Team Spirit beat PARIVISION 2-1 in the Lower Bracket Final of BLAST Slam Season 8 on Sunday 11 October, recovering from a game one defeat to win the next two and reach the Grand Final. The result knocked out the team ranked first in the Elo power rankings.
On paper this was an upset. PARIVISION arrived at rank 1 with a rating of 2164 and a 169-73 record across 242 rated matches. Spirit sat third on 2039, with a 207-110 record from 317 rated matches.
PARIVISION take game one in 38 minutes
PARIVISION started as their ranking suggested, taking the opener in 38 minutes. They came into the series with momentum from the lower bracket, having beaten 1win 2-1 in the quarter-final and swept Aurora 2-0 in the semi-final.
That lower bracket path began with a 2-1 loss to Team Yandex in Upper Bracket Semifinal 1. Before that defeat, PARIVISION had won their Winner Match 2-0 against LGD Gaming and Seeding Match 1 by the same score against Aurora. One more series win would have sent them to the Grand Final.
Spirit turn it round over 40 and 43 minutes
Spirit answered straight away. They levelled the series with a 40-minute win in game two, then closed out the decider in 43 minutes. Each game ran longer than the last.
It was a timely response from a side coming off a heavy defeat. Team Yandex had beaten Spirit 2-0 in the Upper Bracket Final, dropping them into this match. Earlier in the event Spirit had looked sharp, beating 1win 2-0, edging Team Yandex 2-1 in Seeding Match 2 and seeing off Aurora 2-1 in Upper Bracket Semifinal 2.
The two sides know each other well. Their meeting at the Esports World Cup 2026 on 12 July finished 1-1. Spirit won 1-0 when they met at BLAST Slam Season 7 on 29 May. Sunday’s win gives Spirit the upper hand in their three most recent encounters.
Team Yandex deny Spirit in the Grand Final
For PARIVISION, losing a lower bracket final meant elimination. They finished the event with four series wins from six. Aurora, the team they beat in the lower bracket semi-final, had earlier knocked out LGD Gaming 2-0 in Lower Bracket Quarterfinal 1.
Spirit’s reward was a rematch with Team Yandex in the Grand Final, their third meeting with that opponent at this event. Yandex won it 3-1 to take the title. Spirit end BLAST Slam Season 8 as runners-up, with a 2-1 win over Yandex in seeding but defeats to them in both the Upper Bracket Final and the Grand Final.
