Yandex recover from opening loss to win BLAST Slam VIII

Team Yandex are BLAST Slam VIII champions after beating Team Spirit 3-1 in the grand final in Malta. Spirit took the opening game, but Yandex won the next three to claim the best-of-five series.

GosuGamers reports that Spirit’s first win came in around 40 minutes, with Yatoro playing Ursa. The response took time: each of Yandex’s three wins lasted more than 45 minutes.

Spirit’s second chance ends in the final

This was the teams’ second meeting in the playoff finals. Yandex had won the upper-bracket final 2-0. Spirit then beat PARIVISION 2-1 in the lower final to earn another meeting with Yandex.

The completed BLAST results show four playoff series wins for Yandex: 2-1 against LGD Gaming, 2-1 against PARIVISION, then the two victories over Spirit. The grand final was their last step through that unbeaten playoff run.

Two BLAST titles in succession

BLAST had already named Yandex as its Slam VII champion ahead of the Malta event. Winning VIII makes it consecutive titles in the series. GosuGamers also places this victory after Yandex’s PGL Wallachia Season 9 title in late September, extending a recent run of tournament wins.