Patryk Stachowiak
PGL Wallachia Season 9 runs from September 19 to 27 at the PGL Studios in Bucharest, Romania, with 16 invited teams fighting over a $1,000,000 prize pool. Nine days of offline Dota 2, a Swiss group stage, a double-elimination bracket and a best-of-five Grand Final to close it out. The invite list landed on September 16, and it is a heavy one.
Tournament Snapshot
| Dates | September 19-27, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Venue | PGL Studios, Bucharest, Romania |
| Organizer | PGL |
| Teams | 16, all invited |
| Prize Pool | $1,000,000 |
| Format | Swiss Group Stage + Double Elimination Playoffs |
| Broadcast | Twitch and YouTube |
How the Format Works
The group stage uses a modified Swiss system. Every series is a best-of-three, and teams keep playing until they either collect three wins and advance or three losses and go home. No free rides, no soft opening matches after round one, because the Swiss pairing pushes winners into winners and losers into losers almost immediately.
Eight teams survive into the playoffs, seeded into a double-elimination bracket. All bracket series are Bo3 with one exception: the Grand Final is a Bo5. If you are new to reading brackets like this, our guide on how to bet on sports breaks down the basics, and the sports betting glossary covers the terminology you will see on odds boards during the event.
The 16 Teams and Full Rosters
Positions are listed 1 through 5, followed by the coach where a team has one.
| Team | Pos 1 | Pos 2 | Pos 3 | Pos 4 | Pos 5 | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1w Team | Shad | bzm | 33 | Ari | Whitemon | MoonMeander |
| Aurora Gaming | skiter | Stojkov | Ws | Mira | Kaori | kpii |
| Conventus Stellarum | Ghost | lorenof | DM | OmaR | panto | KuroKy |
| GamerLegion | Timado | RCY | Fayde | Bignum | Speeed | Mangusu |
| Hokori | payk | Jam3s | Vitaly | Asao | Gardick | Astarte |
| LGD Gaming | Wits | SumaiL | Davai | Thiolicor | Sneyking | BuLba |
| MOUZ | 423 | Supream^ | BOOM | mrls | MoOz | ImmortalFaith |
| Natus Vincere | gotthejuice | Niku | pma | daze | Riddys | Cy- |
| Pibbles Corp | Lumière | Lalatroni | Ryu | Mjz | Prada | None |
| Pipsqueak+4 | rincyq | Copy | Malik | Ekki | aik | Mag~ |
| PlayTime | Yuma | 4nalog | fcr | Elmisho | KJ | Astini |
| Team Cobra | Parker | Lumpy | Frank | CoYoTão | Stinger | Neo |
| Team Nemesis | JaCkky | Mo13ei | SaberLight | Jhocam | NARMAN | Arthur |
| Team Yandex | watson | CHIRA_JUNIOR | ATF | Saksa | Malady | Accell |
| Xtreme Gaming | Ame | Xm | zeal | XinQ | BoBoKa | Maps |
| Yakult Brothers | Lou | Emo | Beyond | kaka | 天命 | Yakult |
Stand-Ins to Watch
Three rosters arrive in Bucharest with changes, and two of them are visa-related, which is the usual tax on any LAN in Europe.
- 1w Team field Shad on position 1 as a stand-in for Pure, who could not sort out a visa. Asking anyone to fill that carry slot next to bzm, 33, Ari and Whitemon is a tall order.
- Aurora Gaming bring in Stojkov at position 2 for Mikoto, who is out for personal reasons. skiter still anchors the farm, with Mira and Kaori supporting.
- Team Nemesis take the biggest hit with two replacements. Mo13ei and SaberLight step in for Ken and Jabz because of visa issues, leaving JaCkky to hold the core together alongside Jhocam and NARMAN.
Regional Spread
The invite list is unusually South American heavy. Hokori field an all-Peruvian five with Astarte coaching, Pibbles Corp are also entirely Peruvian and the only team here without a coach on the bench, and Team Cobra mix four Peruvians with Brazilian CoYoTão. PlayTime lean Brazilian around Nicaraguan carry Yuma and Peruvian Elmisho.
China sends two. Xtreme Gaming put Ame on the farm with XinQ and BoBoKa behind him plus Malaysian zeal in the offlane, while Yakult Brothers run an all-Chinese lineup built around Emo and veteran support kaka. Europe and the CIS make up most of the rest, and Conventus Stellarum stand out for having KuroKy on the sideline instead of in the game.
LGD Gaming are the strangest passport collection in the field: Peruvian Wits, Pakistani SumaiL, Belgian Davai, Brazilian Thiolicor and American Sneyking under BuLba. On paper that is a lot of individual pedigree and very little shared history, and honestly that is exactly the kind of roster a Swiss stage punishes or rewards fast.
Our Take on the Field
We think the Swiss stage is where this tournament gets decided. Three losses ends your week, and with 1w Team and Team Nemesis playing with substitutes from day one, the early best-of-threes look wide open. Aurora Gaming and Xtreme Gaming are the cleanest bets to reach the top eight. Natus Vincere, with an almost fully Ukrainian roster around gotthejuice and Kazakh daze, are the team most likely to surprise people who have not watched them recently.
Maybe the most interesting matchup potential sits between the Peruvian teams and the Chinese pair. Different tempos, different draft priorities, and no shared scrim history worth speaking of.
Watching and Betting Safely
Every series is broadcast live by PGL on Twitch and YouTube across all nine days. If you plan to put money on any of it, keep stakes small, treat odds on stand-in rosters with extra caution, and read up on your rights as a player before you deposit anywhere. Always gamble responsibly. Our approach to ratings and coverage is laid out in the editorial policy.
First matches start September 19. Rosters can still shift if visa situations change, so check the lineups again before the group stage opens.