Yandex defeats Team Spirit 3–1 after Spirit’s lower‑bracket run at BLAST Slam VIII in Malta
On 2026-10-29 Team Spirit reached the BLAST Slam VIII grand final in Malta after losing an earlier playoff series to Team Yandex, but Yandex won the championship 3–1 in the best-of-five decider. Spirit’s route back to the final came via the tournament’s lower bracket, which preserved their title chances after the upper-bracket defeat.
BLAST announced a six-team double-elimination bracket for the finals in Malta that concluded with a best-of-five grand final. The format sent winners forward and moved upper‑bracket losers into the lower bracket, where another series defeat would eliminate them. The two top seeds entered at the upper‑bracket semifinal stage while the remaining four teams began in the quarterfinals. How far a team needed to progress depended on its starting round: an upper‑semifinal starter required two series wins to reach the grand final, a quarterfinal entrant required three, and dropping into the lower bracket added matches based on the round of defeat.
Seeding matches determined starting positions rather than sending teams directly into the lower bracket, with seeding‑match losers joining the quarterfinal field alongside two last‑chance winners; the last‑chance stage completed the playoff lineup. The bracket records the connections between matches, showing which winners advance, where defeated teams go, and when a team leaves the tournament. Bracket movement followed the completed series result, so losing an individual game did not automatically move a team downward: a best‑of‑three requires two game wins for the series, a best‑of‑five requires three.
Team Spirit’s earlier upper‑bracket defeat to Team Yandex transferred Spirit into the lower bracket, forcing an extra series before a potential rematch. Team Yandex had already secured its place in the grand final and therefore did not need the additional lower‑bracket series that Spirit faced. In the lower bracket, every match decided whether a team continued; another series defeat eliminated them from title contention.
PARIVISION reached the lower final by defeating Aurora 2–0 in the preceding round, leaving Spirit with a single opponent between it and a second meeting with Yandex. Spirit beat PARIVISION 2–1 in the lower final to complete the remaining route and earn the rematch with Yandex in the championship series. In the grand final Spirit won the opening game, but Yandex won the subsequent three games to claim the title 3–1.
The upper‑bracket final sent its winner directly to the championship match and its loser to the lower final, with the lower final filling the remaining championship place; losing the lower final therefore ended a team’s run. The championship match was a separate best‑of‑five contest whose result decided the BLAST Slam VIII trophy.
Yandex’s 3–1 victory in the best‑of‑five grand final in Malta determined the BLAST Slam VIII champion on 2026-10-29, while Spirit’s lower‑bracket win over PARIVISION provided the second chance that produced the rematch for the title.