Xtreme Gaming defeated Parivision 2-1 on Saturday to make the final day of ESL One Birmingham 2026 to guarantee the team’s best Tier 1 result since The International 2025.
Xtreme will play Yandex in the Lower Final early on Sunday, before the Best of 5 Grand Final, where Tundra awaits the winner.
Xtreme overcome resurgent Parivision
The Chinese roster seemed unlikely to make a deep run at ESL Birmingham after a middling Group Stage, which saw them go 6-8 overall for a 1-4-3 series record in the Bo2s.
However, as Bo2s gave way to Bo3s, Xtreme has consistently found solutions in their series to continue to progress from Lower Bracket Round 1 to the Lower Final.
That pattern was epitomized in their series against Parivision, who themselves had gained incredible momentum throughout the tournament.
The roster, now under Dota 2 legend Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov as coach, initially looked in danger of missing playoffs, but after the 7.41 patch dropped, the roster barely suffered a scratch.
2-0s over Falcons and Aurora in the Lower Bracket continued that form, and that form seemed to hold as they crushed XG in Game 1.
That momentum was deftly halted by XG in Game 2, who carefully managed their disadvantage early in the game to prevent Parivision from snowballing.
The team cleverly managed ganks and fights to eke out small advantages, which eventually paid off with a Game 2 comeback win.
Game 3, in contrast, leaned in Xtreme’s favour, with Parivision caught having to force thankless plays to attempt to equalise the matchup.
It was not enough as XG protected their supports and maintained their advantage to close out the series and prove their ability to close out tough matches.
You can discuss ESL One Birmingham 2026 on Insider Gaming’s Discord.
For more content from ESL One, see our interview with Falcons TI 2025 winner, ATF.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
More from Darragh Harbinson
