Team Yandex wins BLAST Slam VIII
13 October 2026
From Tuesday, September 29th, 2026 to Saturday, October 10th, 2026, the tiny Mediterranean island nation of Malta found itself at the heart of the international Dota 2 community. It was during that period that BLAST organized BLAST Slam VIII, the eighth iteration of the popular SLAM Dota 2 tournament series. With a guaranteed prize pool of $ 750.000, it was Russian esports organization Team Yandex who won the international esports event, beating Team Spirit from Europe 3-1 in the Grand Final. This was their second consecutive major title after winning PGL Wallachia Season 9 last month.
BLAST Slam VIII
As we wrote before, BLAST Slam VIII was the eighth edition of the series, which consisted of a Group Stage, followed by series of Seeding Matches, a Last Chance and finally, the Playoffs. This final stage of the tournament was held on location at the BLAST Arena Studios in Attard, Malta. A total of sixteen (16) teams came to the island to compete for the $ 750.000 prize pool, of which $ 550.000 was awarded as prize money and $ 200.000 as team earnings. Champions Team Yandex took home $ 270.000 in total ($200.000 in prize money and $ 70.000 in team earnings), while runner-up Team Spirit won $ 135.000 ($ 100.000 in prize money and $ 35.000 in team earnings).
Flawless Group Stage
Team Yandex started BLAST Slam VIII in group C, together with OG from the Philippines, BetBoom Team from Russia and MOUZ from Germany. The eventual champions showed good form throughout the Group Stage, winning both of their games comfortably. They faced OG in the opening match and beat them 2-0, followed by a 2-0 victory over BetBoom. This saw Yandex finish first in their group with a perfect 2-0, 4-0 score. OG finished in second place, thus qualifying for the Last Chance matches, while BetBoom Team and MOUZ were both eliminated.
Seeding Match upset
Belgrade-based Parivision Esports was the only other team to record an equally flawless Group Stage, while Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit were just a little less flawless with a single lost match. Each of them won their respective Group, which led to fierce encounters in the Seeding Matches. Parivision beat Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit actually beat the eventual champions Team Yandex, putting Aurora and Yandex in the Playoffs Quarterfinals and Parivision and Team Spirit in the Semifinals.
Tough start to Playoffs
Team Yandex started the Playoffs with a clash with LGD Gaming from China (2-1 victory), followed by a top-ranked encounter with Parivision in the Upper Bracket Semifinals. After another 2-1 victory, it was time for the Upper Bracket Final, where Team Spirit was the opponent. Contrary to the 2-1 victory from Spirit during the Seeding Matches, it was now Yandex who took the win with a clean 2-0 result.
As a result, Team Yandex qualified for the Grand Final, while Team Spirit had to overcome Parivision in the Lower Bracket Final. They did (2-1), which meant BLAST Slam VIII would be decided by the third and final clash between Team Yandex and Team Spirit. The former proved to be too strong once again, sweeping the Grand Final 2-0 and making it two Dota 2 major victories in a row, after PGL Wallachia Season 9.