Mortalles shared his predictions for Day 2 of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026 survival stage
Commentator Dmitry “Mortalles” Arzhilovsky shared his predictions for the match outcomes of the second day of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup 2026 Survival Stage on his personal Telegram channel.
Quotes are reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation intact
On the Aurora Gaming vs. Rune Eaters match
Definitely. Aurora should easily advance to the playoffs. They’re lucky with this opponent, in any case. And Aurora has more than enough experience for these playoffs. I hope they’ll easily close it out 2-0 without any surprises. RE barely managed to beat VP. This time, their opponent is in a completely different league.
On the Team Spirit vs. Team Liquid match
These Liquid guys are a strange bunch. They’re still pressing the buttons well, but their strategies are very questionable. They should have swept a team like XG 2-0 without a fight, but it ended up being a struggle. Spirit is in excellent form, and with Miposhka, they’ve started playing with more confidence. They have a deeper roster, Larl isn’t slumping, and their collapses lead to aces. Everything’s in Spirit’s favor. Can Liquid pull off the match of their lives? Sure, they can. Do we believe it’ll happen? Not really. Spirit to win by any score. Hope they pull it off.
About the BetBoom Team vs. LGD Gaming series
Match of the day. Some might say the matchup isn’t as flashy as the last one, but this match could turn out to be more evenly matched. BB has played both very poor and incredibly strong picks in this tournament. LGD can still draft very poorly. They won’t get Huskar, and they’re unlikely to get Batrider. But LGD is motivated to redeem themselves after last Int. They’ll have to go above and beyond. I don’t think BB will lose 0-2, but they’re certainly capable of winning by that score.
On the 1w Team vs. Vici Gaming match
I don’t think VG’s path to this stage will benefit the team. First, their series against Playtime was postponed, then canceled altogether. All of that takes a toll. Both teams played well in the group stage, but 1win is definitely the favorite heading into the draft.
Lina could be the star of this series. Both teams are running her, and neither has lost a game with her so far. I’m also expecting VG to swap Lina for Invoker. It was Invoker who knocked Xm out twice. The main thing is to avoid a series where yet another European team leaves VG no chance and makes for a boring match.
Earlier, commentator Rustam “Adekvat” Mavlyutov shared his expectations for the Team Spirit vs. Team Liquid match: “Liquid finally showed a semblance of good Dota 2 on the third map yesterday. That might be enough for Spirit.”
Photo by Dmitry “Mortalles” Arzhilovsky.
