KheZu praised Team Spirit’s performance in their match against BetBoom Team at The International 2026
Analyst Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann highlighted Team Spirit’s performance on the first map of the lower bracket semifinal against BetBoom Team (BoomBoys) in a video on his YouTube channel.
On hero selection
BoomBoys had the last pick and chose Templar Assassin. It’s a standard pick, but it doesn’t counter Slardar at all. Collapse still led in net worth. I see the problem with TA as being that she doesn’t shut down Slardar. TA and Lina are heroes of the same archetype: they’re ranged and don’t want to be jumped. They need a lot of space.
Tiny, Slardar, and Ember are good against them because they can close the distance and withstand damage. They’re fast, mobile, and can get in, strike, and get out. I really think BetBoom should have gone with something more powerful.
I could see Troll Warlord working here. I think Troll would fit in perfectly. He outplays Slardar in the lane, and he’s a good carry matchup against Tiny. If desired, you could build a Manta against Slardar and Ember; there’s also the option of Aghanim’s Scepter. I’m not sure about the build, though. He’s good with KotL—you can play him as a semi-carry under Lina. And I’d like that much more than TA.
Spirit has excellent bans—Terrorblade and Naga Siren. Those are also two great options. Necrophos was also banned earlier. That would probably have been the very best option against that trio. And that’s exactly why I think Spirit’s draft is pretty good.
On the supports’ play
One thing Spirit’s players do very often—and what makes their supports so good—is that they give them the lane. Yatoro is in the jungle right now. Earlier, rue farm-fed him creeps, and now rue can take the lane. He also farmed a lot for Larl, which allowed Larl to level up quickly, while not me was able to take mid and reach level six before the ten-minute mark.
On mid-game execution
In Dota, there are several concepts that have always existed, but how quickly you execute them is crucial. When you’re ahead, like Spirit is here, you usually control several lanes that are being pushed, but you can’t control more than two. At this point, they control top and mid, allowing BetBoom to regain control of the bottom lane.
This will allow Yatoro to destroy the T-2 in the top lane. When you’re ahead, you can push two lanes at the same time, but three is too greedy. They took the T-2 on the top and mid lanes. It’s safe to assume that BetBoom has regained control of the bottom lane and that someone will remain there. But now it’s crucial how quickly you execute this. Yatoro deliberately reveals himself in the top lane, then instantly goes out of sight and immediately teleports to another part of the map where, as you’d expect, BetBoom players are highly likely to remain. Even if they aren’t there, you’ll be able to push the lane they control.
In the end, he finds MieRo and kills him. At this point, the BetBoom players will most likely want to rush to the top lane. They immediately teleport Lina, but look at what Spirit does: he uses Smoke right away. The team returns to the area they control and places a ward; they also have an outpost. The players are once again aiming to establish a map state where they control multiple lanes and force the enemy to run back and forth. Now BetBoom’s only option is to take control of the top lane, but they failed to do so, and now the entire map is under the opponent’s control. ...> The entire map is decided within one or two minutes. If you don’t pass this test against certain Tier 1 teams, you no longer have control of the map.
The “Dragons” defeated BB Team 2–0 in the lower bracket semifinal and advanced further in the tournament. At the conclusion of The International 2026, Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk, Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov, Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov, and Team Spirit itself became three-time world champions.
Photo by Igor Bezborodov, Esports Foundation.
