, there are still people who are willing to play for over an hour until they see the enemy's Ancient destroyed. Are you one of them?
