JotM on The International 2026: “This year, we saw the highest level of play ever in the finals.”
Analyst Egor “JotM” Surkov shared his impressions of The International 2026, which has just concluded, on his personal Telegram channel and commented on the dominance of Eastern European teams at the tournament.
Quotes are reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation intact
On the finals of The International 2026
The 15th International has ended, and I wanted to share my thoughts on Telegram. The last time this happened was in 2021, when Spirits lifted their first trophy. That was also a very spectacular grand final, also a 3-2 series, though this time the tournament’s prize pool was 12 times smaller.
Many people’s reactions to the finals were similar: 10 top-tier players, 2 brilliant coaches—a true pinnacle of skill in the game’s history, highlights, “Bo5 is a whole other world”—all in the best traditions of the TI3, TI8, TI10, and TI14—with which the 15th International will share a place in the memories of those who witnessed them all, uniting different generations of players through the emotions they felt while watching. Here, I can only echo everything that’s been said across various broadcasts.
On Eastern Europe’s Dominance
But I’d like to talk about this: the fact that there wasn’t a single team from China in the playoffs—and that the top 4 consisted solely of teams from Eastern Europe—has become fuel for the age-old claim that “Dota is dying,” instead of genuine joy for the people with whom we share a common language while playing the same game.
I saw how, back in 2006, the StarCraft rankings were dominated by Koreans, and I heard people say in 2016, “This isn’t our game,” when Navi were eliminated in the top 16, and I don’t want to read in 2026 that our players are dominating because “Dota is dying.”
On the claim that “Dota 2 is dying”
That would make sense if the level of play and competition were lower than in 2015–2019 and guys over 30 were taking prize spots in a game nobody cares about. This year, we saw the highest level of play ever in the finals, and the game has become much more complex since then, with millions of people around the world still playing it.
Just a year ago, the final featured the multinational Falcons with Malrin and the Chinese team Extreme, while PV and BB were in the top 3–4; this year, Spirits and Yandex prepared exceptionally well and demonstrated the highest level of play.
On the region’s achievement
On a personal note, I congratulate our region on its well-deserved high finishes, and I ask those who read this not to devalue the result of the players’ many years of hard work and the passion each of us has shown. We all deserve this triumph.
I apologize for the sentimentality and the cheesiness. There were plenty of jokes about butts on Yarik’s stream [Yaroslav “NS” Kuznetsov. — Ed.] and there will be even more jokes about them on my traditional Friday streams, of which there have already been 24 this year. Come join us. You know the numbers.
Earlier, former pro player Igor “iLTW” Filatov commented on the Grand Final of The International 2026: “This Int was really awesome, yeah. The final featured two absolutely evenly matched teams, both of which deserved to win.”
Photo by Yaroslav “NS” Kuznetsov.
