TEAM VISION continue their undefeated streak at The International 2026 with another victory over BoomBoys.
More entertaining games were delivered on the first day of The International (TI) 2026 Playoffs, as favourites 
TEAM VISION (aka PARIVISION) kicked off their campaign with a lengthy and nail-biting 2-1 victory over regional rivals 
BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team).
With the victory, TEAM VISION guaranteed themselves at least a Top 6 finish as well as an estimated US$159,864 in winnings. They now advance to the second round of the upper bracket, where they will face a prolific CIS powerhouse in 
Team Spirit. Meanwhile, BoomBoys will take on 
Iron Wing in the lower bracket with elimination at stake. Both series will take place tomorrow (21 August).
TEAM VISION appear to have maintained their momentum and form despite their four-day break since the Group Stage, where they went unbeaten with a 4-0 record to claim top spot in the standings and secure a direct Playoff berth. This successful start to the Playoffs inch the team closer to their first-ever TI title, which would be a milestone for both the organisation and its players.
A dominant run by TEAM VISION at The International 2026
Entering TI 2026, TEAM VISION were the biggest favourites to take the Aegis of Champions home. However, they had not quite been under the spotlight throughout most of the 2025-2026 competitive season. Initially, the team’s best performance came with a 4th-place finish at ESL One Birmingham in March, sandwiched between less-fancied results during that period. Their modest campaign in the first half of the season then rapidly ascended, as they claimed victory at DreamLeague Season 29 in May before building further momentum with a win at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup last month.
Some suggest that they simply found their footing, while others theorise that VISION were pacing themselves to peak at the most important time of the year. Either way, their approach has clearly worked, with VISION producing a dominant run at TI 2026 so far.
In the championship tournament’s Group Stage, TEAM VISION delivered a flawless 4-0 record. They did however show some vulnerability in their first two series, dropping a map against 
Team Resilience and 
Team Falcons before locking in and sweeping BoomBoys and Team Spirit in their later matchups.
Now, they have opened their Playoff campaign with a repeat of their Dota 2 EWC Finals meeting against BoomBoys, taking them down in a nervy victory. While their Group Stage encounter against BoomBoys was smooth sailing, the rematch proved far more competitive. BoomBoys nearly completed the comeback after taking Game 2 and making a strong start to the decider, but VISION ultimately prevailed.
As a result, BoomBoys will have to continue their quest for the Aegis through the Lower Bracket. It is certainly dangerous territory for the team, who were touted as one of the three best teams heading into TI this year. That reputation was built on BoomBoys’ best season since the organisation’s formation, with the team finishing on the podium at five different Tier 1 tournaments, including a runner-up finish at the Dota 2 EWC. However, they failed to carry that momentum into the world championship, enduring a turbulent start to the event.
The team posted a 2-3 Group Stage record, losing their final three series against TEAM VISION, 
Aurora Gaming and Team Falcons. The result sent them into the Elimination Round, where they seemingly found their flow and delivered a successful revenge match against Aurora to book their place in the Playoffs.
Unfortunately, they faced the behemoth of the tournament in the first round, with VISION once again defeating them and sending them down to the lower bracket. The team are still expected to make a deeper run, however, potentially taking down Iron Wing to at least secure a Top 6 finish at the tournament.
How TEAM VISION held off BoomBoys' strong challenge at the TI 2026 Playoffs
TEAM VISION opened the first match with a questionable line-up, drafting Lone Druid for Satanic, Dark Seer for Noticed, Snapfire for No[o]ne, Bounty Hunter for 9Class, and a last-pick Techies for Dukalis.
Meanwhile, BoomBoys put together a more formidable stack with Kez on Kiritych, Lina for gpk, Centaur Warrunner for Miero, Dark Willow for Save, and Winter Wyvern for Kataomi.
During the laning stage, VISION played aggressively to punish both sidelanes and build an early lead. As VISION lacked a proper initiator, they struggled in several fights and lost members in pick-offs; however, the team were able to keep up in net worth with Satanic farming vigorously.
BoomBoys would continue to find kills and began claiming uncontested Roshan kills, but they failed to convert them into objective pushes, as VISION spread out and sent 9Class’ BH to cut creeps and play in the backlines, while Dukalis’ Techies planted bombs defensively. A high-ground attempt saw No[o]ne’s Snapfire simply send his Mortimer’s Kisses to push BoomBoys into retreat.
