Yandex and Tundra head into the upper bracket finals of ESL One Birmingham 2026

Today saw ESL One Birmingham 2026 kick off its playoff stage, with two upper bracket series, as two teams secured themselves a guaranteed top 3 finish.

ESL One Birmingham 2026 had already seen some amazing action from the Group Stage, with tiebreakers, upsets, and a brand-new patch dropping during the first part of the event. However, now that that we have waved goodbye to 8 of the 16 teams, it was time to turn our attention to the playoffs. For the opening day, we would see two upper bracket series, as the top two teams from each group met, with a guaranteed top 3 finish on the line.

Read more: Get rdy: Competitive guide for March 27th-April 2nd

While the winning teams would enter the upper bracket finals, the two losing teams would have the lifeline of the lower bracket if they were to find a shot at glory at ESL One Birmingham 2026.

An epic upper bracket finals is set

Team Yandex and Team Spirit were the two teams first on stage, as they looked to secure a spot in the upper bracket finals. While both teams showed great performances in their respective groups, it was Yandex that came out swinging in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov was instantly back to his best, as his Beastmaster went 21-1-16. Although Spirit tried to fight back, they were shut down, as Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk was never allowed to get off the mark on his Clinkz.

Spirit, not letting go, were able to claim a solid victory in Game 2, even in the face of Yandex controlling the net worth due to an Alchemist pick. With the series tied, Yandex did not mess around, and the final game was completely one-sided. With zero deaths for either of their core players, Yandex punished Spirit and took a 2-1 series win. The win sees Yandex become the first team to secure a guaranteed top 3 finish at ESL One Birmingham 2026.

The second series would be between Aurora Gaming and Tundra Esports, and this was an intense series. Having been almost completely unbeaten during the Group Stage, losing only one game along the way, Aurora were thought to be untouchable. However, coming into the series, Tundra seemed hungry to repeat their recent victory at DreamLeague Season 28. In the first game, Aurora was unable to really make their draft work, while Tundra breezed through their opponents and took the lead.

While it seemed as though there would be no Game 3, with Tundra dominating Aurora for most of Game 2, a new patch means some crazy plays. Aurora steadied themselves and found their resolve, fighting back from the brink of defeat and tying the series in emphatic fashion. Another amazing battle came out between these two teams for their decisive game. But this time it was the Neta "33" Shapira Largo that was miles ahead, and eventually part of Aurora’s demise. With a 2-1 win, Tundra marched into the upper bracket finals, while Aurora will now need to survive the lower bracket.

ESL One Birmingham 2026 continues on Friday, March 27th, with three elimination series. The first day of playoff action is over, but everything is set to heat up even more as we head towards an epic grand final on Sunday and a champion being crowned.