A convincing sweep over Vici Gaming earned Team Yandex third place at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup.
Tournament favourites 
Team Yandex have secured third place at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 after defeating 
Vici Gaming in the third place decider. The result adds yet another podium finish to Yandex's impressive season, but it may still feel like a disappointment as many had tipped them to go all the way and lift the championship.
It's somewhat fair to put their exit down to unfortunate timing, as Yandex faced 
PARIVISION in the semifinals–the only team widely considered to be on their level heading into the event. They lost the series 2-1 in what many regarded as the tournament's true grand final.
That said, the 
Martin “Saksa” Sazdov-led side remain one of the elite teams in competitive Dota 2. Yandex’s third-place finish at the Dota 2 EWC further adds to their credentials ahead of The International 2026 next month.
Vici Gaming, meanwhile, will be more than satisfied with fourth place after comfortably exceeding expectations. The Chinese side outlasted regional rivals 
Xtreme Gaming and eliminated several tournament heavyweights, including 
Team Liquid, 
Team Falcons, and 
Aurora Gaming, during their impressive run.
The Dota 2 Esports World Cup is drawing to a close after nearly two weeks of competition, with the much-anticipated best-of-five grand final between PARIVISION and 
BetBoom Team set to occur next. While PARIVISION enter the series carrying greater expectations, it would be unwise to count out BetBoom, who have been in incredible form, winning every map since reaching the Survival Stage.
A starkly different journey for Team Yandex and Vici Gaming at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup
Team Yandex and Vici Gaming arrived at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup under very different circumstances. Team Yandex were already regarded as one of the world's best teams thanks to a string of consistent results throughout the season, highlighted by their BLAST Slam VII title last month. Vici Gaming, on the other hand, entered the tournament with plenty of question marks. While the roster boasted plenty of talent and experience, the organisation had struggled to produce any meaningful results since returning last October.
However, the Dota 2 EWC produced several surprise results that ultimately brought the two sides together in the third-place decider.
Vici Gaming opened their campaign with victories over 
Team Nemesis, 
REKONIX, and 
MOUZ, but defeats to tournament favourites PARIVISION and 
Team Spirit left them third in Group C. They were subsequently sent to the Survival Stage, where they advanced past 
PlayTime via forfeit before pulling off a major upset over 
1w Team to reach the Playoffs. They then stunned another title contender, Team Falcons, to continue their remarkable run, by which point they had already far exceeded expectations.
Team Yandex were dominant from the very start, topping their group with wins over 1win and 
LGD Gaming, among others, to book a direct berth in the Playoffs. There, they crushed defending champions Team Spirit, ending their hopes of a repeat.
Both Vici Gaming and Team Yandex were paired in the third-place decider after both fell in their respective semifinals, with Vici Gaming losing 2-0 to BetBoom Team, while Team Yandex narrowly lost 2-1 to PARIVISION in a closely contested series.
How Team Yandex crushed Vici Gaming in one of the fastest wins of the tournament
The series between Team Yandex and Vici Gaming were a major stomp in favour of the former. It started out with a comfortable draft for Yandex, with a meta Kez on 
Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov, Monkey King for 
Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov, Winter Wyvern for Arman “Malady” Orazbayev, Nature’s Prophet for Martin “Saksa” Sazdov, and a surprise first-time Axe pick for Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin.
Vici Gaming drafted Tiny for 
Xuanang “Shiro” Guo and Ember Spirit for Hongcheng “Xm” Guo, backed up by Undying for Yiping “y`” Zhang, Mirana for Zixing “XinQ” Zhao, and a last-pick Doom for Zhang “Bach” Ruida to provide stronger lockdown.
Yandex's draft was clearly built to dictate the early tempo, while Vici Gaming relied on a slower lineup that needed more time to come online. Knowing Yandex’s strong early aggressions, it was clear from the start that it’ll be a rough one for Vici.
The first minutes of the game saw kill exchanges for both teams but Yandex had the better farming pace, allowing them to lead in net worth and dictate the early game fights. In one of the early skirmishes, Malady's Winter Wyvern dealt Winter’s Curse in the midlane that failed to convert into kills, and even so, Yandex made sure to benefit from the space by taking down a tower on the other side of the map.
As Yandex accumulated more items, the game quickly slipped out of Vici Gaming's hands. Watson's Kez, who had a free early game began joining early skirmishes, often outnumbering the Chinese side. Vici attempted to buy time by splitting and avoiding direct engagements but it only allowed for Yandex to control a majority of the map.
At the 26-minute mark, Malady landed a three-man Winter's Curse after sneaking onto Vici’s bottom lane, allowing his teammates to clean up the fight. Although Bach escaped by teleporting away with Black King Bar, both Vici supports were killed. The fight handed Yandex an uncontested Aegis and further diminished Vici’s chances.
At 35 minutes, holding a commanding 31,000 gold lead, Yandex effortlessly won a high-ground fight that led to the first-map victory. Watson enjoyed a flawless game on Kez, finishing with a 10/0/10 KDA after cruising through the match virtually uncontested.
The second game proved even more one-sided, with Vici Gaming collapsing under an even heavier defeat. Despite drafting several top-tier meta heroes–including Lone Druid for Shiro, Earth Spirit for Xm, and Largo for Bach—they failed to create any plays throughout the game.
Yandex's victory was spearheaded by CHIRA_JUNIOR's outstanding Earthshaker, who orchestrated every major team fight with perfectly timed Echo Slams. His Blink Dagger reveal paid immediate dividends, securing a three-hero kill at the 10-minute mark.
With an early advantage established, Yandex overwhelmed every engagement and Vici seemed to lack any confidence to commit to majority of the fights. By the 16-minute mark, CHIRA_JUNIOR was already on a Godlike streak, and Yandex showed no signs of slowing down.
After another crushing sequence of fights, Vici Gaming called "GG" just 18 minutes into the match–one of the most dominant stomps of the entire tournament. It also stood as the fastest game of the event, with CHIRA_JUNIOR finishing on an exceptional 11/0/11 KDA.
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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