Dota 2 International main event starts August 20

The Dota 2 International main event begins August 20 at the SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai. Valve has confirmed the eight surviving teams, the double-elimination format and an August 23 best-of-five grand final.

Dota 2 International main event: confirmed details

Team Vision, Team Liquid, Nigma Galaxy, Team Falcons, BoomBoys, Team Spirit, Iron Wing and Team Yandex reached the arena stage. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. China Standard Time on August 20, with matches beginning at the same local time each day. The bracket gives upper-bracket teams a second route after one loss, while a second defeat ends a run.

What changes for players

The field mixes established international winners with teams seeking a first Aegis, but the bracket matters more than reputation now. Upper-bracket survival preserves preparation time and limits the number of elimination series a team must play. Lower-bracket teams face a compressed route in which one bad draft or slow read of the tournament meta can end the week.

Timing and wider context

The main event runs from August 20 through August 23. The grand final is the only best-of-five series listed in Valve’s announcement; earlier arena series follow the published bracket format. Viewers should use the official event page for any match-order changes.

The feature list and timing above reflect the developer’s announcement published on August 19, 2026. Future hotfixes can adjust balance or availability, so live values should be checked against the current client.

Source: official announcement. All release dates, named features and numerical values in this report come from that primary source; the analysis is our own.

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