Team Falcons and Nigma Galaxy advance to the Playoffs of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup

BetBoom Team, Rune Eaters, Xtreme Gaming, Aurora Gaming, Team Liquid, and PlayTime will have to play in the Survival Stage.

Day five of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 saw Group Stage play for Groups A and B come to a close, with reigning The International (TI) champions Team Falcons and fan-favourite team Nigma Galaxy advancing directly to the Playoffs.

While Falcons topping Group A is no big surprise, Nigma Galaxy claiming the top seed is certainly unexpected. Fresh off a strong run in the TI 2026 qualifiers , Nigma Galaxy have risen to become a real contender in the EWC and beat out group favourites Aurora Gaming for a spot in the Playoffs.

Read on as break down all of the action in day five of the Dota 2 EWC Group Stage:

Falcons complete dominant run through Group A to qualify for Playoffs

The final day of Group Stage play for Group A saw Falcons soundly sweep Xtreme to finish as the top seed of Group A with a dominant 9-1 record. After looking shaky for much of the 2025-2026 competitive season, Falcons seem to have returned to their winning form just in time for the EWC Playoffs and their defense of the Aegis of Champions in TI 2026 next month.

BetBoom finish as the second seed of the group with an 8-2 standing, having taken down GamerLegion in a 2-0 sweep to end their Group Stage campaign. While BetBoom still have to play in the Survival Stage, they are expected to still make the Playoffs.

Against all odds, Rune Eaters bagged the third seed of Group A with a respectable 5-5 record. Rune Eaters swept Poor Rangers in their last match which, when combined with surprising 1-1 draws with BetBoom and Xtreme, give them enough wins to advance to the next stage.

as the fourth seed with a 4-6 record, a disappointing showing for a team that earned a direct invite to TI 2026 . The Chinese squad will be facing an uphill battle in the Survival Stage, as they need to win back-to-back matches to secure a spot in the Playoffs.

Meanwhile, GamerLegion fall short of the Survival Stage after only managing a 3-7 record after a 2-0 start in day one. It's an especially disappointing outcome for a team that qualified for TI 2026 as the sole representative for North America . Poor Rangers didn't have much in the way of expectations, though they would have liked to win more than one game before exiting the tournament.

Nigma Galaxy beat out Aurora for the Playoff spot in Group B

There was a lot of excitement around the last day of Group Stage play in Group B, as Nigma Galaxy and Aurora headed into it tied for the top spot with 7-1 records apiece. With Nigma Galaxy and Aurora having already played each other to a 1-1 draw, whoever had the better results in the final day will secure the Playoff spot.

While Nigma Galaxy had the easier opponent on paper in PlayTime, the latter have won all six games they have played so far. Meanwhile, Aurora were matched up against a Liquid squad that remain dangerous despite shaky form as of late.

PlayTime looked like they had Nigma Galaxy on the ropes in game one of their series, but Artem “Lorenof” Melnick on Storm Spirit willed his team to a 65-minute comeback to keep their Playoff hopes alive. Lorenof notably finished that crucial game one win with 11 kills and 12 assists on four deaths.

Nigma Galaxy then completed the series sweep in 43 minutes behind another standout performance from Lorenof, who closed out the series with 14 kills and assists apiece against three deaths as Nature's Prophet.

Lorenof's heroics weren't wasted, as Aurora were forced to a 1-1 draw by Liquid shortly before the Nigma Galaxy-PlayTime series came to a close. With an impressive and unexpected 9-1 record, Nigma Galaxy secured the top seed of Group B as well as a direct berth to the Playoffs. This has been the best Nigma Galaxy have looked in years, and they've chosen no better time to do it just as the season is nearing its climax.

While Aurora fall short of the Playoffs, they are still expected to join Nigma Galaxy there as one of the favourites to make it out of the Survival Stage. Liquid also advance to the Survival Stage as the third seed with a 6-4 record. PlayTime, who were already guaranteed to play in the Survival Stage in day three, will go there as their group's fourth seed with a 4-6 standing.

Level UP and L1GA TEAM also played one final match despite both squads already getting eliminated in the previous day. Level UP swept that series to at least bow out with a win.

Here are all the results for day five of the Dota 2 EWC Group Stage:

Group A

• Team Falcons 2-0 Xtreme Gaming
• BetBoom Team 2-0 GamerLegion
• Rune Eaters 2-0 Poor Rangers

Group B

• Aurora Gaming 1-1 Team Liquid
• Nigma Galaxy 2-0 PlayTime
• L1GA TEAM 1-1 Level UP

Here are the final standings for Groups A and B of the Dota 2 EWC Group Stage:

Group A

• Team Falcons: 9-1 - Qualified for Playoffs
• BetBoom Team: 8-2 - Qualified for Survival Stage
• Rune Eaters: 5-5 - Qualified for Survival Stage
• Xtreme Gaming: 4-6 - Qualified for Survival Stage
• GamerLegion: 3-7 - Eliminated
• Poor Rangers: 1-9 - Eliminated

Group B

• Nigma Galaxy: 9-1 - Qualified for Playoffs
• Aurora Gaming: 8-2 - Qualified for Survival Stage
• Team Liquid: 5-3 - Qualified for Survival Stage
• PlayTime: 4-4 - Qualified for Survival Stage
• L1GA TEAM: 1-7 - Eliminated
• Level UP: 0-8 - Eliminated

What is the Dota 2 Esports World Cup?

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.

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