Российская команда Team Spirit третий раз выиграла The International по Dota 2
Following an early upper-bracket loss, Team Spirit fought through the lower bracket to defeat rivals Team Vision 3:2 in the grand final in Shanghai.
The championship path demanded a grueling lower-bracket ascent after an initial upper-bracket stumble against their fiercest domestic rivals. Falling 2:1 to Team Vision in the upper bracket of The International 2026, Team Spirit recovered to edge the same opponents 3:2 in a grand final thriller, securing an unprecedented third Aegis of Champions in Dota 2 history, according to reports from News and iz.ru.
That five-game victory in Shanghai crowned the organization as the first three-time winner of Valve's premier world championship, adding to their previous triumphs in 2021 and 2023. For the runners-up—alternately identified in tournament coverage as Team Vision or Parivision, a squad founded in 2023 and backed by the Russian betting firm PARI—the defeat marked a bitter silver medal after they entered the final stages as the group stage's only undefeated side, as documented by Spbdnevnik and kommersant.ru.
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The triumphant roster featured Denis Сигитов (Lari), Магомед Халилов (Collapse), Алексей Космынин (not me), Александр Филин (rue), and Илья Мулярчук (Yatoro), guided by coach Ярослав Найденов (Miposhka), according to spbdnevnik.ru and Kommersant. For Халилов, Мулярчук, and Найденов, the victory represents a third personal world title.
"Через победы и поражения, невероятные камбэки, тяжелейшие серии и моменты, когда решалось абсолютно всё. Мы прошли через всё это вместе, дошли до самого конца и снова оказались там, где мечтает оказаться каждый"
Team Spirit, Team statement, via iz.ru
Financial figures for the event varied slightly across reports, with news.sportbox.ru listing the total prize pool at 3,21 million dollars, spbdnevnik.ru citing 3,4 million dollars, and ntv.ru along with kommersant.ru placing it above 3,3 million dollars. Within that pool, spbdnevnik.ru and ntv.ru note that Team Spirit claimed 1,4 million dollars for first place, pushing the organization's all-time career prize earnings in Dota 2 past 31 million dollars according to spbdnevnik.ru. The runner-up secured 434 thousand dollars, while Team Yandex collected 300 thousand dollars for finishing third.
Originally founded in Russia in 2015, Team Spirit relocated its operational headquarters to Belgrade, Serbia, in 2022. Following Team Spirit and Parivision on the podium, Team Yandex took third by defeating BoomBoys (BetBoom Team) in the third-place playoff, marking the first time in tournament history that all top four positions were claimed entirely by Russian squads, as detailed by Iz and kommersant.ru.
The playoffs unfolded in Shanghai from August 20 to 23, 2026.
Historic Clean Sweep and Bracket Path
The road to the Aegis of Champions required overcoming a formidable field after kommersant.ru reported that five Russian rosters successfully advanced into the playoff rounds. Among them, BoomBoys, also known as BetBoom Team, participated alongside Iron Wing, Team Spirit, Team Vision, and Team Yandex. The tournament's competitive landscape reached a historic milestone when Team Yandex defeated BoomBoys in the third-place playoff, ensuring that Russian teams claimed all four top positions in the final standings as documented by iz.ru.
Before their grand final rematch, Team Spirit had encountered Team Vision during the upper bracket matches, where kommersant.ru noted that Team Vision dealt Team Spirit a 2:1 defeat. That early setback forced Team Spirit down into the lower bracket, while Team Vision advanced directly after finishing the group stage as the sole undefeated participant with four consecutive wins. Team Vision entered the competition following a previous year's third-place finish at the 2025 tournament, steadily improving their placement before ultimately securing the silver medal.
| Placement | Team | Prize Amount |
|---|---|---|
| First | Team Spirit | 1,4 million dollars |
| Second | Team Vision / Parivision | 434 thousand dollars |
| Third | Team Yandex | 300 thousand dollars |
| Fourth | BoomBoys (BetBoom Team) | Unspecified |
According to spbdnevnik.ru and ntv.ru, the financial distribution awarded the champions 1,4 million dollars, while the runners-up collected 434 thousand dollars and Team Yandex secured 300 thousand dollars for their third-place finish. ntv.ru detailed the aggregate tournament pool at 3,344 million dollars, aligning closely with kommersant.ru and iz.ru reports noting totals exceeding 3,3 million dollars, whereas news.sportbox.ru documented a figure of 3,21 million dollars. For Team Spirit, this latest financial addition elevates their cumulative career earnings past the 31 million dollar threshold according to spbdnevnik.ru.
The broader professional circuit earlier in the summer featured parallel successes for domestic rosters, as iz.ru chronicled the Esports World Cup held in Paris. At that tournament in July, the organization Parivision triumphed over BB Team 3:1 to claim 750 thousand dollars from a 2 million dollar pool, with BB Team taking 340 thousand dollars and Team Yandex earning 200 thousand dollars among twenty-four competing international squads.
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