Team Spirit Win TI 2026: A 64-Minute Decider and a Record Third Aegis

Sixty-four minutes. That is how long the last game of The International 2026 lasted, and for most of it nobody in Shanghai's Oriental Sports Center could say who was going to lift the Aegis. When the final building fell, Team Spirit had done something no Dota 2 team had managed in fifteen editions of the tournament.

On Sunday, August 23, 2026, Spirit beat TEAM VISION 3-2 in the best-of-five grand final to win The International 2026. It is the organisation's third TI title after 2021 and 2023, the most of any team, and it came after Spirit had lost to the same opponent twice earlier in the event.

The favourites and the lower bracket

TEAM VISION, the side also known as PARIVISION, arrived in Shanghai as the team to beat. It went through the group stage unbeaten, beating Team Resilience, Team Falcons and BoomBoys, and was the first team to book a direct place in the playoffs. Along the way it swept Spirit in the fourth round.

The tournament ran in two parts. A Swiss-style Road to The International stage began on August 13 and cut 16 teams to 8. The main event, a double-elimination bracket of best-of-three series with a best-of-five final, ran from August 20 to 23.

Spirit's path was the hard one. It beat Iron Wing, then lost 1-2 to VISION in the upper bracket and dropped down. From there it beat Team Liquid, BoomBoys 2-0 and Team Yandex 2-0 to earn a third meeting with the favourites. VISION, meanwhile, beat BoomBoys, Spirit and Team Yandex to reach the final without dropping into the lower bracket.

Five games, one Aegis

The final swung back and forth like a pendulum. Spirit took game one, VISION levelled, Spirit went ahead again and VISION levelled again. The fifth game turned into a long, tense late-game fight that lasted 64 minutes before Spirit closed it out.

Spirit's line-up was carry Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk, mid laner Denis "Larl" Sigitov, offlaner Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov, and supports Alexey "not me" Kosmynin and Aleksandr "rue" Filin, with Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov as coach.

The win was worth about $1.4 million. The prize pool started from a $1.6 million base and was crowdfunded past $3.3 million by the day of the final, with fundraising still open after the event. VISION took about $437,500 for second, ahead of Team Yandex (third, about $302,800) and BoomBoys (fourth, about $201,900).

A list of firsts

The result rewrote the record book:

• Team Spirit became the first organisation to win the Aegis three times, breaking a tie with OG and Team Liquid at two each.
• Yatoro and Collapse, who won in 2021 and 2023, became the first players to win TI three times.
• Miposhka is now a three-time champion too: twice as captain, once as coach.
• Larl, who joined for the 2023 title run, became the 13th player to win TI twice.
• not me won on his TI debut, and rue claimed his first Aegis.

For Spirit, Shanghai also completed a full circle. The 2021 team won from the lower bracket after trailing 0-2 in the final; the 2026 team won from the lower bracket after losing twice to the favourites. In Dota, it seems, Spirit prefers the long way round.

Why it matters

TI's prize pools have shrunk since 2021, and Valve no longer runs a season-long points circuit. That has made the tournament's legacy, rather than its money, the main story each August. A team winning three times gives Dota something it has rarely had: a dynasty you can point to.

It also sets up 2027 neatly. VISION showed it was the most consistent team of the event and lost only the final. Spirit's core is proven under pressure. And organisers said ticket holders came from 73 countries and regions, a reminder that TI is still a pilgrimage for Dota fans.

If you missed it, the fifth game is the one to watch. For the long view, read our history of The International, or our profile of Team Spirit, the club behind the record.