Team Spirit wins third Dota 2 International

Team Spirit has won The International 2026, defeating TEAM VISION 3-2 in a five-game grand final in Shanghai. The victory makes Spirit the first organization to win Dota 2's world championship three times, according to a report from Esports Insider.

Spirit's path to a historic third Aegis was not straightforward. After qualifying through Europe, the team started the group stage 3-0 before consecutive 0-2 losses to TEAM VISION and Nigma Galaxy forced them into an elimination match. Spirit beat Team Resilience 2-1, then swept Iron Wing to begin the main event. A 1-2 loss to TEAM VISION in the upper bracket semifinal sent Spirit to the lower bracket, where they swept Team Liquid, BoomBoys, and Team Yandex 2-0 to earn a grand final rematch.

Recent Champions' Journeys

The 2025 title was claimed by Team Falcons after a grinding tournament run. Falcons finished the Swiss stage 3-2, entering the elimination round. They then swept Team Spirit 2-0 and beat Team Tidebound 2-0, BetBoom Team 2-1, and PARIVISION 2-1. Xtreme Gaming pushed the grand final to five games, but Falcons won the decider for a 3-2 victory.

In 2024, Team Liquid ran the main bracket without dropping a single map. After a 4-2 group stage and a 2-1 seeding decider win over BB Team, Liquid swept Xtreme Gaming, Cloud9, and Gaimin Gladiators 2-0. They then won the grand final 3-0, becoming the first organization to win TI with two completely different five-player rosters. You can review more team stats from past events.

Dominant Runs and Historic Firsts

Team Spirit's 2023 victory was nearly flawless. The team went 8-0 in the first group phase and swept Shopify Rebellion 2-0. In the main event, they beat Virtus.pro and Team Liquid 2-1, then swept LGD Gaming 2-0. Spirit dropped only two maps all tournament, ending the final 3-0 against Gaimin Gladiators.

Tundra Esports barely dropped a game during the TI11 playoffs in 2022. After leading their group, Tundra swept OG and Team Aster 2-0 before beating Team Secret 2-1 in the upper bracket final-their only map loss in the playoffs. They then dismantled Secret 3-0 in the grand final.

OG made history by becoming the first back-to-back TI champions, winning in 2018 and 2019. Their 2018 run is considered the greatest Cinderella story in TI history, as they qualified through the European open qualifiers. A year later, they returned to top their group and win the title again, a feat no other organization has matched. Check the current standings to see who might challenge these records next.

Tournament Legacy and Records

The International has staged 15 editions since 2011, with 11 organizations lifting the Aegis. Team Spirit is now the most successful with three titles, followed by OG and Team Liquid with two each. OG remains the only organization to have won back-to-back Internationals.

The largest prize pool in TI history was at TI10 in 2021, totaling $40,018,195, even though it was played without a live audience. That year, Team Spirit made an incredible underdog run, losing their first main event series before fighting through the lower bracket to win the final 3-2 against PSG.LGD. The full roster details for every champion are documented in the source report.