Larl to miss the first tournaments of 2026

Team Spirit’s mid lane player, Denis "Larl" Sigitov will not be playing at the upcoming BLAST Slam VI and DreamLeague Season 28, the organisation announced.

Team Spirit confirmed that Larl will be absent for approximately six weeks “due to personal reasons.” This marks the second time in less than a year that Larl has stepped away from the starting lineup.

To fill the void, Team Spirit will field Marat "Mirele" Gazetdinov, the current midlaner for Yellow Submarine, as a temporary stand-in. Mirele previously substituted for Larl during FISSURE Universe: Episode 6 in the summer of 2025. During that stint, the squad saw immediate success, getting an 8-0 game win streak in the group stage and ultimately reaching the grand finals which they lost 0-3 to Team Falcons.

This time, Mirele will be playing three tournaments with Team Spirit:

• FISSURE Universe 8
• BLAST Slam VI
• DreamLeague Season 28

Team Spirit roster for upcoming tournaments

• Ilya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk
• Marat "Mirele" Gazetdinov (stand-in)
• Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
• Alexander "rue" Filin
• Nikita "Panto" Balaganyn
• Coach: Ayrat "Silent" Gaziev

Last time, Larl had to take a break because of a surgery he underwent after Esports World Cup. Due to unexpected complications, he barely recovered in the lead-up to The International 2025, and his participation was determined just before the tournament. It will be interesting to see if Team Spirit can replicate their previous success with Mirele as they navigate a packed early-season schedule without one of their key players.