The International 2026 Scorecard: Upper Bracket Semifinals Results, Drafts & Bracket

The battle for the coveted Aegis of Champions has reached a fever pitch at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen. Dota 2’s crown jewel, The International 2026, delivered two masterclass Best-of-Three (Bo3) showdowns in the Upper Bracket Semifinals, sending two international powerhouses into the Upper Bracket Final while relegating their fierce rivals to the unforgiving Lower Bracket meat grinder.

Welcome to our comprehensive The International 2026 scorecard covering the high-stakes Upper Bracket Semifinals contested on Friday, September 18, 2026. Two-time TI champions Team Spirit went toe-to-toe with back-to-back Major titans Gaimin Gladiators, while MENA powerhouse Team Falcons squared off against the unpredictable tactical drafts of Tundra Esports.

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Upper Bracket Semifinals: Fast-Glance Series Scorecards

The updated The International 2026 scorecard for both semifinal clashes highlights thrilling comebacks and relentless high-ground pushes:

Semifinal 1: Team Spirit vs Gaimin Gladiators (Bo3 Series)

• Final Series Score: Team Spirit 2 – 1 Gaimin Gladiators
• Series Duration: 2 Hours, 44 Minutes
• Series MVP: Yatoro (Carry, Team Spirit)

Semifinal 2: Team Falcons vs Tundra Esports (Bo3 Series)

• Final Series Score: Team Falcons 2 – 0 Tundra Esports
• Series Duration: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
• Series MVP: Malr1ne (Mid, Team Falcons)

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Detailed Game Telemetry: Team Spirit vs Gaimin Gladiators (Decider Game 3)

The rubber match between Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators delivered the most tactically rich Dota 2 series of the calendar year.

Hero Draft & Lane Allocations

• Team Spirit (Dire): Yatoro (Terrorblade), Larl (Storm Spirit), Collapse (Sand King), Mira (Clockwerk), Miposhka (Treant Protector).
• Gaimin Gladiators (Radiant): dyrachyo (Chaos Knight), Quinn (Leshrac), Ace (Underlord), tOfu (Rubick), Seleri (Chen).

Key Match Milestones

• Minute 0–12 (Early Laning): Gaimin Gladiators utilized Seleri’s Chen creeps to apply ferocious tower pressure in the offlane, taking down Spirit’s tier-1 safe tower at 8:40. Quinn’s Leshrac claimed first blood on Larl at 6:12 following a haste rune rotation.
• Minute 18:25 (The Tormentor Ambush): GG attempted to force an early Tormentor objective. Mira fired a blind Rocket Flare, followed by an immediate Hookshot into the pit. Collapse channeled Epicenter from high ground, catching both Quinn and dyrachyo in a 4-man Burrowstrike. Spirit secured a 4-0 teamwipe and neutralized GG’s 4k gold lead.
• Minute 34:10 (Aegis of the Immortal): Yatoro completed his Eye of Skadi and Satanic, boasting 3,400 HP. Spirit claimed Aegis uncontested and marched down mid lane, forcing buybacks from Quinn and Ace before shattering the Radiant Ancient at 41:12.

Individual Player Statistics: Game 3

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The International 2026 Meta Trends & Draft Priority

Beyond kills and deaths, The International 2026 scorecard highlights a massive tactical shift toward persistent aura stacking and crowd-control layering:

• Ringmaster (Support): 92% Pick/Ban priority. His Impalement Arts percentage-based damage and Wheel of Wonder crowd-control have made him the most banned support hero of the main event.
• Doom (Offlane / Mid): 84% Pick/Ban rate. In a tournament dominated by hyper-mobility mids (Storm Spirit, Pangolier), Doom’s mute mechanic serves as the ultimate shutdown answer.
• Pipe of Insight & Guardian Greaves Rush: Offlaners who finished Pipe of Insight prior to the 18-minute mark won 78.6% of their matches, effectively neutralizing magical burst compositions.

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Playoff Bracket Status & Remaining Matches

With Upper Semifinals completed, the tournament structure enters its decisive championship weekend:

Upper Bracket Final (Saturday)

• Team Spirit vs Team Falcons (Winner secures direct Grand Finals seeding; loser falls to Lower Bracket Final)

Lower Bracket Round 4 (Saturday Elimination Clashes)

• Gaimin Gladiators vs BetBoom Team (Elimination Bo3)
• Tundra Esports vs Xtreme Gaming (Elimination Bo3)

Prize Pool Allocation ($2,550,000 USD Base + Community Purse)

• 1st Place (Aegis Champions): $1,150,000 (45%)
• 2nd Place (Grand Finalist): $360,000 (14%)
• 3rd Place (Lower Finalist): $230,000 (9%)
• 4th Place: $155,000 (6%)
• 5th – 6th Place: $102,000 each (4%)
• 7th – 8th Place: $64,000 each (2.5%)

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What Our Esports Analytics Found

While community chatter focused on Yatoro’s carry farm efficiency, our proprietary replay analysis pinpointed Collapse’s revolutionary wave interception routing:

• High-Ground Chokepoint Depletion: Collapse dragged Creep waves between Dire’s tier-1 and tier-2 mid towers during minutes 14 through 20. This completely starved Quinn’s Leshrac from taking the mid tier-1 tower, buying Larl the crucial 4 minutes needed to complete Orchid Malevolence.
• The Death of Naked BKB Rush: Teams rushing Black King Bar as a first major item lost 64% of their games. Teams that prioritized mobility (Blink Dagger, Eul’s Scepter) or survivability (Manta, Sange and Yasha) before BKB achieved an 81% win rate.

Bookmark this page for tomorrow’s live The International 2026 scorecard as the Aegis of Champions draws closer to finding its new owner!