Maelstorm shared his thoughts on the upcoming matches in the group stage elimination round of The International 2026
Commentator Vladimir “Maelstorm” Kuzminov shared his thoughts on the matchups for the group stage knockout round of The International 2026 on his personal Telegram channel.
The quote is reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation intact
Matchups for tomorrow’s matches
Team Falcons vs. Vici Gaming
The easiest matchup for the “Falcons.” I have no idea how they managed to land such opponents while picking third.
Aurora Gaming vs. BoomBoys (BetBoom Team)
BB blew both games in the drafts by picking a start that was too difficult; even when they won those picks, they ended up out of the running. If they draft well, they’ll win.
Team Spirit vs Team Resilience
I hope Miposhka knows what he’s doing, and everything went really well at the qualifiers, because TR isn’t nearly as easy a matchup as it might have seemed at the start of the tournament.
Iron Wing (1w Team) vs GamerLegion
Well, Pure’s got this one in the bag—no chance for the other team.
LGD Gaming vs Team Yandex
The Rubicon. Will Topson make it to the playoffs, or will Yandex pull it together after all? We’ll find out tomorrow—I have no idea.
The group stage elimination round of The International 2026 will take place on August 16 in Shanghai, China. Based on the results, five teams will advance to the tournament’s playoffs, and the same number will be eliminated from the main event of the year.
Photo by Vladimir “Maelstorm” Kuzminov.
