Team Spirit eked out a 2-1 win over Aurora Gaming to reach the upper-bracket final at the BLAST Slam VIII event on Friday in Attard, Malta.
Spirit advance to oppose Team Yandex on Saturday, with the winner moving on to the grand final.
Lower-bracket action got underway with the quarterfinals on Friday. PARIVISION rallied past 1w Team 2-1, and Aurora Gaming swept LGD Gaming 2-0. The two victors will clash in the lower-bracket semifinal on Saturday.
After the double-elimination group stage last week, 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. PARIVISION and Team Spirit won the seeding matches to grab the two first-round byes.
All matches in the double-elimination playoff bracket will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday.
On Friday, Team Spirit opened with a 64-minute win on Dire before Aurora Gaming equalized with a 45-minute triumph on Radiant. Spirit wrapped up the match with a 47-minute victory on Dire.
Ukraine’s Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk produced a 35-8-28 kill-death-assist ratio for Team Spirit. Slovakia’s Oliver “skiter” Lepko recorded a 38-13-23 K-D-A ratio for Aurora Gaming.
After 1w Team earned a 45-minute win on Dire, PARIVISION prevailed in 50 minutes on Dire and 52 minutes on Radiant to advance. Russia’s Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov logged a 50-7-32 K-D-A ratio for PARIVISION. Israel’s Neta “33” Shapira finished at 17-17-22 for 1w Team.
Aurora Gaming handled LGD Gaming in 37 minutes on Dire and 52 minutes on Radiant. Malaysia’s Chung “Ws” Wei Shen posted a 25-2-23 K-D-A ratio for Aurora Gaming. Peru’s Maximo “Wits” Orozco wound up at 15-12-7 for LGD Gaming.
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) — 1w Team, LGD Gaming
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
