TI 2026 Bracket and Results Tracker (Updated Through the Final)

TI 2026 Tournament Overview

The International 2026 is the premier Dota 2 world championship hosted by Valve. This year the event takes place in Shanghai, China, with 16 teams competing across two stages for the Aegis of Champions and a share of a $3,199,418 prize pool. The event follows Valve’s standard formula: a Swiss-style group stage to determine the main event lineup, followed by a double-elimination bracket for the eight advancing teams.

For Dota 2 players who are actively working on their own MMR while watching these games, there is genuine learning value in how TI teams draft, create pressure, and close. The top tier at TI 2026 is running faster, more flexible cores than pub meta typically allows — see the MMR boosting guide for how the concepts translate to your own bracket.

Bracket Format Explained

TI 2026 uses a double-elimination format for the main event. Sixteen teams played a modified Swiss group stage from August 13 to 16. The top eight teams advanced to the Main Event bracket in Shanghai beginning August 20.

In double elimination, every team gets at least two chances. Lose in the upper bracket and you drop to the lower bracket rather than going home. Lose in the lower bracket and you are eliminated. The upper bracket team that reaches the grand final has a built-in rest advantage — they play fewer series to get there and arrive without the fatigue of back-to-back elimination matches.

The math on difficulty is significant. A team winning from the upper bracket final needs two series wins total from the main event start to reach the grand final. A lower bracket team needs five series wins in a row without losing once. Team Spirit’s run at TI 2026 is a perfect example of that pressure — they lost one series in the upper bracket, then played four elimination matches to reach the final.

Group Stage Summary (August 13-16)

All 16 competing teams played the group stage using a modified Swiss system from August 13 to 16. The format rewards consistent performance — teams with similar records face each other, and the top eight records after the Swiss rounds advance to the main event. There is no set number of rounds; teams keep playing until they reach 3 wins (advance) or 3 losses (eliminated), with tiebreaker series to finalize the seedings.

The eight teams that advanced to the Shanghai main event, seeded by group stage performance:

• TEAM VISION — entered as one of the top seeds after a dominant group stage, including a 2-0 win over Team Spirit on August 15
• Team Spirit — 2021 TI10 champions, defending legacy, emerged with a strong record despite the loss to VISION
• Team Yandex — showed consistent Swiss-round form, qualified with enough margin to earn a solid bracket seed
• Nigma Galaxy — qualified via strong mid-stage runs, gave Falcons an upset in the first main event round
• Team Liquid — top-tier organization, returned to TI contention after grinding through Swiss qualifying rounds
• Team Falcons — defending TI title holders (prior cycle), entered as crowd favorites; Cr1t–, Skiter, and ATF headlining the roster
• BoomBoys — emerged from group stage as the field’s biggest question mark, went further than most predicted
• Iron Wing — regional qualifier representative, earned the right to compete on the biggest stage

The eight teams that did not advance from the group stage are not the focus of this tracker, but the full standings are available on Liquipedia’s TI 2026 page.

All Main Event Results

Every confirmed result from the TI 2026 Main Event is listed below in chronological order. Scores are map wins. All results sourced from Liquipedia’s TI 2026 Main Event page and cross-referenced with OpenDota match IDs where available.

Upper Bracket Quarterfinals — August 20

The main event opened with four Best-of-3 upper bracket quarterfinal series. All four ran on August 20 in Shanghai. The results defined who entered the week with momentum and who started fighting for survival from day two onward.

The most significant result of the quarterfinals was Nigma Galaxy defeating Team Falcons 2-1. Falcons entered as the defending champions with ATF, Skiter, Cr1t–, Malr1ne, and Sneyking — a world-class roster. Nigma won the series by abandoning direct engagements and forcing Falcons into geometry they could not handle. Match IDs for the Nigma vs Falcons series: 8955796155 (Falcons win, 25-8 kills, 41:41), 8955934230 (Nigma win, 40-8, 40:08), 8956096810 (Nigma win, 32-29, 59:58).

Team Yandex’s 2-0 sweep of Team Liquid on day one set up what became one of the more explosive midfield stories of the week — Yandex as the upward-trajectory team that consistently overperformed expectations until running into TEAM VISION in the upper bracket final.

Lower Bracket Round 1 — August 21

The four upper bracket quarterfinal losers (Iron Wing, BoomBoys, Team Liquid, Team Falcons) entered the lower bracket on August 21 for two Best-of-3 elimination matches. Two teams went home from TI on this day.

