Team Yandex will face Tundra Esports in the ESL One Birmingham grand final, battling for the championship title.
Team Yandex have eliminated 
Xtreme Gaming (XG) from ESL One Birmingham 2026, winning the series 2-1 and earning a spot at the grand final, set to occur later tonight. The team will clash against a strong 
Tundra Esports for yet another victory and podium placement this season, as the team eye for ESL One Birmingham’s championship title and hefty points for an Esports World Cup invite.
The lower bracket finals saw two teams from iconic regions against one another: Team Yandex from Eastern Europe, the region’s most dominant team this season so far, and China’s legendary XG lineup, runners-up of The International 2025–making a hyped spectacle.
At ESL One Birmingham, Yandex enjoyed a strong group stage run, cementing themselves as favourites for the event–especially following their victory at PGL Wallachia Season 7 earlier this month, along with an excellent track record featuring multiple podium finishes this season.
Although XG entered the match with lower expectations, the team possesses a legacy strong enough to rely on, remaining the only Chinese representatives and boasting star players such as 
Wang “Ame” Chunyu and Xu “fy” Linsen. While they have lacked favourable head-to-head results against Yandex, they cannot be counted out in LAN events, and their run to the Top 3 had already proven as much.
This lower bracket clash went the distance, with both teams bringing their A-game in a bid to reach the finals. In the end, the series tipped in Yandex’s favour, though XG certainly did not go down without a fight. Here’s how the series unfolded:
Yandex bagged a challenging first win against Xtreme
XG had a better start to the first match, with more kills and rotations across the map. However, things began shaping up into Yandex’s favour at the 16 minute mark, as they secured a well-initiated teamfight and maneuvered against XG’s counterplay, earning 
Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov a triple kill and boosting his Templar Assassin’s net worth.
This momentum quickly snowballed, as Yandex picked off targets in rapid succession and began taking objectives to assert control over the map. It grew grimmer with each passing minute, and eventually, XG lost barracks and were forced into multiple buybacks, resulting in a successful but costly defence. Seizing this window, XG scouted the map for pick-offs to recover, while also securing a swift Aegis.
However, Yandex shut down any hopes of a comeback with flawless teamfight execution, wiping XG in their Dire territory, claiming mega creeps, and ultimately forcing the first GG of the series.
Xtreme puts up a fight in dominant win
The next map saw a complete reversal of fortunes, as XG took control with ease. 
Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang’s Pangolier dominated the mid lane, converting an early kill into relentless rotations across the side lanes, creating more than enough space for Ame’s Faceless Void. Ame soon joined fights early on, rotating to utilize his Chronosphere, securing key kills.
Yandex, meanwhile, struggled to find even a hint of a game-winning play. Watson’s Muerta was repeatedly caught out during XG’s aggressive hunts and fell behind in farm. Meanwhile, Ame was collecting kills and reached a beyond godlike streak.
Despite multiple attempts to recover, Yandex continued to lose a string of teamfights and with no solution, tapped out at 33 minutes.
How Yandex took down Xtreme in the final map
The third and decisive game saw Yandex came out strong in the laning stage. 
Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov’s Void Spirit made an immediate impact through a well-timed mid-lane rotation that resulted in an early Ultra Kill, catching Ame off guard with back-to-back deaths.
Although Ame managed to gradually recover, the early game remained favouring Yandex, with watson steadily building a solid net worth lead. NothingToSay’s Keeper of the Light too visibly struggled to match the influence of the Void Spirit, often pushed out of fights and unable to make more impact.
There were moments where XG claimed valuable kills but Yandex simply held the net worth advantage, allowing them to win a decisive teamfight. At the 31-minute mark, Yandex successfully prevailed unscathed in a full-blown fight, wiping out Xtreme Gaming with ease. Despite expending multiple buybacks, XG would be wiped out again leading to an inevitable surrender.
What is the aftermath of Xtreme vs Yandex at ESL One Birmingham?
With this loss, Xtreme Gaming bow out of ESL One Birmingham in third place, achieving the team's first promising result since their runner-up finish at the world championship last year. The Chinese team leave with US$105K in total rewards, plus 5,000 EPT Points.
Meanwhile, Yandex march ahead to challenge Tundra Esports at the grand final.
What you need to know about ESL One Birmingham 2026
ESL One Birmingham 2026 is the latest event in the 2025-2026 ESL Pro Tour (EPT), and is the fourth ESL One tournament to be hosted in Birmingham, the United Kingdom after the previous edition in 2024. ESL One Birmingham 2026 features 16 of the best teams in the world competing for their cut of the tournament's US$1 million prize pool and EPT points that will go towards qualification for the Esports World Cup 2026's Dota 2 competition.
ESL One Birmingham will take place from 22 to 29 March, split between the Group Stage from 22 to 25 March and the Playoffs from 26 to 29 March. The Group Stage splits the 16 participating teams into two round-robin groups of eight teams each, where they will compete in best-of-two matches to be among the eight total teams advancing to the Playoffs. The Playoffs follow a double-elimination format with best-of-three matches, except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.
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