Glow up of the year: Team Yandex

Team Yandex has just wrapped up 2025 in the best way imaginable, with a trophy in their hands. Their stunning championship run at DreamLeague Season 27 wasn’t just the organisation’s first Tier 1 victory, for most of the roster, it was their first taste of glory at the very top.

No one had Team Yandex as the favourite heading into the year’s final tournament. It was a true underdog story in every sense. Team Yandex came into the tournament via Division 2 matches and crushed the biggest contenders for the title, beating Team Spirit twice in the playoffs to claim the championship title.

But Yandex’s unpredictable win makes so much more sense if we look at their past couple of months.

Their entire Dota 2 journey is barely six months old. It all began in June 2025, when they signed the Cyber Goose stack led by scene veteran Alexey "Solo" Berezin. Back then, Cyber Goose created quite the stir in the Eastern European regional qualifiers. They placed second in The International 2025 qualifiers, missing the ticket to the year's most prestigious tournament, but a week later, they grabbed the qualifier spot in EEU for the Esports World Cup. That’s when Team Yandex signed the stack and began their journey in Dota 2.

However, a series of bottom-of-the-pack placements triggered a few roster changes. Three players from the original roster were let go, including Solo. It wasn’t until October that the roster began to take its final shape, welcoming carry Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov and position 5 support Arman "Malady" Orazbayev, both fresh from the disbanded Gaimin Gladiators.

However, as they were about to start in Division 2 at DreamLeague at the beginning of October, Yandex were still missing one player.

The Saksa effect

Fortunately for them, TI Champion, Martin "Saksa" Sazdov was still on the bench at Tundra Esports, and Yandex could reach an agreement with his organisation to get him on loan. Bringing him in didn’t just fill a slot, it sparked a total transformation. Yandex went 23-1 in Division 2 at DreamLeague to win the whole thing and qualify for the $1,000,000 DreamLeague Season 27. That was their first win, and although it was against tier-two and tier-three teams, it gave them momentum, and they ran with it.

Team Yandex roster

• Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov'
• Ilya "CHIRA_JUNIOR" Chirtsov
• Evgeniy "Noticed" Ignatenko
• Martin "Saksa" Sazdov (on loan)
• Arman "Malady" Orazbayev
• coach: Alexander "Accell" Litvinenko

In November, they placed a solid 3rd at FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2, falling only to Team Falcons. By December, they were already competing in finals, reaching the last day of the single-elimination BLAST Slam V. They avenged their loss to Falcons in the semis, only to be stopped by Tundra Esports in the grand finals.

They were knocking on the door.

Three days after BLAST Slam V concluded, DreamLeague Season 27 began, and Yandex kicked the door down. They powered through the playoffs, besting both Tundra Esports and Team Spirit to claim the title.

Team Yandex results November - December 2025

For all team members except Saksa, the DreamLeague S27 victory marks their first Tier 1 title. The four core members of Team Yandex—watson, CHIRA_JUNIOR, Noticed, and Malady—represent Dota’s new generation, each having started their professional careers only between 2019 and 2021.

It is quite clear that adding Saksa to the roster had a major impact. Yet one question lingers: how long will he stay? The details of his loan deal were never made public. If he stays with Yandex for the rest of the season, all eyes will be on them as they build toward The International 2026.