Team Yandex players summed up their performance at the 2026 Esports World Cup in Dota 2
Team Yandex players Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov, Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin, and Arman “Malady” Orazbaev assessed the team’s performance at the 2026 Esports World Cup in Dota 2 in a team vlog.
watson: Well, top 3, I guess. Consistently in the top 3. [What do you think about today’s game? Vici didn’t put up much of a fight at all, did they?] Yeah, I think we just played better than yesterday. We had no miscommunications during the draft; everyone was on the same page, and we were all communicating. We just played better than yesterday. [Is finishing in the top 3 of the tournament a good result for you, or is only first place good enough?] Well, I’m still upset because we lost to PARIVISION in such a silly way. I think we could have easily won this tournament. Anyway, we’ll prepare for TI; I think we’ll fix our mistakes and try to win TI.
DM: We slipped up on one day, and that cost us the finals, but to be honest, I’m very proud of how we performed overall in this tournament. I think we played respectably against many good teams, including 1w and Team Spirit. We played quite well in our group, which, in my humble opinion, wasn’t an easy one. Yes, we really messed up the draft against PARIVISION, but they had an 80-to-20 advantage in the draft, and we played three maps—not even two. That shows that even in the toughest situations, this team can pull through and show character. So I’m completely proud of the team; obviously, I’m disappointed that it turned out this way, but it would have been much more frustrating to lose with a 50-50 draft and simply due to individual mistakes than to lose when the entire problem was a complete lack of coordination during the draft. And, basically, we’ve identified that as a mistake, and we’ll be working on it leading up to TI. Or rather, we’re already working on it, you could say.
Malady: Hi, everyone. As you know, the tournament is over for us. Some people thought we played well, but I think we could have played much better. I think we definitely didn’t play our best against PARIVISION, but we worked on our mistakes, managed to beat Vici Gaming, and took third place. Well, let’s not dwell on it; let’s not think about the past anymore. Let’s look to the future and live in the present. Ahead of us is the main event of the year—The International. I think we’ll put on a solid performance right there at The International. Stay tuned.
Earlier, during a live stream on Twitch, watson shared some tips on farming in the top lane: “If you’re playing a carry, try to stay in the lane as long as possible—never rush off to the ‘triangle.’”
