LGD Gaming and 1w Team won their last-chance matches Saturday to nab the final two spots in the playoff bracket at the $750,000 BLAST Slam VIII event.
Also Saturday, PARIVISION and Team Spirit won their seeding matches and will begin the playoffs with byes into the upper-bracket semifinals.
Sixteen teams began the Dota 2 tournament, which will reward $270,000 to the champion ($200,000 player prize, $70,000 team share).
The double-elimination group stage runs concluded Friday. The first-place teams in each group (PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, Team Spirit and Team Yandex) advanced to the seeding matches, the second-place teams moved on to a last-chance round, and the other eight teams were eliminated.
The double-elimination playoff bracket runs from Thursday through next Sunday in Attard, Malta. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
On Saturday against GamerLegion, LGD Gaming lost the opener in 60 minutes with GamerLegion on Dire, but rebounded with 35- and 45-minute wins on Dire and Radiant to advance. Maximo “Wits” Orozco Alza of Peru posted a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 18-5-30 to pace LGD.
1w Team also opened with a loss against OG, falling in 44 minutes with OG on Radiant, then notched consecutive victories on Dire in 25 minutes and 28 minutes to move on. For 1w Team, Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov of Bulgaria led the way with a K-D-A ratio of 24-7-33.
PARIVISION swept Aurora Gaming 2-0 with 28-minute and 44-minute victories on Dire and Radiant to earn a bye in the upper-bracket semifinals. Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov of Russia had a strong performance, posting a 24-5-22 K-D-A ratio.
Team Spirit took a 37-minute loss to Team Yandex, which was on Radiant, but bounced back with 27-minute and 46-minute wins on Radiant and Dire to earn the other bye in the upper-bracket semifinals. For Spirit, Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk of Ukraine performed well with a K-D-A ratio of 34-9-36.
BLAST Slam VIII prize pool (player prize, team share):
1. $270,000 ($200,000, $70,000)
2. $135,000 ($100,000, $35,000)
3. $95,000 ($75,000, $20,000)
4. $65,000 ($50,000, $15,000)
5-6. $35,500 ($25,000, $10,500)
7-8. $20,000 ($12,500, $7,500) – GamerLegion, OG
9-12. $11,500 ($7,500, $4,000) — Xtreme Gaming, Team Nemesis, BetBoom Team, Team Liquid
13-16. $7,000 ($5,000, $2,000) — Level UP, Natus Vincere, MOUZ, Yakult Brothers
–Field Level Media
