BLAST SLAM VIII Playoffs Set as LGD and 1W Survive
The BLAST SLAM VIII playoff bracket is complete. LGD Gaming and 1W Team took the last two spots through the Last Chance stage. Both won 2-1, and both had to come back from losing the first game. GamerLegion and OG are out. The six remaining teams now head to Malta, where the Dota 2 event resumes this week.
Neither series was clean. Both LGD and 1W looked shaky in the opening game before fighting back to win.
LGD Recovers From a Rough Start
At first, GamerLegion looked like the stronger team. They took game one 40-10, closing it out just before the hour mark. Yuma finished with 10 kills and 11 assists, and RCY had 10 kills and a huge 22 assists. A score like that usually wins a series.
LGD answered quickly. Game two lasted 35 minutes and finished 28-1. SumaiL led the team with eight kills and Wits added seven. Few series swing that hard from one game to the next.
The decider was much tighter. Neither side pulled clearly ahead until a late teamfight settled it. LGD then closed out the 45-minute game. Wits was the standout again, this time on Nature's Prophet, with 11 kills and nine assists.
1W Ends OG's Run
The second series followed a similar pattern. OG won game one 30-20 in 43 minutes, with OneJey putting up nine kills and 13 assists. For a while, it looked like OG had control.
1W took game two in only 24 minutes. Pure and bzm did most of the damage, with 10 kills each.
The third game was one-sided. 1W won 27-4 in 28 minutes, and 33 led the way with 12 kills and 15 assists. OG never really got going. Their elimination means Topson will miss the playoffs, although the match report gives no details on how he played individually.
How the Bracket Was Built
The Last Chance stage brought together the four teams that finished second in their Group Stage groups, with two playoff spots on offer. The winners went through to the upper-bracket quarterfinals. The losers went home.
PARIVISION and Team Spirit had an easier route. Both won their Seeding Matches and went straight into the upper-bracket semifinals, so they skip the quarterfinals entirely.
The playoffs are double elimination. Every match is a best-of-three except the grand final, which is a best-of-five. This matters for the four quarterfinalists: one loss does not knock them out, because they drop into the lower bracket and can keep going. The two seeding winners start one round later and still keep that safety net.
The Matchups in Malta
The playoffs run from 8 to 11 October at BLAST Arena Studios in Malta. The upper-bracket quarterfinals are:
- Team Yandex vs LGD Gaming
- Aurora Gaming vs 1W Team
In the semifinals, PARIVISION will face the winner of Yandex vs LGD, and Team Spirit will play the winner of Aurora vs 1W.
So the Last Chance stage did two jobs. It decided who made the playoffs, and it decided who each of them plays first.
Our Take
The main takeaway is that neither LGD nor 1W should be written off after a bad first game. Both lost a game one heavily and then responded strongly. LGD's 28-1 win right after a 40-10 loss suggests a team that adjusts quickly rather than falling apart. That could be useful against Team Yandex, and even more so if they drop into the lower bracket and have to win several series in a row.
The format also deserves attention. PARIVISION and Team Spirit now wait for the quarterfinals to finish while the other four teams play. That gives them more rest. On the other hand, the qualifiers will have more recent match practice. It is worth watching whether that extra rest helps the seeded teams or leaves them a step behind.
For international viewers, the four-day window in Malta keeps the schedule short. The best-of-five grand final should give the eventual champion a proper test. The most interesting question going in may be whether LGD or 1W can keep this form going against tougher opponents.