PARIVISION at the top, GamerLegion will be eliminated: predictions for the group stage of The International 2026 from OFFSTAGE

With the release of The International 2026 compendium, all Dota 2 players now have the chance to predict how teams will finish in the tournament’s group stage. Here, we’ll try to figure out whether Nigma Galaxy will make it to the playoffs again and whether HULIGANI (L1GA TEAM) will be able to win at least one map.

I think it’s best to start with the most interesting part—the favorites. This year, four teams clearly stand out as the strongest on paper: TEAM VISION (PARIVISION), BoomBoys (BetBoom Team), Team Falcons, and Team Yandex. All four teams have played very well all year, and we should take a closer look at their achievements individually.

PV didn’t get off to a very strong start to the season, but by the end of the year, the team had hit incredible form—a turnaround aided, in particular, by the arrival of a new coach and the replacement of the offlaner, a move the team made not once but twice. Since April, the team has claimed four tournament victories, the latest and most significant of which was the Esports World Cup 2026. The fact that the club won the second major tournament of the year on the current patch without experiencing any obvious problems suggests that it will definitely advance from the group stage, and placing it in first position with a 4-0 record is unlikely to be a mistake.

Next up is BoomBoys (BetBoom Team), which took second place at the EWC 2026. The team hasn’t won many trophies this year, but to their credit, they’ve shown consistency, as they’ve consistently finished near the top: they’ve secured three third-place finishes, two second-place finishes, and one first-place finish. The guys play fairly consistently, but they can lose a series, so we’ll predict a 4-1 result for them.

Compared to their opponents, Team Yandex is a fresh face; they’ll be playing in their first The International and are already aiming for the top spots. Since Saksa joined, the team’s skill level has noticeably improved, and they’ve even managed to secure two first-place finishes at Tier 1 LANs! In my opinion, replacing Noticed with DM didn’t affect the team’s overall performance—it merely changed their playstyle and hero pool—so the guys are more than capable of advancing from the group stage with a 4-1 record.

It’s also worth mentioning the “Falcons” as clear contenders to advance with a 4-1 record. After winning The International 2025, Team Falcons experienced a dip in form, but as the season draws to a close, the team looks very strong indeed. This is the only roster in the entire tournament that hasn’t changed any players or coaches since last year—their strong trust in one another and experience playing together are palpable right through the screen!

In recent tournaments, Vici has outperformed the other Chinese teams, and although they haven’t had any major achievements this year aside from a fourth-place finish at the Esports World Cup 2026, I believe they are more than capable of making it to the playoffs.

Teams featuring Ame always seem to get a boost at The International: even without showing much over the past year, they can make it to the top two. It’s worth noting that the team changed coaches just a week ago, so it’s impossible to know what to expect from them.

In my opinion, Liquid can rightly be called the most consistent team in the tournament. Although they might have an off day and play rather “sloppily,” I expect to see them perform at a high level at the main tournament of the year.

It’s the same situation as with Nigma Galaxy, but unlike the latter, the “Dragons” play much more consistently and, moreover, haven’t undergone as many roster changes. It’s quite likely that the team will advance to the playoffs through the elimination matches.

A completely unpredictable team: they can play with incredible consistency and outclass anyone, or they can lose a match they shouldn’t. Approach them with caution: there’s a good chance these guys won’t make it to the playoffs.

TaiLung was suspended from the competition and permanently banned from PGL tournaments. He was a huge asset to the team, and even though they brought in one of the best players in Dota 2 history as a replacement, the team doesn’t have time to gel with Topson. The chances that everything will click and the team will start winning are pretty low, but it’s worth remembering that Topias won his first International after joining the team in exactly the same way as he is now. Betting on them to finish in the top half of the standings is at your own risk and requires an incredible faith in the form of a retired midlaner.

Unfortunately, this version of OG isn’t performing up to par; I just can’t bring myself to place them in the top half of the standings. This is already the third offlaner to join the team this year, and there are still no results to show for it.

Lately, Aurora has also been playing very poorly. It’s unclear whether this is due to the players’ lack of motivation or changes in the meta, but there’s no reason to believe they’ll suddenly turn it on and start dominating everyone.

Objectively speaking, the team has made too many roster changes—and very recently at that. The team has underperformed in recent tournaments, so their chances of making the playoffs are very low (KuroKy’s fans aren’t listening to me anymore and are betting on a 4-0 win for Nigma—and I completely understand them).

The remaining three teams—Team Resilience, GamerLegion, and HULIGANI (L1GA TEAM)—will most likely not even make it to the elimination matches. It’s up to each person to decide where to place them at the bottom of the standings; predicting an exact result here is nearly impossible.

So, considering everything written above, there are several possible scenarios for how the teams will be ranked in the group stage:

Here we’ve put together the safest and most objectively logical prediction.

There’s reason to believe that Chinese teams will put on an exceptionally strong performance on home soil—this has often been the case in the past. As for Team Falcons, we’re predicting a 4:0 win based on their strong teamwork in recent tournaments.

An analyst who has ranked in the top 1% for his predictions three times in a row was invited to the SirActionSlacks YouTube channel. It’s worth noting that these predictions were made before Santiago Gustavo “TaiLung” Olivosa Agüero was suspended from Inta.

The most important thing I want to say to wrap up this prediction is this: remember that last year, not a single person correctly predicted the teams’ standings in the group stage, and the player who got the most answers right actually read the bracket backwards—which is why they achieved such high results. Every year at The International, we’re faced with surprises and completely unexpected outcomes, so please don’t throw sticks at me if HULIGANI (L1GA TEAM) goes 4–0 and then goes on to win the tournament.