Tundra Esports are the first grand finalists of ESL One Birmingham 2026

A guaranteed top 2 finish at ESL One Birmingham 2026 awaited the victor of the upper bracket finals between Tundra Esports and Team Yandex.

The penultimate day of ESL One Birmingham 2026 action was upon us, and it would give us a huge upper bracket finals right in the middle of two elimination series. Team Yandex and Tundra Esports both came through Group A, with the teams being first and second, respectively. Their best-of-two series ended in a draw, but now, a best-of-three would send the winner through into the grand finals, securing a guaranteed top 2 finish at the event. For the losing team, the lower bracket finals would be where they would need to make their stand on the final day.

Tundra destroy Yandex in the upper bracket final

Having missed out on PGL Wallachia Season 7, Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko returned to the team for ESL One Birmingham 2026. Today saw exactly why the player was definitely missed between Tundra’s DreamLeague Season 28 victory and now. With an unstoppable Dragon Knight in Game 1, ending with 16-0-11 and a Rampage to close things out, he put Tundra in prime position for another grand final showing.

Needing a win to keep the series going, Yandex decided to pick up the hardly ever seen Ogre Magi. However, the draft from Tundra was all over them right from the start. By 25 minutes, it was all over, with Tundra outclassing them from start to finish. The GG call was swift, as Yandex would be dropping down into the lower bracket finals where they await their next challenger.

For Tundra, they march forward into another grand finals, where they will be hoping to take a second win for 2026 and cement their Esports World Cup 2026 direct invite. Sunday, March 29th, we will see the champion crowned as ESL One Birmingham 2026 heads towards an exciting conclusion.