Topson plans to return to competitive: players' comments after the group stage of The International 2026

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13 min.

The group stage of The International 2026 has come to an end. Based on the results, eight teams have advanced to the tournament’s playoffs. The main stage matches begin on August 20, but for now, we invite you to check out the most interesting comments from the tournament participants, in which they shared their impressions.

Particular attention was focused on LGD Gaming, which, just before the start of TI, was forced to replace Santiago TaiLung Olivosa Agüero with Topias Topson Taavitsainen.

The two-time The International champion hadn’t appeared on the Tier 1 scene for two years. Nevertheless, Topson stated that the meta has hardly changed, and he expected more from his opponents at the year’s main tournament:

Of course, they’re good. It’s just that before I joined LGD, I might have had the feeling that they’d simply destroy us. Because I hadn’t played on the professional scene for two years. But now it seems to me that any team can be beaten.

All the theory and stuff — it’s very standard “Dota.” At least for the last few years, that’s exactly how it’s been. Even when I played for Tundra in 2024, the meta itself was pretty much the same.

Even though LGD failed to make the playoffs, Topson gained confidence in his own abilities and ideas, experienced the thrill of playing at The International, and now plans to resume his career:

I was surprised by how badly I wanted to win and how much it bothered me to lose.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to end my career in 12th place. It’s an unpleasant feeling. I’m definitely thinking about playing one more season and then seeing how things go. We’ll see if any good teams even want me. That’s the first thing. The offer would have to be very good for me to consider playing again, because I have a very stable life as a streamer. So for me to give up that life and start competing again, the offer would have to be very attractive.

The team’s coach, Igor kaffs Furtado, also commented on LGD’s result. He noted that the season was unsuccessful due to a variety of factors, but thanked the organization and Topson, who came to their aid at the last minute:

I’m disappointed. We messed up. I believe we created too many unnecessary situations throughout the year that made things way harder than they should have been. Of course, HEROIC dropping us and the TaiLung situation really didn't help, but I'm just focusing on what I could control.

To the fans who expected more, I hope you accept my sincere apologies. And a big thanks to LGD Gaming for believing in the team and going through this turbulence with us. Also, to Topson for almost carrying us to the playoffs. Not sure what the future looks like, since I'm not in control of the situation. But the dream lives on...

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The group stage proved to be a tough one for Team Spirit as well. Although the team confidently advanced through the first three rounds, the loss to Team Vision took a toll on the players, leading to a series loss against Nigma Galaxy and a battle for a spot in the main stage against Team Resilience.

Magomed Collapse Khalilov spoke about the team’s state after the match against Team Vision:

In the series against Vision, they just completely crushed us. We talked it over afterward and decided that they’re simply a stronger team, and we’re not quite there yet. But at some point, it seems like we lost our confidence. You could see that in the series against Nigma. After the series against Nigma, I honestly felt like I wanted to die.

Collapse also singled out the performance of Aleksei not me Kosmynin, who stood out with some spectacular moments during the group stage:

First of all, I’d say he’s trying to create highlights. He’s playing in his first TI, so it’s a bit of a hype for him. He doesn’t say it himself, but I think he’s on hype right now. He’s trying to pull off crazy stuff like stealing Aegis. He’s trying to play well. Right now, he’s playing better than all of us.

In the elimination match, Spirit still managed to secure a spot in the playoffs, where their first opponent will be Iron Wing.

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The players of Team Vision, who advanced from the group stage without a single loss in the series, attribute their team’s success largely to coach Clement Puppey Ivanov, as well as Evgeny Noticed Ignatenko — who recently replaced Dmitry DM Dorokhin on the roster — and Alan Satanic Galliamov, who has been playing incredibly well at this TI.

Comment from Vladimir No[o]ne Minenko:

I think Noticed saved our team, just like Puppey did — in a huge way. Noticed came in, and everything suddenly got much better. Before that, it was a complete nightmare. We barely made it into the top 4 at ESL One Birmingham 2026 thanks to a patch — that’s how bad things had gotten for us.

Comment from Andrey Dukalis Kuropatkin:

Satanic is very young and talented — that’s one part of our success. The second is Puppey. He teaches him a lot about how to play and be aggressive; they communicate a lot. Another part of their success is the team atmosphere. Sometimes we struggle to maintain it. We have bad days, just like everyone else. But in official matches, we always try to stay in good spirits and cheer each other on.

Although after the group stage, the community has named Team Vision as the team that’s a cut above the rest, No[o]ne stated that he expects a tough battle in the playoffs:

I think this will be the toughest TI in terms of participants in the entire history of the event. We’re glad we finished so early and didn’t have to play in that bloodbath (elimination matches) for a spot in the playoffs. It’s going to be tough.

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Team Liquid coach William Blitz Lee also offered a thoughtful comment after advancing to the playoffs:

This is just incredible. It feels very similar to the moment we won TI. It’s just a huge sense of relief, a flood of emotions. Seeing so many teams here makes me realize that you can’t take this for granted. It’s just always very difficult to even make it to this stage.

Blitz noted that success quickly creates the impression that a high seed in the tournament is a given, which never corresponds to reality.

It’s as if everyone should just let you pass them by, but there’s always a team that craves victory more than you do, that wants it more than you do, and you have to respect that — and you need to learn to earn your spot all over again, because one of the main things that happens to TI-winning teams is complacency — that feeling of: “Of course we’re better than you,” but that only lasts a week, and then suddenly you’re at the next tournament and you’re back to being a nobody.

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The International 2026 is taking place from 13.08.2026 to 23.08.2026 in Shanghai, China. The tournament’s prize pool already exceeds $3,000,000. You can follow the championship in detail in the coverage.

Earlier, CyberScore presented the final statistics for the championship’s group stage.