Team Spirit defeated Team Vision 3-2 in a five-game grand final at The International 2026 in Shanghai on Sunday. The win delivered a record third Aegis of Champions, moving Spirit clear of OG as the most decorated organisation in Dota 2 history.
The decider that settled a rivalry
The match at the Oriental Sports Center became only the fifth TI grand final to go the full distance. Team Vision had already beaten Spirit twice during the tournament, forcing the eventual champions into the lower bracket.
Spirit fought back through eliminations of Team Liquid, BoomBoys, and Team Yandex to earn a rematch. With the series tied 2-2, the deciding game stretched into a 64-minute contest.
Collapse and rue turn the final
Team Vision seized an early lead in Game 5, but offlaner Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov swung the momentum with a Lotus Orb bait play. Deep into the match, support Aleksandr "rue" Filin saved his low-HP Lifestealer carry to force a costly dieback from Vision's Alan "Satanic" Gallyamov.
That 63rd-minute skirmish broke Vision's resistance. Spirit closed out the series and claimed the $1,426,422 first prize.
Carry Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Collapse are now the first players to win three Internationals, adding the 2026 shield to their titles from 2021 and 2023. Coach Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov also earned his third Aegis, his first as a coach.
"We once dreamed of earning the first Aegis," the team posted afterwards. "Then we did it twice... we've won The International for the third time."
A single series settled a regional rivalry between two Eastern European squads and ended a decade-long wait for an organisation to break the tie at two championships.
