Nigma sensationally knocked Falcons into the lower bracket: results of the first day of TI2026 playoffs
The first day of the playoff stage at The International 2026 has come to an end. Team Spirit, TEAM VISION, Team Yandex and Nigma Galaxy advanced in the upper bracket, while BoomBoys, Iron Wing, Team Liquid and Team Falcons fell to the lower bracket.
On the first map, after a great start, Team Spirit failed to consolidate their advantage, and Iron Wing managed to even the game and then take the lead. However, several key deaths of Iron Wing core players led to the loss of three barracks and the subsequent fall of the Throne due to a split push by Yatoro on Lone Druid. He finished the map with a score of 18/0/9. On the second map, Team Spirit played much more competently and took it fairly easily.
The series between BoomBoys and TEAM VISION turned out to be tense. After trading maps, the teams moved to the third, where everything ended in favor of TEAM VISION. Despite a stronger draft on the third map, TEAM VISION managed to snowball the opponent and thereby secured their spot in the upper bracket semifinal.
On the first map of the Team Liquid vs Team Yandex matchup, Team Yandex took a strong combination of Largo and Io, but the attempt to dominate the opponents early and finish the game quickly failed. Nisha on Nature's Prophet had a colossal amount of gold, which allowed Team Liquid to win fights and break structures. The key moment came when Team Liquid decided to take the last lane while having Aegis on Nature's Prophet. However, thanks to excellent Relocate plays by CHIRA_JUNIOR, who saved watson several times, Team Yandex managed to fend off, kill Nature's Prophet without buyback, and break the enemy Throne. The second map was a rout by Team Yandex — Team Liquid made the same mistake again, handing Io to the opponents, and predictably fell to the lower bracket.
On the first map of the series between Nigma Galaxy and Team Falcons, KuroKy's team overcomplicated the lane swap, which left lorenof in a difficult situation. As a result, Nigma Galaxy failed to execute their draft and lost. On the second map, Nigma Galaxy managed to execute a similar draft, picking Nature's Prophet and Dark Seer for the second time. The team confidently won the map and evened the series. The final map was the most tense. Both teams gave their all and did not want to fall to the lower bracket. skiter on Tiny twice tried to turn the game around, but it was not enough, and Team Falcons headed to the lower bracket, where tomorrow they will play an elimination match against Team Liquid.
The International 2026 takes place from August 13 to 23 in Shanghai, China. The prize pool currently stands at $3.2 million. Follow all the latest news on our Telegram channel.