Valve’s massive DOTA 2 Tournament is drawing nearer. Beginning on Tuesday, June 8th, the Phase One – Wild Card Solo Championship Playoffs begin for the largest tournament in the game’s history. There will be plenty of action leading up to the July 18-21 finale, which include streams of tournament games, newcomer streams, and of course, the Main Event Grand Finals where one team will take home a guaranteed 4 million dollar chunk of the total prize pool.
That prize pool was generated by Valve’s selling of an online Compendium, and every person who owns one will be getting a new gem in their inventory “to show off their dedication to The International.”
Alongside the gem, DOTA 2 players who purchased the Compendium will get an emoticon as well. The types of gem and emoticon received will depend on the owner’s Compendium level when the tournament ends.
- Copper (Level 1)
- Bronze (Level 10)
- Silver (Level 25)
- Gold (Level 50)
- Platinum (Level 100)
- Diamond (Level 500)
The Compendium is still available for all DOTA 2 players and can be purchased for $9.99 in the in-game client or on Steam.  The Compendium is a virtual booklet that contains a number of different ways to interact with The International 4, while earning special rewards to use in the game.  Players who own a Compendium for DOTA 2 can earn points and level their Compendium by watching games, collecting player cards, making tournament predictions, and more.
Contributing $2.50 to tournament prize pool for The International for each Compendium sold, Valve has managed to build the total prize pool for The International 4 Â to a whopping 10.5 million dollars as of this post.
