Adekvat shared his predictions for the first day of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026 playoffs
Commentator Rustam “Adekvat” Mavlyutov shared his predictions for the first day of the Esports World Cup 2026 playoffs on his personal Telegram channel.
Quotes are reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation intact
On the match between Team Yandex and Team Spirit
A powerhouse matchup—at moments like this, you curse the lack of a lower bracket: you don’t want to lose either of these teams. There’s going to be some intense Dota today, and I don’t see how Spirit can win two maps here. Both the head-to-head history and the form both teams are coming into this series in—everything points to a Yandex victory. I’m even thinking 2-0
On the PARIVISION vs. Rune Eaters series
Well… you know me. Mag’s team has been feeding me all tournament, and I can’t help but go with it. At least one map for RE! Obviously, the opponents get stronger with every series, but with RE’s predictable heroes and strategies, it seems like they don’t care who they’re playing against. Especially since PV didn’t really face any truly strong opponents in the tournament, and when they faced Spirit, they lost a map. So it’s possible to beat them. All in all, from a fan’s perspective, this will either be a rout or a very beautiful and incredible story.
Earlier, PARIVISION coach Clement “Puppey” Ivanov shared his expectations for the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026 playoffs: “The playoffs will be much tougher, so we’ll see how it goes. We’re playing well right now.”
Photo by Rustam “Adekvat” Mavlyutov.