As time passed, BoomBoys would secure one-off pick-offs here and there, even earning gpk’s Lina a Godlike streak, but VISION had accumulated more than enough in their inventory to take a solid fight. Satanic had sent his invisible Spirit Bear into enemy territory to scout for the Lina, and when spotted, No[o]ne’s Snapfire teleported to the unit to help claim the Godlike bounty.
Around the 54-minute mark, VISION were able to poke BoomBoys into making an awkward initiation around the Roshan pit, with Kiritych’s Kez in the frontlines with an untimely Black King Bar popped open. BoomBoys desperately made more aggressive moves around the pit, only for VISION to hex gpk’s Lina and follow it up with several kills.
VISION simply snowballed from then on, with Satanic’s Spirit Bear ravenously decimating BoomBoys’ high-ground structures while the enemy were distracted in an engagement elsewhere. This led to BoomBoys playing defensively, purchasing Rapiers for themselves.
But VISION were too far ahead, with a 59K gold lead and a straight path to the throne cleared by the Spirit Bear. The team simply had to go all in to hit the Ancient–and though it took several tries and several Rapier drops, it eventually crumbled at the 77-minute mark.
In the second game, VISION assembled a Nature’s Prophet for Satanic, Slardar for Noticed, Puck for No[o]ne, Winter Wyvern for Dukalis, and a spicy Pudge flex for 9Class.
BoomBoys responded with a well-rounded meta draft with Tiny for Kiritych, Ember Spirit for gpk, Largo for Miero, Mirana for Save, and Undying for Kataomi.
The second map kicked off with dominance for VISION, who claimed 13 kills by 13 minutes, with No[o]ne’s Puck claiming a triple kill in a major engagement in the bottom lane. But just a minute later, gpk’s Ember Spirit outplayed the slippery hero, expending his Remnants in the midlane to grab a valuable solo kill.
Another impactful fight by the 20-minute mark saw BoomBoys teamwipe VISION in a drawn-out fight–starting with a long-range arrow by Save’s Mirana shutting down No[o]ne’s Puck–and it fell apart for VISION from then on. Miero’s Largo provided powerful buffs and healing to gpk’s Ember Spirit, who would claim an ultra kill and start to snowball from the massive gold and experience influx.
Although net worths for both teams were balanced, with Satanic’s NP leading the gold advantage, BoomBoys began making more movements and claimed kill after kill, further pressuring VISION.
In a full teamfight near the river, Satanic’s NP was pummelling Kiritych’s Tiny and activated his Satanic, but a timely Tombstone to save Tiny, plus a Eul’s plus arrow combo from Mirana, allowed them to take out the enemy carry. That was the defining moment of BoomBoys evening the series, after which they quickly sieged VISION’s high ground. They took a slow and confident fight against VISION, who also saw Satanic purchase a Hail Mary Divine Rapier in a desperate attempt to recover. But once he fell without buyback, VISION tapped out at the 55-minute mark to take the series to a decider. Gpk stood out on his Ember Spirit with a 10/1/15 KDA score.
In the third game, VISION retained the Nature’s Prophet for Satanic, and brought back Winter Wyvern for Dukalis and Bounty Hunter for 9Class. They made the change to Slardar for Noticed and Ember Spirit for No[o]ne.
BoomBoys then snatched Lone Druid for Kiritych and accompanied the broken hero with gpk’s Lina, Save’s Mirana, Kataomi’s Bane, and Miero’s Underlord.
While the draft looked particularly scary for BoomBoys, the team couldn’t quite build around the Spirit Bear gameplay that we have seen obliterate matches in the Playoffs so far.
The many early engagements fell in favour of VISION, which even saw Kiritych’s Lone Druid suffer several deaths. By 19 minutes, both teams had a major clash and BoomBoys were close to shutting down Satanic, only for Dukalis to use a clutch Cold Embrace, healing Satanic before he completed a triple kill.
With Noticed’s Slardar in the line-up and a globally present Satanic on the NP, the team began playing aggressively to punish BoomBoys deep in their territory, using Corrosive Haze to easily decimate the roaming Spirit Bear every time they clashed.
VISION’s net worth lead began to grow rapidly with continuous pick-offs and the three cores of VISION leading in gold. The team crushed tower after tower and, following a 29-minute clash, Satanic accrued a Godlike streak. There were no answers for BoomBoys, as all of the team members were heavily underfarmed. When VISION knocked on their base and won a teamfight easily, BoomBoys surrendered to end the game in only 30 minutes.
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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