Mangekyou directly stated whether Valve shares insider information about patches with tier-1 Dota 2 players

Mark “Mangekyou” Kharlamov said that Valve does not disclose any insider information to Dota 2 players and engages with esports persons only in special situations like The International.

The stream was shared on Twitch.

“Valve ***** about people. Even if you win a tournament, no one will talk to you. Only if you play at The International and win there, then they might talk to you. Otherwise, of course, no one has any info about the patch. Only after winning TI will a third friend of Gaben approach you"

Mangekyou said that no one, except the developers themselves, have information for the upcoming patches. Furthermore, according to him, the representatives of Valve seldom talk to the players and if they do, it’s usually during the Dota 2 World Championship.

Interestingly enough, Team Spirit has speculated when the new Dota 2 patch will be released, estimating that it could land right before the competition begins.