TI 2026 Team Yandex: The Colt

In the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Horse is about energy, growth, and untapped potential. For a young team bursting onto the scene, there's no better metaphor. While others have been galloping toward glory for years, Team Yandex have only found their stride this season.

They are the colt. Young, raw, restless, and unburdened by the weight of history. They haven't been worn down by years of gruelling battles. They simply run.

At The International 2026, in Shanghai, they'll be running straight at the biggest favourites.

At first glance, you might recognise most of the player names on the Yandex roster, but not necessarily because they are all seasoned veterans. Except for Saksa, a TI champion in 2022 with Tundra Esports, the rest of the team members managed in a rather short period of time to make a name for themselves on either the Yandex roster or, for some, on the teams they were previously on.

Watson and Malady were supposed to compete at TI last year if Gaimin Gladiators had not pulled the team from the tournament, while Chira Junior made his TI debut in 2024 with 1 win. DM placed third last year in Hamburg with PARVISION (Team Vision), and he is the latest addition to the Yandex line-up, having officially joined only in May this year, after winning the PGL Wallachia Season 7 title with the team as a stand-in.

Team Yandex roster

• Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov
• Ilya "CHIRA_JUNIOR" Chirtsov
• Dmitry "DM" Dorokhin
• Martin "Saksa" Sazdov
• Arman "Malady" Orazbayev
• Coach: Alexander "Accell" Litvinenko

From Cyber Goose to TI contenders

What makes Yandex’s rise so remarkable is the speed of it. In the span of a few months, the team went from Cyber Goose falling short of a qualifying spot at TI 2025 to winning their first tier one tournament by the end of 2025, and then heading into TI 2026 as the second-ranked team after PARIVISION.

Through the last few months, Yandex claimed the PGL Wallachia Season 7 and BLAST Slam VII titles, were runners-up at ESL One Birmingham and finished third at the recently concluded Esports World Cup 2026. From a team that didn't exist at this level a year ago, Yandex have become a powerhouse expected to be on the podium every single tournament, including The International 2026. Their success isn't built on a single superstar or a one strong strategy.

Adaptability has become synonymous with their name, and perhaps the tournament where they showed that the best was ESL One Birmingham 2026, where Valve dropped the big 7.41 gameplay update mid-tournament. They placed first in their group, with a 12-2 game record, on patch 7.40 and reached the playoff grand finals on the 7.41 patch.

Many have attributed their surge to Saksa, and the players themselves used every opportunity through this year’s events to talk about how his arrival impacted the team. While Watson once said that Saksa has an aura that makes the team calmer, DM detailed at BLAST SLAM VII, saying that the aura “probably manifests itself in the fact that he gives some very good global calls. And calmness probably comes precisely from the fact that there is an idea, and everyone follows it, everyone believes in it. There is no uncertainty.” At the same event, DM has also pointed out that they are one of the teams to have adapted well to the meta. That came with every team member embracing meta flavour heroes while still being able to keep a few flex picks between their cores. “It’s hard to ban us out,” said DM.

Yandex are one of the few teams who opted to stay out of the last two events ahead of TI. Perhaps not wanting to give any insight into what they are cooking for TI 20206.

Most likely, in Shanghai, the colt will no longer need to waste time learning the course; they will dictate the race, and the ability to adapt on the fly might be their most powerful asset.

More TI 2026 team previews

• Nigma Galaxy: The Show Horse
• LGD Gaming: The Trojan Horse
• BoomBoys: The War Horse
• GamerLegion: The Wild Horse
• Aurora Gaming: The Mule
• Team Resilience: The Chase Horse