For example, Furion was the Prophet, Sylvanus is the Drow Ranger, Thrall is the Disruptor and Cairne Bloodhoof was the Earthshaker. The individual heroes were originally tied to Individual characters inside the Warcraft Universe.

In the original game had the Heroes divided between Ancient & Scourge, but that was quickly done away with so any player can use any hero.

The height of popularity came with a new manager and a rename of DOTA: All-Stars. In the Warcraft universe, these Ancients had the ability to actually uproot themselves and move, albeit very slowly, but that didn't translate to the mod, save one of the champions. The elves didn't have much by way of buildings, but instead used sentient Treefolk/Ents known as 'Ancients' that served similar function. The name derived from the invasion of the Scourge by the Lich King into the southern continents inhabited by the Elves. The Sentinels occupied the bottom left side of the map, with an elven and treefolk motif, whilst the Scourge side were the top right, with an undead motif. The original map was divided between the 'Sentinels' and the 'Scourge'.

In the original game, the Defense of the Ancients mod of Warcraft 3 is set in the Pre-Burning Crusade Warcraft Universe.

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