Team Spirit beat Team Yandex 2–1 at the Dota 2 tournament BLAST Slam VIII

Team Spirit beat Team Yandex 2–1 on Saturday, Oct 3, at BLAST Slam VIII. That is big: Yandex had not lost a single series this season until now, per GosuGamers. On the same day, the last playoff spots were decided. All six teams for Malta are now set.

Team Spirit2:1Team Yandex

Game 1Team Yandex won · 36:35Game 2Team Spirit won · 26:39Game 3Team Spirit won · 46:05

Team Spirit won46:05Kills 41 : 34

Team Spirit ahead · up to +17.0k gold (min 45)Team Yandex ahead · up to +7.9k gold (min 26)

0:0046:05

Team SpiritWon

1. Player and heroK / D / ANet worth
2. rueAncient Apparition8/10/2412.9k
3. YatoroSlark13/5/1231.7k
4. LarlEarth Spirit6/4/2925.0k
5. not meClockwerk7/12/2412.9k
6. BatyukDark Seer7/3/2531.8k

Team Yandex

1. Player and heroK / D / ANet worth
2. watsonNature's Prophet12/6/1830.6k
3. CHIRA_JUNIORMonkey King7/7/1220.5k
4. ATFNecrophos9/6/1225.6k
5. MaladyWitch Doctor4/14/179.6k
6. SaksaRubick1/10/219.6k

MVP · Game 3

Batyuk

Team Spirit · Dark Seer

K/D/A

7/3/25

Net worth

31.8k

Gold/min

823

Damage

39.2k

Best of Team Yandex

watson

Team Yandex · Nature's Prophet

K/D/A

12/6/18

Net worth

30.6k

Gold/min

814

Damage

40.7k

Match data from Valve via OpenDota. K/D/A = kills, deaths, assists (green = strong, red = weak game). MVP = our score from kills, assists, deaths, net worth and hero damage.

WindrangerField reporter · dota2news.com

What to remember

Team Spirit beat Team Yandex 2–1, and Yandex lost a series for the first time this season. The playoffs in Malta start on Oct 8, and the winner gets $270,000.

Oct 4, 2026 · dota2news.com

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How did Team Spirit beat Team Yandex at BLAST Slam VIII?

Spirit lost game one, then won two games in a row. The best moment came in game three: one huge spell from Batyuk turned the whole game.

Game one: Yandex picked Huskar for their offlaner ATF. The offlaner (position 3) plays the hard side lane and starts many fights. ATF went 10/2/7 (kills/deaths/assists), and Yandex won in 36:35.

Game two: Spirit hit back hard. They killed ATF's Huskar nine times and won in just 26 minutes, 36 kills to 13. Mid player Larl went 12/0/16 on Pangolier, without a single death. Carry Yatoro (the player who farms gold to win the late game) went 11/1/17.

Game three was the craziest. Yandex were ahead for 40 minutes, at one point by almost 8,000 gold. Then Batyuk on Dark Seer used Vacuum, a spell that pulls enemies into one spot, and caught all five Yandex heroes. Spirit won that fight, and Yandex never came back. Spirit won after 46 minutes. Yatoro went 13/5/12 on Slark.

Why is this so big? Spirit are the champions of The International, the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year. TI 2026 was their third title. Here they play without their offlaner Collapse, who is taking a break, so Batyuk plays in his spot. Yandex came in hot: they won BLAST Slam VII in June and PGL Wallachia Season 9 on Sept 27 (our report).

Which teams made the BLAST Slam VIII playoffs?

Six teams go to Malta: PARIVISION, Team Spirit, Team Yandex, Aurora Gaming, LGD Gaming and 1w Team.

• PARIVISION 2–0 Aurora: PARIVISION have not lost a single game at the event. In game one they got 33 kills and died only three times.
• LGD Gaming 2–1 GamerLegion: LGD lost game one 10 kills to 40, then won the next two. GamerLegion had knocked out Team Liquid only a day before.
• 1w Team 2–1 OG: OG won game one, then 1w Team won the last game 27 kills to 4.

PARIVISION and Spirit won these matches, so they skip the first playoff round. GamerLegion and OG are out and take $20,000 each. LGD now have the star SumaiL, who joined them after TI 2026.

6-0

PARIVISION in games at the event

36-13

Spirit kills vs Yandex in game two

27-4

1w Team kills vs OG in game three

$270,000

for the BLAST Slam VIII winner

When do the BLAST Slam VIII playoffs start?

The playoffs start on Thursday, Oct 8, in Malta. The grand final is on Sunday, Oct 11, and the winner gets $270,000.

Every series is best of three (first to two wins), only the grand final is best of five. A team is out after two series losses. The first matches:

• Upper bracket quarterfinal: Team Yandex vs LGD Gaming
• Upper bracket quarterfinal: Aurora Gaming vs 1w Team
• Upper bracket semifinal: PARIVISION vs the winner of Yandex vs LGD
• Upper bracket semifinal: Team Spirit vs the winner of Aurora vs 1w Team