Pro Scene just doesn't feel the same anymore...

My guess? It's just a phase. We are finding ourselves in a transitionary phase and, because of that, the pro scene is messed up.

Wall of text, ho!

tl;dr: It's a phase that surely is taking a while, but given time, will improve as time passes by.

A lot of things happen at the same time, there are all kinds of cycles going on throughout the year. Tournament cycles, team cycles, meta cycles. Sometimes we get a lot of tournaments while other teams we barely have any. Sometimes teams seem really solid, and suddenly everybody is hating on everybody. The meta becomes the greatest, most beloved thing so far, then a stable meta point is reached and everybody whines about it. New players arive at the scene, while older ones grow mature.

I'd say right now we are at the lowest point of most of these cycles, if not more. There are plenty of other variables that may also be in play.

So what seems to be a horrible situation.... is because that's what it is, but really, it's a temporary thing. It's just that right now, we hit several low points all at the same time, so it feels 'weird'.

With time, new strategies will arrive, new players with different philosophies will arrive, current players will grow mature, people will learn new things... and everything will go back to its track.

On a side note, a lot of people say that the over-saturation of tournaments is a major problem and Valve should start putting their hand on things, but I am against it. I do agree that there are a lot of advantages in doing so, but this wild ecossystem that allows for new players and new tournaments to arrive will stop existing. Yes, it's chaotic and a lot of companies are shoving themselves to get the most famous teams to play, which might exhaust said players, but it also allows for radical growth and a competitve sense to tournaments, always needing to be better than the others and thus improving their products.

They really can't be faulted if players feel exhausted or they can't come up with new strategies. They can't be faulted if players are immature or unprofessional. Their line of thought is in the lines of "If we restrict everyone by making our rules and obliging everyone to follow them, there can't be any potential for phenomenal growth".

Plus they would have to create a new subsidiary, hire a bunch more of people to take care of such things... probably things that aren't in their minds right now.

/r/DotA2 Thread