Thought we’d do something fun as the end of 2012 approaches, with a short list of the top quality posts on Dotaland this year along with some short commentary. Give it a look; IMO these were some of the most fun and interesting, insightful posts we had here this year. Every one of these posts is worth a read and a share in their original Chinese, and I sincerely hope I’ve managed to capture that in the translation here to share with you all.

Here’s to another year of Dota!

“I met ZSMJ on the plane today” — a fan’s story of meeting his hero

This is honestly half the reason I wanted to make this ‘best of 2012’ post, to grab more attention for this story of a fan meeting one of Dota’s most legendary players, and one who is set to make a greatly anticipated return to the competitive scene soon, no less. It is well-written, down-to-earth, and offers an insight and closeness to ZSMJ that is not often seen. You owe it to yourself to check this out if you’ve ever been interested in the player, the person, that is ZSMJ.

G-1 League theme song official English subtitled version — “My First Person View”

The G-1 League went to great lengths in producing this music video that features the likes of BurNing, Zhou, xiao8, and other pros and Dota people singing about their dreams of Dota and glory, set to music by a big-name Chinese band. Check out the official English subtitled version right here at Dotaland!

17173 series insight into G-1 League setup and prep

This series, written by friend of Dotaland, Felix菜刀, is bits of insight into the G-1 League. Backstage access if you will, and it definitely sheds some light onto the lesser seen but just as important aspects of events. It’s also great for getting a feel of the atmosphere surrounding these things, and overall entertaining writing. This particular entry sets up the prelude to China’s first large-scale Dota2 competition quite nicely.

Reflections of an old-school Dota pro: from 500 yuan to 1000000 dollars

Just read this. It’s a heartfelt set of sentiments, reflected into text, from an old old Chinese pro as he grew up playing Dota to the point of seeing younger versions of himself winning millions of dollars. An excellent bit of introspective thought that isn’t found in abundance, a small classic.

Honorable mention: Chinese commentator DC’s Seattle Dota diaries from VIP-access perspective during TI2