Team Yandex bounce back from a shaky campaign to overcome Nigma Galaxy and reach the Top 3 at The International 2026.
Tournament favourites 
Team Yandex have ended 
Nigma Galaxy’s five-series winning streak with a narrow 2-1 reverse sweep, sending the fan-favourites down to the lower bracket of The International (TI) 2026 Playoffs.
The result propels Yandex into the Top 3 of the world championship, with an estimated US$293,047 in winnings secured. They advance to the upper bracket final, where they will clash with the formidable and still-undefeated 
TEAM VISION (aka PARIVISION) for a place in the TI 2026 grand finals.
Their Playoffs performance marks a crucial recovery from a shaky start at TI, which saw the team seed low in the Group Stage before clawing their way into the Playoffs through the Elimination Round. If they can maintain this form, Yandex have a strong chance of completing a championship-winning debut, which would earn 
Martin “Saksa” Sazdov his second TI title while delivering a first for the rest of the squad and the organisation.
Meanwhile, Nigma Galaxy’s Cinderella run will continue in the lower bracket, where they will play for their tournament lives against 
BoomBoys (aka BetBoom Team) on Saturday (22 August). The 
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi-led squad still have a chance to clinch the Aegis of Champions, but they can no longer afford any mistakes with elimination now at stake.
Team Yandex make crucial recovery from rough start at TI 2026
Entering TI 2026, Team Yandex were the most consistent side of the 2025-2026 competitive season, securing podium finishes at seven tournaments, including a third-place finish at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026.
Despite being one of the major favourites, Yandex endured a shaky start in their TI 2026 campaign, finishing the Group Stage with a 2-3 record. Their wins came against the weaker side in 
Huligani and 
Team Resilience, while they suffered losses to Team Liquid, 
Aurora Gaming and 
Iron Wing. Yandex then narrowly prevailed in the Elimination Round, edging out fan-favourites 
LGD Gaming, 2-1, to reach the Playoffs.
Despite the rocky start, Yandex recuperated just in time for the crucial phase, as the team swept Team Liquid in their opening Playoffs match, now followed by another hard-earned win over Nigma Galaxy. A Top 3 result is now secured, but the season’s top dogs won’t be happy to settle. They will fight against TEAM VISION, the touted bigger contenders, for a spot in the TI 2026 finals.
Nigma Galaxy’s resurgence at TI 2026 suffers setback
Nigma Galaxy’s run at TI 2026 has far exceeded expectations–and even that feels like an understatement. Heading into the year’s biggest tournament, Nigma Galaxy had one of the most barren seasons among the teams at TI, achieving little at Tier 1 events until just two months ago.
That was when Nigma Galaxy made crucial roster changes, bringing back 
Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan–who had been benched three months earlier–and moving him into the carry role, away from his signature mid position. Instead, they brought in Ukrainian talent 
Artem “Lorenof” Melnick to fill the mid lane. While the changes seemed questionable at first, Nigma Galaxy have shown phenomenal growth since.
They qualified for TI 2026 through Europe’s qualifier and also finished in the Top 8 at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026 last month, but there were still doubts over whether the team could maintain their consistency.
As it turns out, they have done far more than that. Nigma Galaxy looked beastly at TI 2026, losing only one series to Iron Wing on the opening day of the Group Stage before embarking on a winning streak against 
OG, LGD Gaming, 
Vici Gaming and Team Spirit–all in convincing sweeps. Their 4-1 Group Stage record earned Nigma Galaxy a direct berth in the Playoffs.
The streak continued into the final leg of the championship tournament, as Nigma Galaxy stunned defending champions Team Falcons 2-1 in the opening round. However, their winning run came to an end at the hands of Team Yandex, who handed them a narrow defeat to knock them down to the lower bracket.
How Team Yandex defeated Nigma Galaxy at TI 2026
The three-map series between Team Yandex and Nigma Galaxy was action-packed, featuring a comeback from Nigma Galaxy in the opening game before Yandex mounted a reverse sweep to claim the series.
