dyrachyo on Topson joining LGD for The International 2026: “The best possible option—you simply can’t find anyone better.”

It seems to me that, given the current reality, it’s not exactly profitable to organize LAN events like this for Dota 2. You can’t insert ads in the middle of a match, like you can in Counter-Strike, so that might be why sponsors aren’t coming. It’s kind of like soccer. I recently thought that Dota 2 is like soccer: the game goes on nonstop, and you can’t really squeeze in any ads. There’s only one break. And even then, in Dota, you can do it between games and between series.

But in CS, I think you can insert something during every round. This probably also affects profitability for companies and sponsors. And that’s why they don’t want to spend money—after all, everything is done primarily to make a profit. That’s probably the trend in the world right now: cutting costs and increasing revenue.

To be honest, this tournament seemed a bit like a caricature to me. Not in terms of how entertaining the matches were, but in terms of the tournament itself.

It’s hard to take that in when you have something to compare it to. And when people say that the Valorant event was really cool and awesome, but in “Dota” you’ve got an auditorium with 30 chairs on one side and 30 on the other—it just looks funny, that’s all. I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s, as they used to say, “the killer of The International.” The Riyadh Masters is going downhill even faster than TI.

I’m not sure it’s wise to make such bold statements that esports is dead. When esports dies, that’s when there won’t be any tournaments. But people are still playing.

It’s just that in Dota esports, at least, has reached a point where 80% of the players are from the CIS, the remaining 15%—if not more—are Europeans, and the rest are from the rest of the world, who will never win a tournament and aren’t even close to winning. So, essentially, “Dota” is the EU plus the CIS.

They play and constantly compete for titles. They make some changes to their rosters here and there, but it’s always the same players. They just shuffle the players around, and that’s it. China—it’s hard to say at this point whether it’s even remotely competitive. South America—LGD was a ray of hope, but it’s still not quite there. North America has been dead for a long time, and Southeast Asia is also long gone.

New talent just isn’t emerging, probably because the game is too complex and time-consuming. And why would you play Dota 2 when you have Counter-Strike 2, which is more dynamic, more fast-paced, and has a more developed ecosystem? They even have academies where players are recruited for the main roster. So in that regard, everything there is cooler and more interesting.

I think this is the best possible option—you simply can’t find a better one. Topson plays public matches, and he’s a versatile player. I’ve seen different opinions on this—that they need a carry—but Topson can be a carry, or he can be a support, or he can do just about anything. It’s no coincidence that he won two The Internationals in a row. He’s definitely a very strong player.

And he has both strengths and weaknesses. I think this is the best possible replacement, but it all depends on how LGD plays.

To be honest, I have more faith in Team Falcons, Team Spirit, and Team Liquid than in PARIVISION. It seems to me that the “Int” finals aren’t always about skill—they’re about character, mentality, and composure. And that’s where they might be lacking something. Because, after all, “The Int” isn’t like the EWC in an auditorium. “The Int” is “The Int.”