PGL Bans, Maelstorm’s TI Picks and Nightfall’s Final Streak

Alchemist, Batrider and Slardar top PGL Wallachia ban list

Alchemist, Batrider, Beastmaster and Slardar were the most banned heroes at PGL Wallachia Season 8. Alchemist led the ban list, while Hoodwink, Rubick and Tiny were the most picked heroes of the event.

Maelstorm predicts The International 2026 invites

Vladimir “Maelstorm” Kuzminov suggested that Tundra, Liquid, Falcons, BetBoom, Aurora, Yandex, Xtreme and PARIVISION could receive direct invites to TI 2026. He left Team Spirit out of the list, implying they may have to play through qualifiers.

Nightfall loses another tier-1 grand final

Aurora Gaming carry Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko has now lost eight of his nine tier-1 Dota 2 grand finals. His latest defeat came at PGL Wallachia Season 8, where Aurora lost 0–3 to BetBoom Team.