Team Yandex set for another grand finals; Claim first slot in DreamLeague Season 27

With just one day remaining, the playoffs at DreamLeague Season 27 are rapidly closing in on the grand finals — and the first finalist has now officially locked in their place.

Team Yandex and Team Spirit both punched their tickets to the upper bracket finals yesterday, but they took very different paths to get there. Team Spirit looked every bit a two-time TI championship team, sweeping aside both Xtreme Gaming and PARIVISION with relative ease. Their march through the bracket was fast, controlled, and largely uncontested.

Team Yandex, on the other hand, had to fight for every inch. They were pushed the full distance in a three-game series against Virtus.pro before facing Tundra in what became one of the longest and most thrilling games of the tournament so far. It was a grueling route, but one that tested and ultimately proved their resilience.

• Read Team Spirit cruises in and Yandex surprises for top-three spot at DreamLeague Season 27

Coming into today’s series, Team Spirit were probably favored — but Team Yandex showed early that they were not content to play the role of underdog. In the opening game, Yandex surprised with a questionable-looking last-pick Dazzle that ultimately paid off, paired with a near-flawless Tusk performance from Martin “Saksa” Sazdov.

Game two looked, on paper, like a response. Team Spirit drafted Kez alongside a highly aggressive, fight-heavy lineup and appeared ready to swing the series back in their favor. Instead, it was Yandex who seized control. Early pressure put Spirit on the back foot almost immediately, and despite attempts to claw their way back, they never found the footing they needed to turn the game around.

The victory sends Team Yandex to their second grand final appearance in as many events. Just two weeks ago, they finished second at BLAST Slam V after falling 0–3 to Tundra — and now, they find themselves once again on the doorstep of a title to close out the 2025 year.

The action will move back into elimination mode with the final series of the day taking place between PARIVISION and Xtreme Gaming up next.

DreamLeague Season 27 Format

Playoffs

• December 17th-21st
• Double-elimination bracket
• All matches are Bo3
• Grand Final is Bo5

DreamLeague Sesaon 27 Prize Pool

The $1,000,000 prize pool will be split as below. Note that just like in BLAST Slam V, $750,000 are awarded as Prize Money while $250,000 USD are awarded as Club Reward. The 19,500 EPT Points will be spread among the participants and in addition, teams will earn $3,500 prize money and 100 EPT points for each series win in the Group Stage. However, eliminated teams in Group Stage will only earn the prize money.

• 1st place $200,000/$30,000/ 3,000 base EPT points
• 2nd place $125,000/$25,000/2,500 base EPT points
• 3rd place $75,000/$20,000/2,000 base EPT points
• 4th place $50,000/$15,000/1,600 base EPT points
• 5-6th place $14,000/$10,000/1,100 base EPT points OG/Tundra Esports
• 7-8th place $10,000/$10,000/500 base EPT points Team Falcons/Virtus.pro