Two members of Team Spirit take a break as the TI 2026 winners change things up

After winning The International 2026, Team Spirit’s roster will see a few changes, as two members take a break from competitive Dota 2.
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Jarrad "Belandrial" Adams
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Team Spirit’s performance at The International 2026 was nothing short of spectacular. But with the new season now in full swing, the team has made a couple of changes to their roster before they kick things off at BLAST SLAM VIII. Between their offlaner and coach, they could return at a later stage, as both Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov and Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov have decided to take a break from competitive Dota 2.

Team Spirit changes up their roster ahead of BLAST SLAM VIII

While many teams are kicking off their season at the currently ongoing PGL Wallachia Season 9, Spirit will only come out to play on September 29th when BLAST SLAM VIII kicks off. With roster changes by the dozen, Spirit has decided to also alter their roster – with two members taking a break.

Announced on September 21st, both Collapse and coach Miposhka are leaving the roster, having given a lot to the team at TI 2026. Team manager for Spirit, Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov had the following to say on the changes:

Both departures were expected and had already been discussed during the season. There's no drama, human resources just aren't infinite. I'd like to thank Yaroslav for his help: it was great to reunite with him, to hear his jokes again: some were really funny, others less so. It felt fantastic to find common ground and, most importantly, to achieve brilliant results. I hope we're saying, "see you soon" to each other instead of "goodbye"."

Following on from this, Spirit will be bringing in Bohdan “Batyuk” Batiuk, who replaced Collapse earlier in 2026 at PGL Wallachia Season 8. Additionally, another Spirit icon returns as the new coach, Ilya "Illidan" Pivcaev.

The full Spirit roster is now:

  • Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk
  • Denis “Larl” Sigitov
  • Bohdan “Batyuk” Batiuk
  • Alexey “not me” Kosmynin
  • Alexandr “rue” Filin
  • Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev (coach)

There are only a few days remaining before Spirit's newest roster will kick off their season, but it will definitely be a different look without two players that helped them become the first team to lift the Aegis of Champions three times. With that said, BLAST SLAM VIII will be a telling stage for the roster, as they hope to avoid the curse that befalls TI winners.

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