The opening map saw Yandex grab meta-popular heroes, with Mirana for 
Arman “Malady” Orazbayev, Hoodwink for Saksa, Earth Spirit for 
Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov (CJ) and Underlord for Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin, rounded out by Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov’s Terrorblade as the late-game presence.
In response, Nigma Galaxy rallied a sustain-heavy line-up with Necrophos for SumaiL and IO for GH, paired with the playmaking Storm Spirit on Artem “Lorenof” Melnick and Clockwerk on 
Omar “OmaR” Moughrabi, before tying it all together with a last-pick Enigma for 
Cedric “Davai Lama” Deckmyn as the winning condition.
In the early phase of Game 1, Saksa made several spot-on movements around the map to help his team rack up early kills, with eight lives claimed before the 10-minute mark. Yandex relentlessly pressured Nigma deep in their territory, suffocating them of space while watson’s Terrorblade farmed freely on the other side of the map.
The team’s aggression particularly targeted Lorenof’s Storm Spirit, repeatedly hindering his progress as his net worth hovered at the bottom among the cores. In several desperate attempts to recover, Nigma Galaxy expended major spells, including Black Hole, just to shut down a single hero while simultaneously losing supports on their side.
Yandex’s dominance stretched into the 30th minute, with the team holding an 18K gold advantage. Minutes later, they claimed an Aegis and picked off Lorenof’s Storm Spirit to rev up a high-ground push. Davai’s Enigma was targeted next, with his health falling perilously low as he retreated. But CJ’s Earth Spirit rolled deep to catch him, and this was when Nigma spotted a window of opportunity. They expended Storm Spirit’s buyback as Enigma turned to unleash Black Hole. The sequence allowed Nigma to secure several more kills and finally regain some control.
Yandex would return once again to Nigma’s doorstep, using Terrorblade’s Metamorphosis to clear out the Dire mid-lane barracks. The team then initiated a fight against the Storm Spirit-IO pair in the triangle, but the engagement was swiftly flipped in Nigma’s favour when Davai landed a three-man Black Hole. While several heroes retreated rapidly, Nigma made a clever chase to ultimately claim all three of Yandex’s cores.
Nigma’s bold decision-making really showed around the 50-minute mark, when the team initially lost an engagement with Lorenof dying alongside both supports. Yandex attempted to chase a low-HP Davai but gave up as the hero moved out of vision. However, just as Yandex began to retreat, SumaiL’s Necrophos teleported to Enigma and caught the fleeing heroes, with Storm Spirit also committing another buyback. The sequence earned Nigma a game-turning teamwipe.
The next crucial fights saw Davai land game-winning Black Holes time and again, with no hero in the enemy line-up able to stun through Enigma’s BKB. Nigma simply outplayed Yandex in teamfights, and these consecutive victories–despite one successful defence from Yandex–allowed them to mount a comeback and close out the game in 74 minutes.
In the next game, Yandex crafted yet another meta-heavy draft, with Kez on watson, Earth Spirit on CJ, Doom on DM, Winter Wyvern on Malady and Rubick on Saksa.
Nigma opted for the more unconventional route, with Clinkz on SumaiL paired with Void Spirit on Lorenof, rounded out by Largo on Davai, Mirana on GH and Hoodwink on Omar.
Unlike the first map, the second game was a much smoother affair for Yandex from start to end, courtesy of their strong early-game heroes that enabled a snowball. Yandex accrued 11 kills by the 13th minute while building an early 4K gold lead. The team continued roaming to the corners of the map, even diving behind Nigma’s Tier 2 towers to maintain the pressure.
SumaiL was not keen to participate, instead focusing on building up his items, but his absence left a visible dent in Nigma’s teamfighting, with even Lorenof’s Void Spirit unable to help the team respond to Yandex’s aggression.
