With a 2-0 sweep against Vici Gaming, BetBoom Team claimed the first grand final slot at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup.
Eastern Europe's 
BetBoom Team became the first grand finalist of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 after sweeping 
Vici Gaming 2-0 in the semifinals, delivering one of the most dominant performances of the tournament so far.
The victory eliminates the final Chinese representative at the tournament, and sends BetBoom Team into the grand final, set to take place tomorrow, 19 July. There, they will face the winner of 
Team Yandex versus 
PARIVISION–arguably the two biggest favourites heading into the Dota 2 EWC. The series winner will be confirmed later tonight.
By this stage of the tournament, both BetBoom Team and Vici Gaming had pretty much proven themselves with a string of convincing victories. Despite entering the event as a dark horse, Vici Gaming had pulled off impressive upsets over 
1w Team and 
Team Falcons to reach the final four, far exceeding expectations. BetBoom Team, meanwhile, arrived as one of the tournament favourites after enjoying a consistently strong season that also earned them a direct invite to The International (TI) 2026.
While BetBoom's victory came as little surprise, the sheer dominance of the series was unexpected, further emphasising the team's current outstanding form. BetBoom Team were long regarded as a squad with exceptional skill but have suffered with inconsistency. As the tournament goes on, they appear to have addressed one of their biggest weaknesses, showing far greater discipline and decision making.
The final day of the Dota 2 EWC will see BetBoom Team compete for the championship. Before that, Vici Gaming will contest the third-place decider against the loser of PARIVISION versus Team Yandex. Although their tournament run ends in the semifinals, a Top 4 finish should provide the Chinese side with plenty of confidence heading into TI 2026, which will be held on home soil in Shanghai this August.
A crushing victory for BetBoom Team
The semifinal between BetBoom Team and Vici Gaming turned into a one-sided affair, with the Eastern European side delivering one of the tournament's most dominant sweeps.
The opening game was an excruciating watch for Vici Gaming, who were suffocated by BetBoom's relentless aggression from the outset. In just 15 minutes, BetBoom had already amassed 10 kills, while all three of their cores sat comfortably at the top of the net worth charts.
Their players were quick to punish any Vici hero caught out of position. During an early Roshan attempt, 
Vitalie “Save-” Melnic's Hoodwink caught 
Xuanang “Shiro” Guo's wandering Clinkz with his Bushwack, setting up a valuable pick-off.
Vici Gaming found almost no opportunities to fight back, and whenever they do, 
Vladislav “Kataomi`” Semenov's Undying would often bail out a teammate with a clutch Tombstone save. BetBoom soon began invading deep into Vici's territory, denying them any space to farm.
The game remained relentlessly one-sided until the very end, with BetBoom closing it out 30-3 in kills in 30 minutes. According to analyst KheZu on the broadcast, it was Vici Gaming's worst kill score record in history.
Several BetBoom players finished the game without a single death, led by Save-'s Hoodwink with a flawless 9/0/15 KDA. Danil “gpk” Skutin's Puck followed with 7/0/18, while Matvey “MieRo” Vasyunin's Slardar posted another impressive 8/0/12 KDA.
After such a crushing opener, it was understandably difficult for Vici Gaming to recover. They fared slightly better in the second game, finding several early kills and successfully surviving a number of BetBoom's rotations. However, it was only a matter of time before the Eastern European side grouped up and began overwhelming their opponents once again.
There was a brief glimmer of hope for Vici at the 21-minute mark when BetBoom attempted to contest the Wisdom Rune shrine. Shiro committed Metamorphosis on Terrorblade to hold their ground and launch a successful counter-attack. A rare mistake from gpk's Ember Spirit saw him picked off for the first time in the series, allowing Vici to briefly take the net worth lead with Terrorblade sitting at the top of the charts.
That, however, proved to be BetBoom's first and last major mistake. They quickly returned to their crisp, disciplined gameplay, confidently securing Roshan and the Aegis. Vici's late attempt to contest only resulted in more casualties.
From that point onwards, shiro's Terrorblade was repeatedly shut down by Ilja “Kiritych” Ulyanov's Windranger, who consistently locked him down with Shackleshot before bursting him with Focus Fire, preventing him from casting Sunder in time.
BetBoom simply had a better read on Vici's movements, and the remainder of the game turned into a bloodbath. Vici couldn’t answer BetBoom's relentless aggression, and allowed them to claim mega creeps uncontested before suffering one final team wipe on the steps of their own fountain. They surrendered at the 44-minute mark.
The series was an emphatic statement from BetBoom Team. Save once again finished the second game unharmed, recording a 0/0/15 scoreline on Shadow Shaman. He ended the entire series as the only player on either team to remain deathless.
How BetBoom Team and Vici Gaming performed at the Dota 2 EWC
Interestingly, neither BetBoom Team or Vici Gaming were among the frontrunners in the early stage of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup. Both teams failed to top their respective groups during the Group Stage, forcing the two teams to fight their way through the Survival Stage.
BetBoom Team finished second in Group A behind Team Falcons, who were ironically knocked out of the tournament by Vici Gaming. During the group stage, BetBoom claimed victories over 
Xtreme Gaming, 
GamerLegion, and Poor Rangers, although conceded a map to both Team Falcons and
Rune Eaters Esports. The result dropped BetBoom into the final round of the Survival Stage.
Vici Gaming's Group Stage campaign, on the other hand, went largely according to expectations. The Chinese side swept 
MOUZ, 
REKONIX, and 
Team Nemesis, but suffered defeats to PARIVISION and 
Team Spirit, sending them into the opening round of the Survival Stage.
From there, Vici Gaming found their rhythm. They progressed by default after 
PlayTime forfeited before edging out 1win in a tightly contested series. They then produced one of the tournament's biggest surprises by convincingly defeating Team Falcons in the opening round of the Playoffs, setting up a daunting semifinal clash against BetBoom Team.
What is the Dota 2 Esports World Cup?
The Dota 2 tournament at the Esports World Cup 2026 will be the last Tier 1 tournament of the 2025-2026 competitive Dota 2 season, before it culminates in The International 2026 in August. With many of the teams competing in the EWC also qualified for this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament, it should serve as a good preview for the battle for the Aegis of Champions next month.
The Dota 2 EWC features 24 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world and will take place from 7 to 19 July in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. The teams will be fighting for EWC glory and the lion's share of US$750,000, out of the tournament's US$25 million prize pool.
The Dota 2 EWC is split into three stages; the Group Stage from 7 to 12 July, the Survival Stage from 14 to 15 July, and the Playoffs from 16 to 19 July.
The Group Stage will see the 24 teams split into four groups of six teams each to play in a single round-robin with best-of-two matches. The top team from each group will advance directly to the Playoffs, the second to fourth-placed teams will move to the Survival Stage, while the two bottom finishers will be among the first to be eliminated.
The Survival Stage will feature the 12 teams that finished third to fourth in their respective groups during the Group Stage, with four spots in the Playoffs up for grabs in a single-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The Survival Stage will open with the third and fourth seeds from different groups taking each other on, with the winners moving on to face the second place teams for the four Playoff spots.
Finally, the Playoffs will be a single-elimination bracket featuring the four teams that finished as the top seeds of their groups in the Group Stage, as well as the four teams that made it out of the Survival Stage. All matches in the Playoffs will be a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.
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