The International 2026

PTG Database Analysis

Valve’s 2026 edition of The International opened with a 16-team online Swiss group stage on August 13–16. Eight teams then advanced to the double-elimination main event at the SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, held August 20–23. The arena pre-show began at 9:30 a.m. China Standard Time; the opening ceremony started at 10:00 a.m. on August 20, and matches on subsequent days began at 10:00 a.m. The best-of-five Grand Final started at 2:15 p.m. China Standard Time on August 23.[2][6][8]

Team Spirit Dota 2 won the championship by defeating Team Vision Dota 2 3–2. The official field also included Aurora Gaming Dota 2, BoomBoys Dota 2, Iron Wing Dota 2, Team Falcons Dota 2, Team Liquid Dota 2, Team Yandex Dota 2, Xtreme Gaming Dota 2, Nigma Galaxy Dota 2, Team Resilience Dota 2, Huligani Dota 2, OG Dota 2, GamerLegion Dota 2, LGD Gaming Dota 2, and Vici Gaming Dota 2.[2][3][7]

Valve organized the tournament, while Perfect World, the mainland China operator for Dota 2, supported organization and delivery in China. Secretlab identified itself as the Official Chair and Desk Partner. SteelSeries sponsored and organized the event’s cosplay competition; its USD 18,500 prize pool applied to that side event. Valve’s reviewed event reports do not state a final combined Dota 2 tournament prize-pool total.[4][5][2][9]