Dota 2 The International 2026 — 16 teams confirmed, $1.6M base prize pool, Shanghai Aug 13

Dota 2 The International 2026 — 16 teams, $1.6M prize pool, Shanghai

Valve has confirmed the 16 teams competing at The International 2026 in Shanghai, with PGL returning as the production partner for the third consecutive year. The event runs August 13-23, 2026 at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, with a base prize pool of $1.6 million — Valve's standard base pool since 2022 (Valve retired the Battle Pass / Compendium crowdfunding model after TI 2023).

This article covers the qualified teams, the format, the prize pool breakdown, and the early betting favorites.

The qualified teams

Direct invites (7) — based on 2025-2026 DPC standings:

Regional qualifiers (9):

Rebranded teams (4) — Valve prohibits gambling sponsors on the TI broadcast. 4 teams play under rebranded tags:

• Iron Wing = 1w Team (ex-Tundra Esports, Pure/bzm/33/Ari/Whitemon)
• BoomBoys = BetBoom Team
• TEAM VISION = PARIVISION
• HULIGANI = L1GA TEAM

The rosters and form are unchanged — only the broadcast tag is different.

The format

The International 2026 uses a two-stage format:

Group stage (Aug 13-16) — "Road to The International"

• 16 teams play a Swiss-system bracket over 4 days
• 5 rounds total, every match best-of-3
• Round 1 (Aug 13, 02:00 + 05:00 UTC): 8 matches, all 0-0 teams paired
• Round 2 (Aug 13, 08:00 UTC): 8 matches, 1-0 vs 1-0 and 0-1 vs 0-1
• Round 3 (Aug 14): 2-0 vs 2-0, 1-1 vs 1-1, 0-2 vs 0-2
• Round 4 (Aug 15): 3-0 advancement, 2-1, 1-2, 0-3 elimination
• Round 5 (Aug 15): 3-1 advancement, 2-2, 1-3 elimination
• Aug 16: Elimination Round — 5 Bo3 matches between the 3-2 and 2-3 teams, winners advance to the playoffs

Qualification paths:

• 3 wins → qualified for the upper bracket of the playoffs
• 3 losses → eliminated
• 2-2 after Round 4 → Aug 16 Elimination Round

Final field after the group stage: 3 teams directly qualified, 5 more from the Elimination Round, 8 total in the playoffs. 3 teams eliminated (0-4, 1-4 records).

Playoffs (Aug 20-23) — "The International"

• 8 qualified teams in a double-elimination bracket at the Oriental Sports Center
• Day 1 (Aug 20): UB SF1 (1v4) + UB SF2 (2v3), LB R1 (5v8) + LB R1 (6v7)
• Day 2 (Aug 21): LB R2 (losers of UB SF1 + UB SF2), UB Final, LB R3
• Day 3 (Aug 22): LB Final
• Day 4 (Aug 23): Grand Final (Bo5, with upper-bracket advantage)
• All series Bo3 except the Grand Final (Bo5)

The prize pool

Base pool: $1.6M, distributed as:

The crowdfunded portion is not included — Valve has not run a Battle Pass or Compendium since TI 2023. The 2024-2026 TIs all have a fixed $1.6M pool.

For comparison:

• TI 2021 (last Battle Pass): $40M total ($1.6M base + $38.4M crowdfunded)
• TI 2022 (Battle Pass cancelled): $1.6M
• TI 2023 (final Battle Pass): $2.0M ($1.6M base + $0.4M crowdfunded)
• TI 2024-2026 (no Battle Pass): $1.6M each

The early favorites

Three teams stand out based on the 2026 competitive season results:

1. TEAM VISION (PARIVISION) (+300)

The EWC 2026 champions. TEAM VISION (PARIVISION under the broadcast tag at TI 2026) won the Esports World Cup in July with a 12-1 series record. Satanic (18 years old) is the breakout carry of the season, and No[o]one's mid-lane is the best in the EU region. The team to beat.

2. Team Falcons (+350)

The TI 2024 + TI 2025 defending champions. Falcons is the only team to win back-to-back TIs in the DPC era. The roster (skiter, Malr1ne, ATF, Cr1t-, Sneyking) has played together since Aug 2023. A three-peat would be a generational achievement.

3. Team Spirit (+500)

The 2-time TI champion (TI 2021, TI 2023). Yatoro and Collapse are the most-decorated active duo in Dota 2. Spirit qualified through the EU regional qualifier in June.

How to watch

The International 2026 is broadcast in 8+ languages, with the English production run by PGL. The official channels are:

• Twitch: twitch.tv/dota2ti (English)
• YouTube: youtube.com/dota2
• Douyu: 999 (Chinese)
• Bilibili: 7738320 (Chinese)
• Twitch: dota2ti_ru (Russian)
• Twitch: dota2ti_es (Spanish)

The English channel has been a PGL production since 2024 and is widely considered the best Dota 2 broadcast in the scene — 5-camera in-game coverage, a dedicated observer team, and a desk of ex-pro analysts.

We track PGL's official channel at /channels/dota-2-ti-2026. The /dota2/ti-2026 page has the live embed of the channel when it's live, plus a popout-to-mini-player link for watching while you browse. The /news section will publish day-by-day recap articles during the tournament.

FAQ

Q: When does the group stage start? A: August 13 at 02:00 UTC. The first 4 Round 1 matches run at 02:00 and the next 4 at 05:00 UTC.

Q: Is there a Battle Pass for 2026? A: No. Valve retired the Battle Pass / Compendium model after TI 2023. The 2024-2026 TIs all have a fixed $1.6M pool.

Q: Is there a group draw? A: No pre-assigned groups. The Swiss bracket is reshuffled after each round so teams with the same W-L record play each other. Round 1 matchups are seeded by DPC standings.

Q: Why is the prize pool lower than 2021? A: Valve's decision to stop running a Battle Pass in 2023 reduced the crowdfunded portion. The 2024-2026 prize pools are intentionally lower to reduce the financial pressure on Valve and on the team ecosystem. Teams are still profitable through the DPC system (team stipends + sponsor deals).

Q: What patch is TI 2026 on? A: Patch 7.41d (released Aug 1, 12 days before the tournament). No balance patch is expected during the group stage.

Q: Where can I watch TI 2026 live? A: We track PGL's official channel at /channels/dota-2-ti-2026. The /dota2/ti-2026 page has the embed. For day-by-day recaps, the /news section will publish articles during the tournament.

Q: How can I follow specific teams? A: Each team's individual roster is on Liquipedia and the Dota 2 Pro Circuit website. For live game tracking, OpenDota provides real-time draft, gold, and XP graphs at opendota.com. The matches are also on the /dota2/ti-2026 page as cards with team names, scores, and stream links.