sikle: “This year’s The International set a record for the longest matches in at least the last seven years.”

Let’s summarize the data on match duration. Over the past few years
, match duration has increased significantly overall, and this year is the most telling (there will be more tournaments, so the data for 2026 isn’t entirely complete yet).

While at Tier 1 in 2024 and 2025 the average match duration was 40:31 and there were 7–7.8 matches per hour on average (6.2–6.3% of all matches), in 2026 the duration is already 42:40, and the number of average-length matches is 11.4 (8.9% of all matches). The trend is such that it’s unlikely these figures will decrease by the end of the year.

This year’s The International set a record for hourly matches—at least over the past 7 years—both in terms of number and percentage, and the average match duration is 5 minutes longer than the tournaments listed below and 2 minutes longer than the previous TI.

To be honest, I’m already tired of games of tag and hide-and-seek across the map’s endless expanses, where the enemy is forced to waste two Smokes just to find a hardworking support who’ll respawn in 15 seconds, while a more important target has already been in three different corners of the map; the endless wait for Roshan, 7-second glyphs; Baybes; heroes with a billion HP (please stop adding items from Soul Booster—it’s awful).

I’d like to speed up the game somehow, but I think the developers understand this too, which is why, for example, the mana cost of a portal has dropped from 75 to 30. What’s more, I’m sure the next major patch will address the macro aspect in some way. Personally, I miss at least the old penalties on buybacks and a slightly smaller map.

As a bonus, the image shows the top hero popularity contest (and, for a bit of fun and tears, Chen’s popularity, which has dropped to 0% over the past year and remains there). The most observant among you will notice a pattern: for example, in 2025 there were only two tournaments where hero demand reached 100%—Alchemist at Blast Slam II and Timbersaw at the same Slam, but the fifth edition.

In 2024, there were as many as 7 such heroes, which suggests an imbalance. And now, in 2026, there have already been 5 such heroes, 3 of whom (almost 4, if we consider 98.7%) are Treant Protector. In other words, we’re back in a patch where there are overpowered heroes that require strict counterplay, unlike in 2025, when teams would occasionally deviate from the “imb” strategy and could afford to let things slide in certain matches. The tree will definitely be nerfed—I’d like to see another letter patch soon, rather than waiting for the more extensive 7.42.