Liquid vs Falcons (match IDs: 8956943534, 8957013760, 8957086928) became one of the defining storylines of TI 2026. Falcons won game one in brutal fashion — 43-18 kills, 89,000 gold lead at 55 minutes, with Skiter finishing 16/5/10 on Sven. But Liquid adapted in games two and three by stripping Falcons of their preferred fight geometry. Game three saw Liquid pick Centaur as a position 4 flex, last-pick Viper into Falcons’ Lifestealer opener, and build a teamfight pattern that neutralized Falcons’ burst-entry style. Falcons finished TI 2026 in 7th-8th place. Cr1t– stated after the series: “This is probably the last TI,” hinting at potential retirement.

Upper Bracket Semifinals — August 21

The four upper bracket quarterfinal winners met in two semifinal series on August 21. Two teams advanced toward the upper bracket final; two dropped to the lower bracket to continue their tournament runs.

TEAM VISION’s 2-1 win over Team Spirit in the upper bracket semifinals was the first meeting of what would eventually become the grand final matchup. VISION already held a separate 2-0 win over Spirit from the group stage on August 15, meaning they entered the UB semi with a built-in read on Spirit’s tendencies. The win gave VISION a 4-1 game-score advantage over Spirit within TI 2026 before the grand final even began.

Spirit dropping to the lower bracket here set up their remarkable run through four consecutive elimination series — a pressure-cooker gauntlet that either breaks teams or hardens them for a grand final push.

Lower Bracket Round 2 — August 22

The upper bracket semifinal losers (Team Spirit, Nigma Galaxy) entered the lower bracket to face the LB Round 1 survivors (BoomBoys, Team Liquid). Two more teams were eliminated on August 22 in these best-of-3 matches.

Spirit’s 2-0 sweep of Liquid was the cleaner performance of the two matches, confirming that Spirit had stabilized their support duo and lane structure after the UB semifinal loss. The BoomBoys vs Nigma result was the more contested series, going to three games, with BoomBoys advancing past a Nigma squad that had already caused the tournament’s biggest upset one round earlier.

Upper Bracket Final — August 22

The upper bracket final on August 22 determined which team would enter the grand final with the structural advantage — direct path, full day of rest, and the option to play from ahead mentally.

TEAM VISION handled Yandex in three games to secure the upper bracket slot in the grand final. This was VISION’s fourth consecutive series win in the main event, and their second 2-1 against a team that consistently pushed them to map three. Yandex dropped to the lower bracket final with one last lifeline: beat Spirit or go home in third place.

Lower Bracket Semifinal — August 22

The two LB Round 2 winners (Team Spirit, BoomBoys) met in the lower bracket semifinal on August 22. One team survived to face Team Yandex in the lower bracket final; the other went home in fourth place.

Spirit’s sweep of BoomBoys was decisive and confirmed the pattern of Spirit’s lower bracket run: strong early game structure, clean draft reads in game two after losing or narrow game ones, and no dropped series. BoomBoys finish TI 2026 in fourth place — a result that exceeded most pre-tournament expectations for that roster.

Lower Bracket Final — August 23

The lower bracket final decided Team Spirit’s opponent in the grand final and settled the third-place finish. Team Yandex (dropping from the UB Final) faced Team Spirit (grinding through four LB series) in a must-win match for both: Yandex to force a grand final appearance, Spirit to reach the Aegis shot.

Spirit swept Yandex in two games this morning to complete their lower bracket run. Team Yandex finishes TI 2026 in third place. Spirit move into the grand final having won four consecutive lower bracket series without dropping a single one — an unusual combination of pressure-hardening and consistency that few teams at TI have managed.

Grand Final — August 23 (IN PROGRESS / TBD)

The TI 2026 Grand Final is TEAM VISION vs Team Spirit, Best-of-5, August 23, 2026 in Shanghai. This page will be updated with the result as soon as it is confirmed.

The matchup has meaningful history inside this tournament. TEAM VISION have already beaten Spirit twice — 2-0 in the group stage on August 15 and 2-1 in the UB semifinals on August 21. VISION enter the grand final with a 4-1 game-score edge over Spirit within TI 2026. Spirit’s path through the lower bracket, however, gives them five additional series of TI pressure reps that VISION has not had since the UB semifinal. Which factor wins out is the central narrative of the final series.

