(Photo credit: Nick Oza/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Team Falcons and Tundra Esports each won two matches on Saturday to clinch the top two group-play spots and earn byes directly to the playoff semifinals on the final day of BLAST Slam V group stage.
Both teams finished group play 10-1, but Team Falcons earned the top seed thanks to its head-to-head win over Tundra Esports on Thursday.
MOUZ, Team Yandex, OG, Team Tidebound, Natus Vincere and HEROIC finished in third through eighth places, earning spots in the play-in event. Xtreme Gaming, Execration, Yakult Brothers and Tearlaments finished in the bottom four spots and will compete in the last-chance playoff.
The $1 million Dota 2 event started with 12 teams competing in a round-robin of single-map matches. The top two teams in the group-stage standings move straight into the playoff semifinals, while the next six teams head to a play-in event. Teams that come in ninth through 12th will compete in a last-chance playoff on Sunday.
One team will advance out of the last-chance playoff into the play-in event, also on Sunday. Four head-to-head, best-of-three play-in matches will be held, with the four winners earning playoff quarterfinal berths and the other teams eliminated.The single-elimination playoffs are scheduled for Dec. 5-7 in Chengdu, China. The quarterfinals and semifinals will feature best-of-three matches, and the grand final will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $300,000 in prize money and $100,000 in team earnings.
In two of the first five matches of the day Saturday, Tundra Esports came away with a pair of 1-0 victories over Team Tidebound and OG.
The win over Team Tidebound came in 24 minutes on green. Matthew 'Ari' Walker of the United Kingdom had a 5-0-13 kill-death-assist ratio in the win.
The win over OG was harder fought, with Tundra Esports coming away with a 52-minute win on Red. Ivan 'Pure' Moskalenko of Russia led in this match with a 17-7-6 K-D-A.
Team Falcons started its day with a 34-minute win on green over Team Yandex. Ammar 'ATF' Al-Assaf of Jordan posted an 11-2-18 K-D-A in the win.
Team Falcons then clinched the top spot with its 1-0 victory over Tearlaments in 45 minutes on green. Stanislav 'Malr1ne' Potorak of Russia led in this match with a 13-3-11 K-D-A.
In the day's other matches:
--Yakult Brothers def. Xtreme Gaming
--MOUZ def. Tearlaments
--HEROIC def. Natus Vincere
--Execration def. Team Yandex
--Team Tidebound def. Xtreme Gaming
--MOUZ def. Yakult Brothers
--OG def. HEROIC
--Natus Vincere def. Execration
BLAST Slam V group-stage standings
1. Team Falcons, 10-1
2. Tundra Esports, 10-1
3. MOUZ, 7-4
4. Team Yandex, 6-5
5. OG, 6-5
6. Team Tidebound, 5-6
7. Natus Vincere, 5-6
8. HEROIC, 5-6
9. Xtreme Gaming, 4-7
10. Execration, 4-7
11. Yakult Brothers, 3-8
12. Tearlaments, 1-10
The elimination portion of the event begins Sunday with two last-chance playoff matches and four play-in matches:
Last-chance playoffs
--Xtreme Gaming vs. Tearlaments
--Execration vs. Yakult Brothers
Play-in matches
--OG vs. HEROIC
--Team Tidebound vs. Natus Vincere
--Team Yandex vs. Xtreme Gaming/Tearlaments winner
--MOUZ vs. Excration/Yakult Brothers winner
BLAST Slam V prize pool, with prize money and team earnings
1. $300,000, $100,000
2. $150,000, $50,000
3-4. $60,000, $20,000
5-6. $35,000, $15,000
7-10. $22,500, $6,250
11-12. $10,000, $2,500
--Field Level Media
