Normal drafting in Dota 2 or League of Legends can be some of the least interesting part of the game. Because of metas, team favorites, and player preference, most drafting phases become pretty predictable and uninteresting, but Midas Mode has changed all of that.

Created by MoonduckTV, Midas Mode rethinks how Dota 2 tournaments are played. It starts with both teams being given a set amount of currency. That currency is used for everything from buying heroes to banning them. It’s also used for pausing in-game and trying to gain first pick. This adds a fair amount of spice by forcing the teams to economize their selections by things other than the current meta and in thinking about how they will spend their money on future matches. In fact, because of the huge cost for meta heroes, very few teams, in the early stages, are likely to purchase any of the most commonly chosen heroes.

For me, this is one of the biggest draws of Midas Mode. Metas become stale and boring, and picks and bans often feel like the same thing game after game, but because Midas Mode prioritizes hero cost, we get to see awesome drafts that we would never normally see from major teams like Immortals.

But Midas Mode also tries to make the community a direct part of the action with Bounties. Bounties are community created challenges that the teams can attempt to complete. If a team completes a bounty, they get to add the bounty price to their bank. This is the major way teams are supposed to earn money for future games, so it puts a huge amount of power directly into the community.

There are a lot of reasons this is fantastic, but the biggest one is that it simply adds a level of investment into the game that isn’t traditionally there. The inclusion of community challenges that have actual game-changing effects is genius. I found myself just as excited to see what teams were drafting as I was to see what the bounties were from the community. It adds an element to esports that a lot of gamers haven’t felt was there, which is making them fun.

Midas Mode continues through the Thanksgiving week, meaning we still have several more days before the fun ends!