Team Yandex beat LGD and PARIVISION to reach BLAST Slam VIII upper final; Spirit face Aurora next
Yandex won two three-game series in one day in Malta to secure a top-three finish at the US$750,000 Dota 2 event. Spirit play Aurora on Friday at 5pm Malaysia time.
Team Yandex are one win from the grand final of BLAST Slam VIII. On Thursday, 8 October, the opening day of the playoffs in Malta, they won two best-of-three series against LGD Gaming and PARIVISION. Both went the full three games. Aurora Gaming also advanced with a sweep of 1w Team. Aurora now face TI 2026 champions Team Spirit on Friday for the other place in the upper final.
Yandex outlast LGD
Yandex opened the playoffs against an LGD lineup that includes the returning Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan. Yandex won game one in about 37 minutes, with Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov on Nature's Prophet and ATF on Viper.
LGD took game two after a 53-minute game. SumaiL's Slark finished with 21 kills. Yandex settled the series quickly in game three, winning in about 32 minutes with watson on Templar Assassin. He finished the series against LGD with 29 kills and 27 assists over the three games.
A long night against PARIVISION
The upper semi-final against PARIVISION was even longer. All three games lasted more than 50 minutes. PARIVISION won game one in about 55 minutes, led by their mid laner No[o]ne on Storm Spirit.
Yandex levelled the series in a 52-minute second game, where CHIRA_JUNIOR and Saksa's Rubick were important in the team fights. The decider lasted about 64 minutes. Yandex shut down PARIVISION's offlaner Noticed early on, and watson finished the game 21-2-15 on Kez. The win puts Yandex in the upper final and guarantees them at least third place.
Aurora sweep 1w Team
In the other quarter-final, Aurora beat 1w Team 2-0, although the series lasted 131 minutes in total. Game one went to about 77 minutes, and 1w Team's Pure kept them in it on Lone Druid. Oliver "skiter" Lepko, who joined Aurora in mid-September, was the standout player. He finished the two games with 38 kills and nine deaths, including a 23-kill game on Ursa.
PARIVISION, LGD and 1w Team have all dropped to the lower bracket, where each match is now an elimination match.
Friday's schedule and the road to Sunday
According to the published schedule, which is converted here to Malaysia time:
- 5pm: Team Spirit vs Aurora Gaming (upper semi-final, and the winner meets Yandex)
- 8.30pm and midnight: lower-bracket quarter-finals, PARIVISION vs 1w Team and LGD vs the Spirit-Aurora loser
- Saturday, 10 October: upper final from 6.30pm, then a lower semi-final from 10pm
- Sunday, 11 October: lower final from 5pm, then the best-of-five grand final from 9pm
Later matches can start late if earlier games run long, which has already happened several times this week.
A Malaysian footnote
Malaysian fans had a link to the event through Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng. He stood in for Team Liquid after the club parted ways with Nisha in late September. Liquid beat Yakult Brothers in their opening group match. They then lost 1-2 to Aurora and 0-2 to GamerLegion and went out in the group stage, sharing ninth to 12th place.
The winners of BLAST Slam VIII will take US$270,000 from the US$750,000 prize pool.
Key takeaways
- Team Yandex beat LGD 2-1 and PARIVISION 2-1 on Thursday to reach the upper final.
- watson went 21-2-15 in the 64-minute decider against PARIVISION.
- Aurora swept 1w Team, and skiter had 38 kills over two games.
- Spirit vs Aurora is at 5pm Malaysia time on Friday, and the grand final is on Sunday night.
FAQ
Where is BLAST Slam VIII being played? The playoffs are at BLAST's studio in Attard, Malta.
What time is the BLAST Slam VIII grand final in Malaysia? It is scheduled for 9pm on Sunday, 11 October, and it could start later if earlier matches overrun.
Is Team Liquid still in BLAST Slam VIII? No. Liquid, with Malaysia's MidOne as a stand-in, went out in the group stage after losses to Aurora and GamerLegion.
Sources: Field Level Media, GosuGamers, Dot Esports