cross-posted from: https://feddit.nu/post/22278515
The International 2026
Streams
DotaTV:
Auto-spectate command:dota_spectator_auto_spectate_games 19719Coverage
Schedule
ID | Team | vs. | Team | Result | Cntdown (SGT) | PDT | EDT | GMT | CEST | AEST | Format :–|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: | :–: LBF | Team Yandex | vs | Team Spirit | >!0:0!< | 10:00 | 19:00 | 22:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 12:00 | Bo3 GF | TEAM VISION | vs | LBF winner | >!0:0!< | 13:00 | 22:00 | 1:00 | 5:00 | 7:00 | 15:00 | Bo3
Countdown times are in SGT. All times are subject to change based on the length of matches and delays.
Yeah, it’s heartbreaking but the better team did win. I really think they should have drafted differently, but even in this game they had chances. So many small moments - that time Omnislash went into the illusion instead could have kept momentum for Vision instead of shifting it towards Spirit. Also I think Satanic should have itemized differently, he needed Abyssal and Skadi I think, building for an ult that just got Aeon Disked or Ghost Sceptered etc was just bait.
As the casters were saying, Juggernaut basically needed 3 more item slots to feel like a good carry that game. He’s just not a viable hero with her ultimate being what it is. Halfway through the match, I found myself thinking that they should make omnislash a regular ability and make blade fury his ultimate or something like that.
The hero needs something, you can’t have as much of his power budget as this invested into an ultimate that is as easily and cheaply counterable as Omnislash.
Would an Ahgs that gives Omnislash built-in Nullifier be too broken?
Maybe. The thing about nullifier is that any of the other 4 heroes on your team can build it too. And even if you fix that issue, there’s still the fact that there’s still too much of a change that you jump away to different targets.
The problem with omnislash is that it’s just too RNG to be useful in pro matches. You don’t know who you’re going to hit, and you don’t know where you’re going to be when it’s over. That’s fine for pubs, but can’t work in pro matches. And then there’s the balance issue - buff it too much and Jugg becomes a smurf hero, or first phase ban in pro matches. Bounty hunter is another great example of this - it’s either in the dumpster or first phase-banned.
It’s hard to make a hero that works both at 1k MMR and in the pro scene, and at all MMR levels in between too. So we end up seeing a lot of bland heroes in tournaments because it’s really easy to balance the game around all the heroes’ HP pools. The tanky strength core meta (like carry DK that felt like it was meta for 3 years) was really what killed my interest in watching the pro scene.
Well, that was a bit rambly, but with all of that said, this year was a lot better I have to say - really refreshing to see all the magic-based linueups. Seeing teams trying to burst through heroes with just enough mana/abilities/damage amp was really what made all the fights fun to watch.
I don’t mind a bit of a ramble!
Yeah, I think Omnislash is just a conceptually bad ultimate for pro Dota. Even this final game had that moment where if Omnislash didn’t jump into the illusions Satanic gets a double kill instead of dying and Pari would have increased their momentum instead of losing it. So you’re definitely right about the RNG being a huge problem too. I still think the fact that it’s so easy to counter is a bigger problem than RNG, though. There were way more instances that were ruined by saves and Aeon Disk/Ghost Scepter than by unlucky jumps.
Agreed with Bounty Hunter too, although in the other direction. It’s broken on a fundamental level and I don’t see how you balance it in a way that makes it appropriately good and viable. Maybe removing the damage amp from Track, but I fear that will make him a never-pick again.
Also about your last paragraph, I completely agree. The general style of play this TI was great, even with the long games, with mostly fun Dota to watch and cool team fights. Maybe a tad too few comebacks, is the only thing I was wishing for, but I also remember the rubber band patch and that wasn’t great either so 🤷♀️
The magic damage meta is so much more interesting that right-click damage. Every fight, you’re on the edge of your seat wondering if they’re going to be able to burst down the main hero, or are they going to run out of mana/spells/cooldowns. Teams have to coordinate their spells and abilities which just makes for much more interesting analysis. It’s just much cooler than watching HP bars steadily tick down from right clicks.
You’re definitely right about all the saves in the game making heroes like Jugg unviable. The game has evolved a lot over the years with a lot more itemization, and the game continues to get better and better, but it’s also made many of the original heroes feel pretty unloved. A lot of the new mechanics in the game haven’t been backported to them. Look at Muerta for example - a viable carry because her ultimate goes through ghost scepter (right?) and she has a better built-in farming mechanic too. So yeah, Jugg does need a little more in his kit, but you could probably say the same about a lot of the old heroes too (especially carry ones).
I 🤔 Spirit figured out game 5 late-game. “The attacker team wins.” Jug and Lifestealer were more vulnerable if caught by surprise and the ally heroes were in a bad formation. Spirit wanted to be the attacker team so they could slay Vision.