At 29 minutes, Nigma grouped up to sneak up on Yandex, who were positioned in Nigma’s Radiant bottom jungle. But Yandex read their movements all too well and were ready to absorb the ambush, which eventually led to watson’s Kez claiming an Ultra Kill.
Nigma Galaxy then played more cautiously, with some instances of pushback seen. However, Yandex held a 20K net worth advantage at 40 minutes, allowing them to secure easy pick-offs on any member spotted on the well-conquered map. After a series of kills, Yandex secured a teamwipe and used the advantage to clear the enemy barracks. Nigma Galaxy tapped out soon after, levelling the series. In this game, watson’s Kez posted a solid 18/4/15 KDA, followed by an even more impressive 13/1/23 score from Saksa’s Rubick.
The series decider went to another one-hour rodeo, with Nigma Galaxy putting up a strong defence around their Ancient in the late game.
Nigma Galaxy once again fielded an interesting line-up, with a comfort Dazzle for GH and Alchemist for SumaiL, accompanied by Underlord on Davai, Earth Spirit on Lorenof and Clockwerk on Omar.
Unlike the previous two matches, Yandex pulled out some counter picks to respond to Nigma Galaxy’s draft, particularly Axe for DM to shut down the early Dazzle pick. The team also fielded Invoker for CJ, Winter Wyvern for Malady, Mirana for Saksa and Shadow Fiend for watson.
It was a successful early-game phase for Nigma Galaxy, with timely rotations and counter-teleports earning them an early edge. SumaiL’s Alchemist also led the net worth chart, although Yandex’s cores were not far behind.
But by the time DM’s Axe secured a Blink Dagger, Yandex began making more impactful moves, with numerous pick-offs across the map tilting the advantage in their favour. CJ’s Invoker also pulled off a Tornado-into-Mirana Arrow combo to easily burst down enemy heroes.
A pick-off attempt on Davai near Nigma’s outer jungle backfired when he was saved by Dazzle’s Shallow Grave, with DM unable to finish the deed with Axe’s Culling Blade. Nigma brought in reinforcements to overwhelm Yandex’s rocky initiation and secure two support kills for themselves.
Nigma Galaxy once again found an edge around the 28-minute Roshan contest, catching Yandex off guard when SumaiL’s Alchemist jumped onto an isolated Invoker and burst him down while the rest of Nigma distracted Yandex on the other side. This led to a Godlike streak for Lorenof and a net worth lead, although Nigma did not commit to Roshan.
Minutes later, Yandex claimed the Aegis for themselves and approached the bottom Tier 2 tower to begin a push. Nigma put up their first chaotic defence, getting caught and burst down one by one as DM landed well-timed Calls to set up for his damage-heavy team.
Another misplay from Nigma Galaxy occurred in their jungle, with an awkward fight forcing SumaiL’s Alchemist to activate his BKB early before jumping into the enemy backlines and getting burst down almost immediately. Davai’s Underlord placed his Gate near the initiation point a little too late, but there was no backup from the rest of the team. It did not help that the Alchemist had opted for a questionable Shiva’s Guard, bringing the team’s total to three Shiva’s Guards–amusingly, a record-breaking item build for a team at TI.
The decision did not work out, as Nigma were caught consecutively and repeatedly failed to execute a cohesive teamfight. Yandex quickly claimed mega creeps after winning a high-ground engagement, but with only the Ancient remaining, Nigma Galaxy managed to keep the game alive for some more time.
Lorenof’s Earth Spirit eventually reached Level 25, while SumaiL’s Alchemist shifted his item build towards right-click damage. This helped prolong the game well beyond the one-hour mark, as Yandex played carefully to avoid giving Nigma any opportunity to mount another comeback. It was ultimately a hopeless affair, as Yandex had built a massive lead and eventually ended the game, knocking Nigma Galaxy down with a 2-1 series victory.
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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