Dota 2 The International 2026 Preview

The International 2026 is the biggest and most important Dota 2 tournament. This year, Dota 2 The International will take place August 13 – 23 in Shanghai, China. The prize pool is nearly $3,000,000, and 16 teams will compete.

Since 2022, four different teams have won the tournament, while this year Parivision, Team Yandex, BB Team, Falcons and Liquid are considered the main favorites.

Here we take a closer look at the full tournament and provide Dota 2 The International predictions. 

Dota 2 International tournament will begin with the group stage, where teams will compete in a Swiss-system format. All matches are played BO3. The top three teams will advance directly to the playoffs, teams finishing 4th – 13th will play in the elimination round, while teams in 14th – 16th will be eliminated from the tournament. 

Ten esports teams will reach the elimination round, where each team will play one match and the five winners will advance to the playoffs. The playoffs use a Double-elimination bracket, which means a team can lose once, but a second loss means elimination from the tournament. All playoff matches are BO3, while the Grand Final is BO5. 

In total, The International 2026 prize pool is nearly $3,000,000, of which 42.5% will go to the winner, which is $1,227,333. The team finishing second will receive only $375,594. 

All The International 2026 participants and regions:

• Europe: Aurora Gaming, BetBoom, Iron Wing, Team Falcons, Team Liquid, Team Yandex, Team Spirit, PARIVISION, Nigma Galaxy, L1GA TEAM
• China: Xtreme Gaming, Team Resilience, Vici Gaming
• Southeast Asia: OG
• North America: GamerLeion
• South America: LGD Gaming

As every year, The International 2026 has a high level of competition. There is almost never one clear favorite. This year, the lowest odds are given to PARIVISION (Team Vision), but the following teams are also among the favorites:

• Team Yandex
• BB Team
• Team Falcons
• Team Liquid

The 2026 Dota 2 season has had eight S-Tier tournaments, won by Liquid, Tundra Esports, Team Yandex, BetBoom and PARIVISION. It would be a major surprise if any other team won The International 2026. The betting odds to win can be seen below:

The International is the Dota 2 tournament that receives the most attention. Interest is highest in Europe and Asia, but teams from other regions also take part. Betting operators offer both outright bets and bets on individual matches. 

The best bookmakers allow bettors to choose not only the main markets in every match, but also additional betting options. The International 2026 is a good opportunity to look for value bets, as teams play with maximum motivation. We have selected several bets with strong value.

With Dota 2 The International 2026, it is not easy to single out one favorite, but when choosing the winner, most attention should go to PARIVISION. It looks like this team comes into TI 2026 in its best form. On July 19, PARIVISION won Esports World Cup, while on May 24 it won DreamLeague Season 29. 

On June 7, BLAST SLAM VII ended, with Team Yandex winning the tournament. In the Group Stage, PARIVISION finished second with an 8-3 record, but did not appear in the playoffs because of travel issues. It is clear that this team also had strong chances to reach at least the final in that tournament. 

PARIVISION’s core has been playing together for more than two years. It should be noted that “Noticed” officially joined the team only on June 20, but before that played as a stand-in and had already managed to win three esports tournaments with the team: 1win Essence I, DreamLeague Season 29 and EWC 2026. 

Excellent results and solid play in recent tournaments make it possible to believe that PARIVISION can not only reach The International 2026 final, but also win it. History shows that defending a title is not easy. Four different teams have now won in a row, and PARIVISION could be the fifth. 

If PARIVISION reaching the final is a high-probability pick, the bet on Falcons carries more risk but also strong value. The current champions arrive at Dota 2 The International 2026 to defend the title. History shows that this will be extremely difficult, but even reaching the final would be a solid result. 

Falcons is notable because all players have been competing together since late 2023. Players who have been together for almost three years know their roles very well.

Although the team has not won any S-Tier tournament this year, Falcons played in the final of the 1win Essence II tournament, which ended on August 5, where it lost to Liquid. 

Apart from Parivision, it is very difficult to single out the second main favorite. Dota 2 bookmakers give Team Yandex strong chances, and its place in the final would not be a surprise, but odds of 2.00 carry no value. Similar odds can be built through individual bets in the playoffs. 

Falcons is worth choosing only because the players already have this level of experience and know not only what it means to reach The International final, but also how to win it.

In esports, there are teams that peak at the biggest esports tournaments, for example T1 in League of Legends. During the season, it does not win many tournaments, but it has won the world championship three years in a row. 

The International begins on August 13 and will run until August 23. The group stage will be played first, while the playoffs begin on August 20. Full tournament schedule:

The International 2026 is the most important Dota 2 tournament of the year, where not only viewers but also teams focus all their attention. Every organization wants its players to show their best form right before The International begins. 

PARIVISION arrives at the tournament in excellent form and is the main favorite. Last year’s champion Team Falcons is one of the teams that could surprise the most. The team has not won anything this season, but it reached the final in the most recent tournament and will be a dangerous opponent for any team at The International. 

Only four teams will be eliminated after the Group Stage, so bets should be placed quite carefully. Teams will still have a chance to lose, but once the playoffs begin, more attention can be given to betting. All playoff matches, except the final, will be played in BO3 format. When placing bets, it is worth looking not only at team results, but also at how they perform against each other. 

When betting on Dota 2 The International 2026, the teams worth following are PARIVISION, Team Falcons and BB.