Team Yandex dismantle Team Spirit to reach BLAST SLAM VIII Grand Final
Team Yandex have become the first Grand Finalists of BLAST SLAM VIII after dismantling Team Spirit in a brutally one-sided 2-0 series, securing another shot at the trophy they won at SLAM VII.
The two teams had already met earlier in the tournament, having topped their respective groups before facing off for playoff seeding. Spirit won that encounter 2-1 to advance directly to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, while Yandex were sent through the quarterfinals. But after overcoming LGD Gaming and PARIVISION, both by 2-1 scorelines, Yandex returned for their rematch looking like an entirely different beast.
Game 1 was a massacre. Spirit once again put Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk on Outworld Destroyer, a pick that had failed to deliver the previous day, and things somehow went even worse this time. The laning phase was disastrous, with Yandex's Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov building an extraordinary advantage on Sven. By 15 minutes, he was six levels ahead of Yatoro, with approximately 200 last hits to just 57. The game continued long after it felt decided, with Spirit unable to find any meaningful way back.
Game 2 was more competitive, but the outcome was much the same, proving that OD was NOT the problem in Game 1. Yandex outdrafted and outplayed Spirit across the series, handing the three-time TI champions one of their most convincing defeats in recent memory.
Fresh off their PGL Wallachia Season 9 victory, Yandex now await their Grand Final opponent. Spirit drop to the Lower Bracket Final, where they will have one more opportunity to earn a rematch.
First, however, PARIVISION and Aurora Gaming face off later today in the Lower Bracket Semifinal. One goes home, while the other advances to face Spirit tomorrow.
