In a clash of tournament favourites that some considered to be the tournament's real grand finals, PARIVISION defeated Team Yandex.

Eastern European Dota 2 juggernauts PARIVISION became the second team to advance to the grand finals of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 after they outlasted regional rivals Team Yandex, 2-1, in the semifinals. 

PARIVISION are now set to face another regional rival in BetBoom Team, who defeated China's Vici Gaming in the other semifinal match, in the Dota 2 EWC's best-of-five grand finals on Sunday (19 July). At stake will be the penultimate Tier 1 championship of the season and the lion's share of US$750,000 out of the Dota 2 EWC's US$2 million prize pool.

Claiming the Dota 2 EWC championship will hand PARIVISION their second Tier 1 tournament title this season after their first from DreamLeague Season 29 in May. More importantly, victory here will cement PARIVISION's position as the biggest favourites to claim the Aegis of Champions when the season concludes in The International 2026 next month.

Meanwhile, Yandex drop to the third place match, where they will face off against Vici Gaming ahead of the grand finals. 

PARIVISION and Team Yandex dominate Dota 2 EWC ahead of semifinals showdown

Both PARIVISION and Yandex entered the Dota 2 EWC as the two biggest favourites to claim the title, and they proved such notions correct with dominant runs through the tournament before they clashed in the semifinals.

In the Group Stage, PARIVISION finished as the top seed of Group C with a 9-1 record. They enjoyed a perfect 8-0 record through the first four days of the Group Stage, sweeping the likes of Vici Gaming, MOUZ, REKONIX, and Team Nemesis. While PARIVISION suffered their only loss of the Group Stage in a 1-1 draw against defending champions Team Spirit, they still earned a direct berth to the Playoffs.

Yandex, on the other hand, were the top dogs of Group D also with a 9-1 record. While they were forced to a 1-1 draw by OG in their first match of the Group Stage, they swept all of their remaining matches against IC x Insanity, Virtus.pro, LGD Gaming, and 1w Team. Yandex also advanced directly to the Playoffs for topping their group.

With at least a four-day gap between the end of the Group Stage and the start of the Playoffs, there were concerns that the top seeds of the Group Stage would accumulate rust during their lengthy break while the teams that had to go through the Survival Stage were able to stay in shape. 

While those concerns were given credence to by Team Falcons and Nigma Galaxy losing in the quarterfinals, PARIVISION and Yandex still looked to be in peak form in the Playoffs. PARIVISION opened their Playoff campaign by ending Rune Eaters Esports' Cinderella Run, while Yandex soundly swept Spirit and crushed their hopes to repeat as Dota 2 EWC champions.

That then set up a highly-anticipated showdown between the two biggest favourites to claim the Dota 2 EWC in the semifinals, with some even considering it the tournament's real grand finals.

PARIVISION take down Team Yandex to advance to Dota 2 EWC grand finals

The series opened with Yandex going for a physical damage-focused lineup headed by Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov's Templar Assassin and Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov's Slardar. Meanwhile, Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin on Dark Seer, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov on Mirana, and Arman “Malady” Orazbayev on Tusk provided teamfight and utility abilities.

PARIVISION opted for a tanky and hard-hitting draft with Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov on Tiny, Volodymyr “No[o]ne” Minenko on Ember Spirit, and Evgeniy “Noticed” Ignatenko on Underlord manning the frontlines, while Naltakyan “9Class” Edgar on Dark Willow and Andrey “Dukalis” Kuropatkin on Hoodwink provided crowd control and long range magic damage.

PARIVISION dominated the laning stage and prevented Yandex from hitting the mid game timing their draft was designed to do. With no momentum on their side, Yandex could do only scrounge what little farm they could find as PARIVISION relentlessly hunted them down across the map. PARIVISION eventually forced the ‘GG’ call out of Yandex after a 31-minute beatdown.

Satanic paced his team's 28-9 kill lead in game one with 10 kills and nine assists on two deaths, with No[o]ne and Noticed adding six kills apiece and a combined 26 assists against one death each.

