Celebrating the Champion - The International 2026

There are no words that can describe the games we've just witnessed. We deliberately kept the post as spoiler-free as possible, so that Dota players get a chance to watch the Grand Finals themselves. It is undoubtedly the best TI Grand Finals we've had in a while: the teams were that close and every game could turn on its head in a split of a second.

Team Vision risked it all in game five with a cursed Juggernaut pick for Satanic and it almost worked. But in the end, Team Spirit were victorious. Yatoro and Collapse became the first players in history to claim three titles, with not me becoming a Champion on his first try.

Team Spirit were quiet this season and we finally know the reason why. They had one single goal, one single focus and it worked. They came into the tournament as serious contenders, but not as one of the favorites. Turns out, they were just biding their time to strike.

They were stomped by Vision in groups. They were dropped to the lower bracket by Vision on day two of the playoffs. But when it mattered the most, the King was able to hold on to the throne that rightfully belongs to him.

There is now a definitive and irrefutable answer to who Dota 2 GOATs are. It is Yatoro and Collapse, with Larl coming in very close. With a young and hungry support duo of rue and not me we hope they will stick together for another year and continue showcasing why Dota is the best game in the world.

Remembering the Challengers

There were many teams trying to claim the Aegis of Champions and all of them deserve a lot of praise. We would like to once again say thank you to all of them for making Dota worth watching.

Special thanks goes to:

LGD for finding their stride under unideal circumstances and still playing their hearts out.

Nigma Galaxy for satisfying the punks. This TI they were undeniably a Tier S team.

GamerLegion and OG for showing the signs of life in regions where Dota is past its prime.

Team Yandex for waking up after the Group Stage and almost making it to the Grand Finals.

And, of course

Team Vision for giving us five incredible games and almost breaking the curse of the Juggernaut.

Looking to the future

It is going to be hard to top this competitive season in terms of storylines. It was chaotic, unpredictable and extremely entertaining. There are, however, some gameplay adjustments we would like to see.

We had an amazingly tight Grand Finals, but one common trend we saw throughout the year is that the games got very hard to close. Going highground should be risky, but it feels like there should be more instruments to take it, or more incentives for the defending team to come out.

7.41 was also a massive power creep solution and despite our initial reservations, it worked out great. It makes us wonder, though, whether Valve will decide to start making the game more complex from this new starting point, or if they are going to keep on trimming the fat.

We will support either direction and would be happy to see any fundamental changes to the game. Dota is at its best when no one knows what is happening.

Closing thoughts

All of us need a bit of a rest after the International. It was a great year for Dota, with player numbers shooting past the maximum of the last three years.

The game is in a very healthy place, with the conclusion to the Dark Carnival coming soon. We hope that this momentum will continue into the next season.

For now, though, thank you for checking our TI coverage. We are certain there are many great things that await Dota and, between us, there are many great things that are coming to Dotabuff as well. So stay tuned!