Grayne commented on the matchups in the knockout stage of The International 2026
Commentator Anton “Grayne” Afanasenko shared his thoughts on the selection of opponents for the knockout stage of The International 2026 on his personal Telegram channel.
The quote is reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation intact
The rules for the final round are simple—teams that went 3-2 in the group stage choose their opponent from the 2-3 bracket. This resulted in the following matchups:
Falcons vs. Vici Gaming
Aurora vs. BoomBoys
Team Spirit vs. TeamResilience
Iron Wing vs. GamerLegion
LGD vs. Yandex
It all seems clear enough, but how did Aurora end up choosing BB? I get that they know them way better than the others and won a best-of-3 easily yesterday, but THESE ARE BOOMBOYS! Given the history of the rosters, could this be something personal on Egorich’s part? A very strange decision that’s bound to come back to haunt Nightfall and company.
By the time LGD’s pick came up, all the other opponents had already been taken, so the guys were left with Yandex. This is the match of the day for me. This is the most unpredictable matchup, where the outcome is completely up in the air. As far as I’m concerned, Yandex isn’t ready for this bracket at all, while LGD is revealing new sides of themselves as the tournament progresses. It’s really disappointing to lose the tournament favorite before the main stage even begins, but right now, I’d rather see Topson on stage than a team that’s been picked apart.
Read also: Save commented on the victory over Aurora Gaming in the knockout stage of The International 2026
Earlier, Anton “Grayne” Afanasenko, a commentator for the Russian-language broadcast studio, spoke about the level of organization of the recent Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026: “In my personal opinion, this was the weakest tournament in terms of preparation.”
Photo: Anton “Grayne” Afanasenko.
