Yatoro on the victory on the second map against Team Yandex at The International 2026: “It was all clear.”
Team Spirit carry Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk explained in an interview during The International 2026 broadcast how the Grand Final differs from other matches in the year’s premier tournament.
On his confident performance on the second map against Yandex
I just saw everything, I don’t know. The enemies were showing themselves, and I knew where Furion [Nature’s Prophet. — Ed.] was going to go. Everything was clear.
[Question: “Why did the game go so smoothly?”]
I’d say we had an advantage in the draft in some ways—specifically, they had a weak core trio. We caught them off guard in a few places; they overreacted and got too worked up. We just capitalized on their mistakes and were able to control the game easily.
On the differences between the Grand Final and other matches at The International
Nothing at all, really. Well, best-of-5 is probably a cool format. It’s interesting—you can test things out, mess around a bit. But other than that—it’s like there’s no pressure.
[Question: “Have some fun”—what do you mean by that?]
Giving certain heroes to the enemy to test them out. So Yarik [Miposhka] is thinking it over right now, and we’ll see.
[Question: “Is there more room for error because the match is longer?”]
That’s part of it, too. And if you wipe out their best heroes, it’ll be hard for them to make a comeback.
About the Grand Final
Thank you for watching. I hope the final will be exciting.
Read also: rue on The International 2026: “My first time in the TI Grand Final. I hope the team carries me.”
Team Spirit is currently playing against PARIVISION (TEAM VISION) in the Grand Final of The International 2026. The current score is 1-1; PARIVISION evened the series after losing the first map. The tournament is taking place in Shanghai, and the prize pool has surpassed $3.3 million.