PARIVISION looked to closed out the series in game two with a highly-mobile lineup with plenty of pickoff potential, featuring Satanic on Nature's Prophet, No[o]ne on Ember Spirit again, Noticed on Beastmaster, 9class on Keeper of the Light, and Dukalis on Ogre Magi.

On the other side of the field, Yandex chose to stand their ground with a draft focused on overwhelming teamfight prowess. Watson had Shadow Fiend, CHIRA_JUNIOR had Monkey King, DM had Kunkka, Saksa took Hoodwink, and Malady was given Enchantress.

PARIVISION looked poised to sweep the series early on, as they once again won the laning stage and had Yandex on the backfoot, notably scoring multiple kills on CHIRA_JUNIOR as he tried setting up moves to get his team back in the game. However, Yandex were able to turn the tables by winning crucial teamfights around chokepoints where their draft was much stronger. 

But PARIVISION managed to put up a stubborn defense of their base, repelling multiple siege attempts from Yandex that pushed the game past the hour mark. However, Yandex finally found their opening by winning a massive teamfight at the 63-minute mark and taking down Satanic without buyback. And after a 65-minute grinder, Yandex took down PARIVISION's Ancient to force the series to a decider.

CHIRA_JUNIOR led the way for Yandex in game two with 12 kills and 11 assists on six deaths. Meanwhile, No[o]ne had 12 kills and eight assists against four deaths in the loss.

Many expected the series to be decided by another close game as both sides entered game three with drafts that could both fight in the mid game and take things late. 

PARIVISION fielded Lone Druid for Satanic, Invoker for No[o]ne, Axe for Noticed, Windranger for 9class, and Winter Wyvern for Dukalis. Meanwhile, Yandex had Watson on Phantom Lancer, CHIRA_JUNIOR on Pangolier, DM on Enigma, Saksa on Keeper of the Light, and Dukalis on Jakiro.

But instead of another action-packed affair like game two, the series had an anticlimactic end as PARIVISION's dominance in the laning stage once again proved to be the deciding factor. Noticed played a key role in PARIVISION's supremacy by shutting down Watson early on then setting up multiple ganks in the mid game for No[o]ne to score easy Sunstrike kills on, all while Satanic was able to farm uncontested. Despite Yandex's best efforts to mount a comeback, PARIVISION forced the ‘GG’ call out of them after 37 minutes.

Noticed led PARIVISION to the Dota 2 EWC grand finals with 12 kills and 14 assists on two deaths, No[o]ne had 10 kills and 16 assists on two deaths, while Satanic finished with a clean nine kills and six assists.

What is the Dota 2 Esports World Cup?

The Dota 2 tournament at the Esports World Cup 2026 will be the last Tier 1 tournament of the 2025-2026 competitive Dota 2 season, before it culminates in The International 2026 in August. With many of the teams competing in the EWC also qualified for this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament, it should serve as a good preview for the battle for the Aegis of Champions next month.

The Dota 2 EWC features 24 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world and will take place from 7 to 19 July in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. The teams will be fighting for EWC glory and the lion's share of US$750,000, out of the tournament's US$25 million prize pool.

The Dota 2 EWC is split into three stages; the Group Stage from 7 to 12 July, the Survival Stage from 14 to 15 July, and the Playoffs from 16 to 19 July.  

The Group Stage will see the 24 teams split into four groups of six teams each to play in a single round-robin with best-of-two matches. The top team from each group will advance directly to the Playoffs, the second to fourth-placed teams will move to the Survival Stage, while the two bottom finishers will be among the first to be eliminated.

The Survival Stage will feature the 12 teams that finished third to fourth in their respective groups during the Group Stage, with four spots in the Playoffs up for grabs in a single-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The Survival Stage will open with the third and fourth seeds from different groups taking each other on, with the winners moving on to face the second place teams for the four Playoff spots.

Finally, the Playoffs will be a single-elimination bracket featuring the four teams that finished as the top seeds of their groups in the Group Stage, as well as the four teams that made it out of the Survival Stage. All matches in the Playoffs will be a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.

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