Team Falcons and Tundra Esports each won two matches on Saturday to clinch the top two group-play spots and earn byes directly to the playoff semifinals on the final day of BLAST Slam V group stage.
Both teams finished group play 10-1, but Team Falcons earned the top seed thanks to its head-to-head win over Tundra Esports on Thursday.
MOUZ, Team Yandex, OG, Team Tidebound, Natus Vincere and HEROIC finished in third through eighth places, earning spots in the play-in event. Xtreme Gaming, Execration, Yakult Brothers and Tearlaments finished in the bottom four spots and will compete in the last-chance playoff.
The $1 million Dota 2 event started with 12 teams competing in a round-robin of single-map matches. The top two teams in the group-stage standings move straight into the playoff semifinals, while the next six teams head to a play-in event. Teams that come in ninth through 12th will compete in a last-chance playoff on Sunday.
One team will advance out of the last-chance playoff into the play-in event, also on Sunday. Four head-to-head, best-of-three play-in matches will be held, with the four winners earning playoff quarterfinal berths and the other teams eliminated.
The single-elimination playoffs are scheduled for Dec. 5-7 in Chengdu, China. The quarterfinals and semifinals will feature best-of-three matches, and the grand final will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $300,000 in prize money and $100,000 in team earnings.
In two of the first five matches of the day Saturday, Tundra Esports came away with a pair of 1-0 victories over Team Tidebound and OG.
The win over Team Tidebound came in 24 minutes on green. Matthew “Ari” Walker of the United Kingdom had a 5-0-13 kill-death-assist ratio in the win.
The win over OG was harder fought, with Tundra Esports coming away with a 52-minute win on Red. Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko of Russia led in this match with a 17-7-6 K-D-A.
Team Falcons started its day with a 34-minute win on green over Team Yandex. Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf of Jordan posted an 11-2-18 K-D-A in the win.
Team Falcons then clinched the top spot with its 1-0 victory over Tearlaments in 45 minutes on green. Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak of Russia led in this match with a 13-3-11 K-D-A.
In the day’s other matches:
–Yakult Brothers def. Xtreme Gaming
–MOUZ def. Tearlaments
–HEROIC def. Natus Vincere
–Execration def. Team Yandex
–Team Tidebound def. Xtreme Gaming
–MOUZ def. Yakult Brothers
–OG def. HEROIC
–Natus Vincere def. Execration
BLAST Slam V group-stage standings
1. Team Falcons, 10-1
2. Tundra Esports, 10-1
3. MOUZ, 7-4
4. Team Yandex, 6-5
5. OG, 6-5
6. Team Tidebound, 5-6
7. Natus Vincere, 5-6
8. HEROIC, 5-6
9. Xtreme Gaming, 4-7
10. Execration, 4-7
11. Yakult Brothers, 3-8
12. Tearlaments, 1-10
The elimination portion of the event begins Sunday with two last-chance playoff matches and four play-in matches:
Last-chance playoffs
–Xtreme Gaming vs. Tearlaments
–Execration vs. Yakult Brothers
Play-in matches
–OG vs. HEROIC
–Team Tidebound vs. Natus Vincere
–Team Yandex vs. Xtreme Gaming/Tearlaments winner
–MOUZ vs. Excration/Yakult Brothers winner
BLAST Slam V prize pool, with prize money and team earnings
1. $300,000, $100,000
2. $150,000, $50,000
3-4. $60,000, $20,000
5-6. $35,000, $15,000
7-10. $22,500, $6,250
11-12. $10,000, $2,500
–Field Level Media
