Esports legend Grubby hits Dota 2 Divine rank in under a year

Rishov Mukherjee
A screenshot of Grubby

Dota 2 is an extremely difficult game, and reaching the pinnacle of the ranked ladder can take years, even for professionals. However, former Warcraft III professional and esports legend Grubby hit Divine rank after starting from Herald in less than a year.

Dota 2 is one of those games that require more than just a basic understanding of their mechanics to climb up the ranks. There are several aspects at a micro and macro level that players need to sharpen to perfection in order to reach the absolute top.

As it happens, Manuel ‘Grubby’ Schenkhuizen, a former professional who is considered a legend in Warcraft III, managed to reach the top in a very short amount of time. He started at Herald IV and managed to hit Divine rank, the second highest in the game, in less than a year.

Grubby receives praise from Dota 2 fans for his achievement

Grubby started the ranked Dota 2 journey on September 28, 2022, when he calibrated at 680 MMR and was placed in Herald IV. On July 26, 2023, he announced that he had reached Divine 1 with an MMR of 4630 after 301 days.

It’s important to point out that, during that time period, he benefitted from top-tier coaching lessons. Two-time TI winner Sébastien ‘Ceb’ Debs and analyst Brian ‘BSJ’ Canavan were among the community figures who helped the Warcraft legend to improve at the game.

ValveCeb helped Grubby to improve at the game during the Dutchman’s rank climb from Herald to Divine

Naturally, Grubby has received massive praise from several Dota 2 fans and players. This also included popular analyst Kevin ‘Purge’ Godec who commented, “Congrats, awesome job” as he demonstrated his support.

Former professional Wehsing ‘SingSing’ Yuen commented, saying Good stuff dude! Fantastic to see hard work pay off, immortal within a year ez” as he encouraged Grubby to push even further. The post has also received positive comments from general fans as well.

One such fan commented “So proud. I’ve been following your journey, mostly through YouTube videos. Keep up the good work” as they showcased their support for Grubby. Lastly, a fan ended up commenting “Whatt? That was fast” as they were shocked at how fast Grubby managed to achieve the feat.

About The Author

Rishov is a Games Writer at Dexerto. He holds a Masters degree in Astrophysics from St Xavier's College in Kolkata, India, and has previously worked at Sportskeeda. In his spare time, he enjoys playing Street Fighter, Destiny 2, Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, the games he specializes in as well. If you want to get in touch, contact Rishov at rishov.mukherjee@dexerto.com