BoomBoys inch closer to their first-ever The International title with Playoffs berth.
A battle between Eastern European powerhouses ended with 
BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team) knocking 
Aurora Gaming out of The International (TI) 2026 with a 2-0 sweep in the Elimination Round on Sunday (16 August).
BoomBoys now advance to the Playoffs, joining Group Stage top seeds 
TEAM VISION, 
Nigma Galaxy, and 
Team Liquid, as well as fellow Elimination Stage winner 
Team Falcons among the final eight.
A deciding battle between these two teams felt poetic in some ways. BoomBoys and Aurora were often viewed as two very similar squads, both boasting plenty of Eastern European talent while struggling to maintain consistency throughout seasons. However, head-to-head, BoomBoys have enjoyed the better overall results, making the outcome of this elimination match somewhat expected.
In the 2025-2026 competitive season, BoomBoys finished on the podium at five Tier 1 tournaments, including a victory at PGL Wallachia Season 8. The team gained further confidence after finishing second at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup last month. It has been BoomBoys' most consistent season so far, raising hopes of a deep run at TI 2026 and potentially a better result than their fourth-place finish at last year's TI.
Aurora Gaming, meanwhile, enjoyed several promising runs, including multiple runner-up finishes this year, making this their best season so far as well. The diverse squad, which brought in 
Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman and 
Chung “Ws`” Wei Shen earlier this season, has fared well despite the unorthodox roster changes. However, an early elimination at the Dota 2 EWC dampened expectations heading into TI 2026.
While the team still looked in decent form throughout TI 2026, they were unable to figure out BoomBoys when it mattered and suffered elimination at the hands of their more favoured counterpart. Aurora Gaming bow out of TI 2026 in a relatively low 9th–13th place, taking home an estimated US$54,800 in consolation.
BoomBoys pick up pace at The International 2026 after a rocky start
TI 2026 was a somewhat lacklustre campaign for both teams, although Aurora Gaming secured more points to finish higher in the pecking order, even sweeping BoomBoys in one of their series.
BoomBoys kicked off their world championship campaign on a strong note, securing wins against 
OG and 
Iron Wing, with the latter series going the distance. However, the team struggled to maintain their momentum over the following days, suffering a 0-2 sweep at the hands of the juggernauts in TEAM VISION. The third day of the Group Stage proved particularly disastrous, as they fell 0-2 to Aurora Gaming before losing 1-2 to Team Falcons to bring their Group Stage campaign to a disappointing close.
Aurora Gaming had a slightly shakier start to the Group Stage, opening with a sweep against OG before suffering a 0-2 defeat to 
Team Spirit later that same day. The team bounced back by edging out favourites 
Team Yandex and securing a statement victory over BoomBoys. Aurora then had to face Team Liquid for a spot in the Playoffs, but fell in a closely contested 1-2 series. The defeat pushed them out of the top three, but Aurora had accumulated enough points to earn the right to choose their Elimination Round opponent. Ironically, they selected BoomBoys–the very team that would eventually eliminate them from the tournament.
What is The International 2026?
TI 2026 will be this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament, taking place in August in Shanghai, China. As with previous iterations of the tournament, TI 2026 will feature a total of 16 teams that earn their spots in the tournament by receiving direct invites or earning slots through regional qualifiers.
The list of directly-invited teams to TI 2026 include 
Aurora Gaming, BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team), 
Team Falcons, 
Team Liquid, Iron Wing (aka 1w Team), 
Xtreme Gaming, and 
Team Yandex. Meanwhile, the teams that earned their spots through the regional qualifiers include European qualifier winners 
Team Spirit, TEAM VISION (aka PARIVISION), 
HULIGANI, and 
Nigma Galaxy, North American qualifier winner 
GamerLegion, Southeast Asian qualifier winner 
OG, South American qualifier winner 
LGD Gaming, as well as Chinese qualifier winners 
Vici Gaming and 
Team Resilience.
TI 2026's main event will be hosted in the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai. Valve first announced that Shanghai will host TI 2026 during last year's world championship tournament, where Team Falcons claimed the Aegis of Champions after defeating China's Xtreme Gaming in the five-game grand finals.
This will mark the second time that Shanghai will host TI after TI 2019, where Western Europe's OG became the first-ever two-time TI champions after defeating Team Liquid in four games to claim the grand prize of US$15.6 million, out of the US$34.3 million prize pool.
TI 2026 will be split into two phases: the ‘Road to The International’ and ‘The International’ main event. The Road to The International will be a Swiss-style Group Stage from 13 to 16 August, where the 16 teams will be cut down to the final eight that will play in the game's biggest stage from 20 to 23 August in Shanghai's Oriental Sports Center.
TI 2026's prize pool follows that of previous editions, with a US$1.6 million base prize pool that will then be boosted through sales of the TI 2026 Compendium.
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