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Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators earned 2-0 wins on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the BLAST Slam III playoff stage in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Spirit continued a surprise run from Round 1 of the bracket, winning its third match in three days by beating Team Tidebound in the quarterfinals. Gaimin Gladiators blanked Aurora Gaming.

The $1 million Dota 2 tournament began with a single-day group stage featuring two round-robin groups of five teams apiece. All matches were best-of-one. The top teams received byes into the semifinals, the second-place finishers were seeded into the quarterfinals, the third-place teams were seeded into Round 2 and the fourth- and fifth-place teams were placed into Round 1.

The playoff stage will run through Sunday in a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final.

On Friday, Team Spirit prevailed over Team Tidebound in 41 minutes and 55 minutes on red. Denis “Larl” Sigitov of Russia led Spirit with an average kills-deaths-assists ratio of 9.0-4.0-14.5.

Gaimin Gladiators beat Aurora Gaming in 33 minutes on red before pulling out a lengthy 81-minute triumph on green. American Quinn “Quinn” Callahan starred for Gaimin Gladiators with a 15.0-4.5-11.5 average K-D-A.

The tournament continues Saturday with two best-of-three quarterfinal matches:
–Team Falcons vs. Team Spirit
–Tundra Esports vs. Gaimin Gladiators

BLAST Slam III prize pool (prize money, team earnings)
1. $300,000, $100,000 — TBD
2. $150,000, $50,000 — TBD
3-4. $60,000, $20,000 — TBD
5-6. $35,000, $15,000 — Team Tidebound, Aurora Gaming
7-8. $30,000, $10,000 — PARIVISION, Xtreme Gaming
9-10. $25,000, $5,000 — Team Liquid, BetBoom Team

–Field Level Media