South America, The International 2026 regional slots, and the meta stagnation—highlights from the La Sopa podcast with Tio Inka
Timur Kadyrov
Commentator Paul “Tio Inka” de la Cruz discussed the form of South American teams throughout the season and the allocation of regional slots for The International 2026 on the La Sopa podcast. Here’s a quick rundown of the highlights in our article.
On South America’s struggles at the end of the season
Tio Inka compared South American teams to students trying to cram everything at the end of the semester: their efforts are recognized, but there’s no consistency throughout the year. He noted that PlayTime made a comeback with Héctor “Wits” Orozco Alsa and qualified for the EWC, while HEROIC dominated everyone at the last tournament after a slump, but overall, it was a tough season for the region.
On the allocation of TI slots and the Chinese qualifiers
De la Cruz called it unfair that North America was given a separate slot, considering that GamerLegion was the only team from the region to compete all year. In his opinion, South America didn’t deserve any invites this year, so the best solution would have been to combine the two Americas and give them two slots to share. At the same time, Paul emphasized that he fully supports Valve’s decisions regarding China and Eastern Europe, and considers analysts’ criticism of China’s two slots and Xtreme Gaming’s invite to be unfounded.
On the rumor about Tianming and the future of the True Sight format
Commenting on the rumor that the Yakult Brothers’ support player escaped from the hospital to play in the qualifier finals, Tio Inka called it both an “awesome story” of dedication and a display of extreme irresponsibility. He emphasized that this was an unjustified risk for a tournament where the team “won’t even make it out of the group stage.” Speaking about True Sight, the caster stated that Valve simply has no desire or interest in working on it, so fans should switch to the vlogs of the esports organizations themselves.
On the meta stagnation, Yuma’s form, and comparing LGD to PlayTime
According to the commentator, the current patch has completely run its course; new strategies aren’t worth waiting for, and all matches will boil down to specific counter-picks. At the same time, Tio Inka noted that LGD Gaming’s success at BLAST Slam VII was greatly aided by the tournament format, and only a head-to-head matchup will reveal the true strength between LGD and PlayTime. Speaking of Yuma Langle, de la Cruz described him as an inconsistent player who is capable of carrying the team and making a difference on the map only when he’s on a roll and having a good day.
Read also:
- Tio Inka on the TI 2026 slot allocation: “I think it’s unfair that North America was given a slot” (first part of the podcast).
- Tio Inka on True Sight: “Valve simply has no desire or interest in dealing with this” (second part of the podcast).
- Tio Inka: “The main problem is that this patch has completely run its course, and there’s nothing left to squeeze out of it” (third part of the podcast).
Earlier, commentator Paul “Tio Inka” de la Cruz discussed the Bolivian national team at ENC 2026, the team that could qualify for ENC from South America, and the coach of the Argentine national team at ENC on the La Sopa podcast.
Photo: Paul “Tio Inka” de la Cruz.
Timur Kadyrov
