
Team Spirit coach Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov spoke about the teams’ drafts in an interview before the second map against BetBoom Team at The International 2026.
He’s effective in the lane against Underlord because he can always trade blows thanks to his healing ability. Plus, his “totem” is strong against Ember Spirit because our draft is more geared toward short-term attacks, and the Healing Ward restores resources. So I think Juggernaut is a good pick.
As for Puck—I think this hero isn’t very strong overall because of the meta: heroes are always farming a lot. They farm up a bunch of items, so they always have a lot of health, and because of that, it’s very hard for Puck to deal enough damage to kill them. They always end up healing back; he can’t level up quickly, can’t perform any quick, proactive actions, and can’t support well.
But in this game, they have a much better draft. It’s not just about how you play overall—it’s more about character selection. But in previous games, they had, in my opinion, simply the worst picks. They couldn’t do anything.
At the time of publication, the score in the Team Spirit vs. BetBoom Team match in the lower bracket semifinals of The International 2026 is 1–0. The winning team will face Team Yandex for a spot in the championship grand final.
Photo by Adela Sznajder, Esports Foundation.