When it comes to Dota 2 earnings, a lot of people have made a lot of money from this esport. And that’s because of one simple fact: Dota 2 has by far the highest prize pools in all of esports.
Every year there are five Minors ($300,000), five Majors ($1 million) and one World Championship called The International. In 2019, this tournament was at its 9th edition and the prize pool was more than $34 million.
Here’s a list of the top players who have made serious amounts of money from Dota.
Dota 2 Earnings – Top Earners of All Time
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein
N0tail is a 26 year old Danish player who began playing professionally almost eight years ago. He spent around 29 months with Fnatic, then joined Team Secret for a short period of time.
The next big team on his list of adventures was Cloud9, where he spent seven months. And then came the big moment that marked the true start of his career. In August 2015, N0tail created his own team along with his best friend at the time, Tal “Fly” Aizik. Initially, the team was called Monkey Business but the name soon changed to OG.
Over the next four years, N0tail went on to win four Majors and two TIs with his team. And as a result, he became the best player in the history of this esport in terms of Dota 2 earnings. In total, just from tournaments alone, he has made $6.88 million. That’s not bad for playing video games.
Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka
JerAx is from Finland and in his seven years of professional Dota 2 has made a whopping $6,47 million. JerAx began his career at Rat in the dark, where he only stayed for a few months.
Then came his QPAD Red Pandas, where he stayed for nine months. JerAx then attempted to achieve some success with 4Anchors, Team Tinker and MVP HOT6ix, but every time, the adventure ended sooner than he would have hoped.
The big breakthrough came in August 2015, when he joined KuroKy’s newly created team, 5Jungz. By this point, JerAx was a legendary support player and someone who was crushing pub games with Earth Spirit. At the time, the hero was completely broken and anyone who knew how to play it had the edge.
JerAx’s time with KuroKy’s team lasted a full year and brought him worldwide recognition. It also brought him multiple important results, including two Major Grand Finals, one title at EPICENTER 2016 and a 7th – 8th place at The International 2016. After TI6, he left Liquid and joined OG, where still plays today. In his past three years, JerAx won two Majors and two editions of The International.
Anathan “ana” Pham
At just 20 years old, ana is perhaps the most important young player in the history of the esport, along with SumaiL.
So far, his Dota 2 earnings have surpassed the $6 million mark. Just like JerAx, he has won two Majors and two TIs with OG and has consolidated his fame as one of the best carry players in the history of the game.
In some people’s case, it’s not entirely clear whether it was them or some other factors that caused their team to succeed. But in ana’s case, it’s enough to look at where OG was prior to his coming in both seasons (2018 and 2019) and you will instantly notice his impact. As soon as he joined, everything changed for the better.
Sebastien “Ceb” Debs
Ceb used to be OG’s coach and over the last several years, he’s also become the team’s offlaner. His impact on OG’s success cannot be overstated. He is known not just for his tactical brilliance, but more importantly, for his attitude. No matter what happens, he always finds a way to stay positive and focused on what needs to be done to win the match.
Ceb’s total earnings in Dota 2 have surpassed $5.4 million.
Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen
This is another OG player who has impressed the world with his performances in the middle lane. His favorite heroes, Invoker and Monkey King, almost always get banned by his opponents.
Topson joined OG some 18 months ago, just prior to The International 8, and has experienced with them one of the most epic stories in all of esports. At the time of this writing, Topson’s Dota 2 earnings have reached $5.4 million
Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi
Kuro is famous for his leadership of Team Liquid. But what many people don’t know about him is that he also used to play in one of the first iterations of Natus Vincere. So he had already been a TI Finalist before winning the trophy with Liquid in 2017.
KuroKy career highlights include three TI Grand Finals, one TI title and numerous other Major titles, Major Grand Finals and lower-tier event trophies. In total, KuroKy has made over $5.1 million from Dota 2.
Right now, Kuro is the captain of his own team, called Nigma.
Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi
Miracle- is known as one of the most gifted players in the history of the game and perhaps the best Invoker in the world at the professional level. Miracle- has had a very successful career so far. He began by playing for OG and then he transferred to Team Liquid. He’s a TI champion and a three time Major winner. And that’s just a tiny portion of his accomplishments. His total Dota 2 earnings are somewhere around $4.7 million.
Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov
Needless to say, he’s one of KuroKy’s teammates and one of the best offlaners in the world. Over the course of his career, he has made over $4.4 million from Dota 2.
Maroun “GH” Merhej
GH is perhaps the world’s most famous roamer, along with RodjER. He became known after joining Team Liquid, is a TI champion and a double TI Finalist, and continues to play to this day alongside KuroKy. His total Dota 2 earnings are somewhere around $4 million.
Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan
SumaiL is the most famous Storm Spirit player in the world and a TI champion with Evil Geniuses, in 2015. He was the youngest player ever to win The International and his total career earnings from Dota 2 tournaments have surpassed $3.5 million.