Team Profiles — The Eight That Reached Shanghai

TEAM VISION

TEAM VISION have been the most consistent team at TI 2026 from the group stage through the main event. They reached the grand final without a single lower bracket appearance and have beaten every opponent in the tournament that they faced in a direct series. Their draft style relies on flexible tempo cores, strong support save heroes (Winter Wyvern, Earth Spirit), and mid-game tempo rather than scaling into a 50-minute carry win. Their upper bracket slot going into the grand final gives them a structural advantage they have fully earned.

Team Spirit

Team Spirit are the defending TI10 champions (2021) and arrived at TI 2026 carrying both the weight of history and the legitimate tools to back it up. They played what became the hardest possible path to the grand final: losing in the UB semis, then winning four consecutive elimination series through the lower bracket without dropping one. Spirit perform best when the series goes long and they can apply draft evolution across maps. Their main event run has shown a team that gets sharper under pressure rather than looser.

Team Yandex (3rd place)

Team Yandex were the TI 2026 story of the week through the upper bracket semifinals and final. They swept Team Liquid in the UB quarterfinals, beat Nigma in three games in the UB semis, and pushed TEAM VISION to map three in the UB final before being eliminated. After dropping to the LB final, Spirit’s 2-0 sweep closed their run in third place — the best finish Yandex has recorded at a Valve major event.

BoomBoys (4th place)

BoomBoys were the quiet grinder of TI 2026. They lost to TEAM VISION in the UB quarterfinals 2-1, survived the LB by beating Iron Wing, then beat Nigma Galaxy 2-1 to advance. Spirit’s 2-0 sweep in the LB semifinal ended their run in fourth. A fourth-place finish at TI is a significant result for an organization at this stage of its competitive history.

Team Liquid (5th-6th place)

Liquid entered TI 2026 as a recognized top-tier organization. They were swept by Yandex in the UB quarterfinals, then beat Falcons 2-1 in a memorable LB match before Spirit swept them 2-0 in the LB second round. miCKe, Nisha, Ace, Boxi, and tOfu represent a deep roster that took the defending champions to three games in the lower bracket.

Nigma Galaxy (5th-6th place)

Nigma’s TI 2026 highlight was the 2-1 upset of Team Falcons in the upper bracket quarterfinals — the biggest single-round upset of the main event. GH and Omar anchored a support duo that showed exactly how to take apart Falcons’ preferred geometry across three games. They fell in the LB second round to BoomBoys but leave Shanghai having delivered one of the tournament’s most-discussed series.

Team Falcons (7th-8th place)

Falcons defended the Aegis as one of the favorites and did not leave quietly. Skiter, ATF, Cr1t–, Malr1ne, and Sneyking showed flashes of their best form, including a game-one demolition of Liquid that was one of the most lopsided performances of the event. But Nigma’s UB upset and Liquid’s LB adaptation ended their run in 7th-8th. Cr1t–‘s post-elimination statement — “This is probably the last TI” — turned a bracket exit into a potential era-ending moment for the squad’s lineup.

Iron Wing (7th-8th place)

Iron Wing represented their region at TI 2026 after qualifying through the regional path. They were swept by Spirit in the UB quarterfinals and eliminated by BoomBoys in the LB first round. Competing at TI as a qualifier is itself the benchmark — and Iron Wing reached the main event stage, which is the result that opens doors for an organization at this level.

TI 2026 Current Standings

This page will be updated with the final 1st and 2nd place entries when the grand final result is confirmed. All other placements are locked.

Top Heroes of TI 2026

The hero meta at TI 2026 has been defined by fast-initiative supports, flexible tempo mids, and carries that can contribute before minute 20 rather than pure scalers. Data from Liquipedia’s TI 2026 statistics page, verified from the tournament’s full match pool:

Earth Spirit stands out for its 92.31% pick-ban presence — the closest to a mandatory first-phase pick or ban that any hero reached at the event. Pangolier’s 69.23% win rate across 26 picks is the kind of number that reflects genuine draft power rather than sample noise. If you want to understand why ranked queues in September 2026 will look different after TI, these four heroes are where to start.

For players who use TI results to decide what to learn next, the meta lesson from this tournament is that space-creating supports with global or semi-global reach (Earth Spirit, Winter Wyvern) enabled tempo cores to dictate the map without committing to fights at bad angles. That is a transferable concept at every rank. Our guide to Dota 2 boosting services and our boosting safety guide both get into what high-MMR practice under pressure actually looks like when you need to close out a bracket.

TI 2026 Bracket FAQ