The holiday season is almost over and for the Dota 2 fans that means a lot of action and plenty of new things to look forward to right from the first week of the new year.

For those starving on Dota 2 official games, the wait is over. The 2021-22 Dota Pro Circuit is set to return on Monday, January 3, when China Division I will kick off its first matches and the rest of the regions will also resume the league play.

DPC is back

Due to travel complications after TI10, the Chinese teams were scheduled to commence the DPC way later than the rest of the regions. That doesn’t mean that they will also finish the league matches later. The Chinese Division I regional league will be played in a more concentrated format, all teams having two to three series scheduled each week beginning January 3 and ending on January 21.

This coming Monday, the fans will get to see for the first time in action the new rosters of Royal Never Give Up, who now has four of the TI8 runner-up players, EHOME, Aster, ViCi Gaming and Invictus Gaming.

China has four Major slots up for grabs. At the end of the league play, the first placed team will head straight to the Major playoffs, second place team will start in the group stage, while the third and the fourth placed teams will begin in the Major wild card stage along with two other teams from Western Europe, one team from Eastern Europe and one team from Southeast Asia.

Besides China Division I, the DPC will resume matches for all the regional leagues in the first week of January 2022. Western Europe, Southeast Asia and North America will all start the Division I action on January 5, followed on January 6 by Eastern Europe and South America.

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood - Book 2 full release

January 18 will bring the full release of DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Season 2, or Book 2, on Netflix and judging on the teaser revealed mid December 2021, the chapter will bring new characters to life and a lot of Dragons ready to join the fight against Terrorblade, who wants to collect all eight Eldwurm souls.

DOTA Dragon’s Blood Season 2 is expected to have eight episodes, much like the first season, so make sure you are ready to binge watch it mid-January.

Winter Tour Major: Who, when, where?

Although the regional leagues are at the half mark point, Valve is yet to release the full info on the first Major of the DPC. According to a tweet from Alliance, made during TI10, the “estimated” dates are February 17-27. However, no official info was ever revealed by Valve regarding who will host the first Major of the year so, the entire Dota 2 community is expecting the info to be released soon.

As we enter the new year full of hopes, everyone’s wish is that this will also mark the first LAN tournament with a live audience for Dota 2, as fans haven’t had the chance to attend an event in person in nearly two years.

Wish list

New patch

With the conclusion of the first regional season, the community is also hoping for a bigger patch to be released and looks further to see Marci, the latest released hero, added perhaps to the Captain’s Mode, along with economy and map changes to be made.

Supporter’s Club

While the Division I teams have all got their supporter’s club bundles added to the game, there are Davion II teams, who could make the most use of this feature, still waiting for their chat wheel lines and sprays to be added to the game. Hopefully, all will be released before the Winter Tour regional league comes to an end.

Battle Level Bundle

Every Battle Pass had always had a Battle Level Bundle sale, so the latest released one, which has been already live for three weeks, should have one too. Those who aim for the Drow Ranger Arcana, Dread Retribution, which unlocks at level 333, or want the Hoodwink Prestige Bundle, which unlocks at level 227, are impatiently waiting for the battle level bundle that usually comes with a 70% discount.

Last day to purchase Battle Pass levels is February 23, 2022, which means that if any sale is planned, then it should come sometime in January.

We look forward to a packed January, filled with Dota 2 news and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

What to expect in early January from Dota 2