PGL Wallachia Season 8 preview - All teams and key storylines to watch

16 teams will compete at PGL Wallachia Season 8, a mid-season showdown arriving shortly after a fresh Dota 2 patch.

PGL Wallachia Season 8 is the next major Dota 2 event, with many of the world’s top teams set to battle once again at the PGL Studio in Bucharest from 18 to 26 April for the standard US$1 million prize pool.

This eighth edition may look familiar on paper, but it arrives shortly after a fresh patch in 7.41b, released on 7 April. The update follows the game-changing 7.41 patch, a massive overhaul that saw the removal of Facets entirely. It will be exciting to see which teams have adapted the quickest to the new metagame introduced by 7.41.

Before diving into the biggest storylines and teams to watch, here is the full list of participants for Wallachia Season 8:

What team is predicted to win PGL Wallachia Season 8?

Team Yandex enter PGL Wallachia Season 8 as the defending champions (Image: PGL)

The team to beat here is clearly Tundra Esports, who arrive after a dominant victory at ESL One Birmingham, and now comfortably sits on top of our Dota 2 teams leaderboard.

However, there is a twist. Tundra will be without star carry Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko, who is focusing on visa arrangements for future tournaments. In his place, Alik “V-TUNE” Vorobey will fill in–at least in the first half of the tournament as Pure is expected to arrive later. That makes Tundra slightly harder to predict, especially in the group stage. Even so, beating them will still be a difficult task.

If any team looks capable of challenging them, it is Team Yandex. Since adding Martin “Saksa” Sazdov last October, initially as a stand-in, the squad has become one of the most consistent forces in the scene. With talents such as Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov and Evgeniy “Noticed” Ignatenko, Yandex have repeatedly dominated tournaments.

However, they did stumble against Tundra multiple times in the finals, first at Birmingham and then at BLAST Slam V. But as the champions of the previous Wallachia, this could be the event where they finally take down Tundra.

Teams that could easily make the podium

While not quite as favoured as Tundra and Yandex, there are several other sides capable of reaching the podium.

Team Liquid enters as one of the strongest contenders at PGL Wallachia Season 8 (Image: PGL)

Team Liquid had a shaky start to the season but recovered impressively with victory at BLAST Slam VI in February, followed by more podium finishes. With found consistency, the team feels strong enough to challenge the podium in this event and could even make a run for the crown.

Team Falcons, the reigning world champions, have not enjoyed their strongest season so far. Still, few would be surprised if they rediscovered form during this mid-season stretch.

Meanwhile, PARIVISION recently won PREMIER SERIES 1. Even though it was not the biggest event on the calendar, it suggests they understand the current patch well. The victory could also mean they arrive at Wallachia S8 with momentum and a bolstered mindset.

Who are the dark horses of Wallachia S8?

Team Spirit looks shaky for PGL Wallachia S8 with the absence of Collapse (Image: PGL)

While we often put Team Spirit above with the podium-challengers, the team looks shaky for this particular event. They will play without star offlaner Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov, with Bohdan “Batyuk” Batiuk from Yellow Submarine standing in. Results have not been convincing since the change, including a disappointing outing at PREMIER SERIES 1. A top-half finish is possible, but a podium run looks unlikely.

Xtreme Gaming remain one of the hardest teams to predict. They have shown high peaks, including runner-up at TI 2025, fourth at DreamLeague Season 28, and third at ESL One Birmingham. Yet consistency continues to elude them.

Aurora Gaming, BetBoom Team, MOUZ and HEROIC all exude a similar storyline–dangerous enough to challenge top teams, but rarely convincing enough to be favourites. A Top 6 or Top 8 finish would be expected, though an early exit would not be much of a surprise.

Natus Vincere (NAVI) have been less convincing of late, with bottom-place finishes at DreamLeague Season 28 and Wallachia Season 7. However, their very recent win over Team Liquid in the DreamLeague Season 29 qualifier finals has reignited hope, and it is now a question of whether they can maintain that momentum. This spark also follows the roster change in NAVI which saw Tamir “daze” Tokpanov replace Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov in the supporting role.

A slightly different underdog field

Ghost represents GamerLegion at a major event for the first time (Image: PGL)

Among the underdog line-up, North America’s GamerLegion are particularly interesting due to Daniel Chan “Ghost” Kok Hong’s first major tournament appearance with the team. Ghost is a renowned carry who helped Nigma Galaxy to a Top 6 finish at TI. Whether he can lift GamerLegion beyond underdog status remains unclear, but it is certainly one of the most intriguing storylines to root for.

Virtus.pro enter as a replacement for OG and will hope for a respectable run. Meanwhile, Vici Gaming and South America Rejects arrive as strong representatives from their respective regions.