LGD Gaming, 1w Team, OG and GamerLegion won the decider matches in their respective groups Friday to stay alive at the $750,000 BLAST Slam VIII event.
Those four teams secured second place in Groups A through D but now must face off in a pair of last-chance matches to nab the final two spots in the playoff bracket.
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.
Seeding matches will decide which two teams begin the playoffs with byes into the upper-bracket semifinals. The double-elimination playoff bracket runs from Thursday through Oct. 11 in Attard, Malta. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
On Friday, LGD defeated Xtreme Gaming 2-1 in Group A, sandwiching 43-minute and 47-minute wins on Radiant around a 32-minute defeat on Dire. Pakistani-American player Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan averaged an 25-12-24 kills-deaths-assists ratio to lead LGD.
In Group B, 1w swept Team Nemesis in 39 minutes and 52 minutes on Dire. Russian Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko guided 1w with a 26-6-18 K-D-A ratio.
In Group C, OG rallied after BetBoom Team opened with a 47-minute win on Dire. OG prevailed in 49 minutes on Radiant to extend the match, then clinched advancement with a 39-minute victory on Radiant. John “Natsumi-” Vargas of the Philippines was OG’s steady hand with a 24-7-25 K-D-A ratio.
Finally, GamerLegion blanked Team Liquid in Group D, prevailing in 41 minutes on Dire and 40 minutes on Radiant. Filipino-American Francis “RCY” Fundemera paced GamerLegion with a 24-4-27 K-D-A ratio.
The Saturday schedule:
–PARIVISION vs. Aurora Gaming (seeding match)
–Team Spirit vs. Team Yandex (seeding match)
–LGD Gaming vs. GamerLegion (last-chance match)
–1w Team vs. OG (last-chance 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) — 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
