Six teams opened the $750,000 BLAST Slam VIII with group-stage victories Tuesday, including sweeps by PARIVISION and Aurora Gaming.
Also advancing to their respective winner matches were LGD Gaming, 1w Team, Team Spirit and Team Liquid, each prevailing by 2-1 scores. One of the four groups, Group C, does not begin play until Wednesday.
Sixteen teams are competing in the Dota 2 tournament, with $270,000 reserved for the winner ($200,000 player prize, $70,000 team share).
The double-elimination group stage runs Tuesday through Friday, and all matches are best-of-three. The first-place teams in each group advance to the seeding matches, the second-place teams move on to a last-chance round and the other eight teams are eliminated.
The seeding matches will decide which two teams begin the playoffs with byes into the upper-bracket semifinals. The two last-chance matches will determine the final two teams in the six-team playoff bracket. From there, a double-elimination bracket runs from Oct. 8-11 in Malta. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
In Group A on Tuesday, PARIVISION defeated Level UP in a tidy 35 minutes and 21 minutes on Radiant. LGD Gaming opened against Xtreme Gaming with a 41-minute win on Radiant, fell in 33 minutes on Dire and rebounded for a 44-minute win, again on Radiant.
In Group B, 1w fell behind when Natus Vincere scored a 44-minute win on Dire. They rallied to defeat NaVi in 50 minutes on Dire and 49 minutes on Radiant. Similarly, Spirit lost to Team Nemesis in 48 minutes on Dire before scoring 46- and 42-minute wins, also playing on Dire.
In Group D, Aurora blanked GamerLegion in 37 minutes on Dire and 42 minutes on Radiant. Team Liquid faced Yakult Brothers and sandwiched a 36-minute win on Radiant and 37-minute win on Dire around Yakult’s 31-minute triumph on Radiant.
The tournament continues Wednesday with six matches:
–PARIVISION vs. LGD Gaming (Group A winner match)
–Level UP vs. Xtreme Gaming (Group A loser match)
–Team Spirit vs. 1w Team (Group B winner match)
–Team Nemesis vs. Natus Vincere (Group B loser match)
–Team Yandex vs. MOUZ (Group C opening match)
–BetBoom Team vs. OG (Group C opening match)
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)
9-12. $11,500 ($7,500, $4,000)
13-16. $7,000 ($5,000, $2,000)
–Field Level Media
