Aurora Gaming advances to Fissure Universe: Episode 8 grand final

Aurora Gaming swept the upper-bracket final on Saturday to become the first team to clinch a spot in the grand final at the Fissure Universe: Episode 8 event.

After wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals Thursday and Friday, Aurora Gaming beat Team Spirit 2-0 in the upper-bracket final to improve to 3-0 and clinch their first top-two finish in a Fissure Universe event. Aurora's previous best finish was a third-place finish at Fissure Universe: Episode 5 last July.

Team Spirit will face Team Yandex in the lower-bracket final to begin Sunday's action and set the stage for the grand final. Team Yandex won a pair of elimination matches Saturday, opening with a 2-0 win over MOUZ in a lower-bracket quarterfinal and then knocking out Team Liquid with a 2-0 win in the lower-bracket semifinal.

Before its elimination, Team Liquid earned its spot in the semifinal with a 2-1 defeat of BetBoom team in the other lower-bracket quarterfinal.

The $250,000 Dota 2 event began with eight teams playing in a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five final on Sunday.

The championship team will earn $125,000, while the runner-up will get $60,000 and the third-place team will receive $30,000.

In the upper-bracket final, Aurora swept Spirit with a 35-minute victory on green followed by a 39-minute win on red. Artem "lorenof" Melnyk of Ukraine led Aurora with a 26-3-24 kill-death-assist ratio. Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk, also of Ukraine, posted an 11-16-6 K-D-A to lead Team Spirit.

In the lower-bracket semifinal, Yandex completed the sweep of Team Liquid with a 64-minute narrow victory on green and a 52-minute clincher on red. Kazakhstan's Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov posted a 21-6-26 K-D-A to lead Team Yandex, while Michal "Nisha" Jankowski of Poland helmed Liquid's losing effort with a 17-8-27 ratio.

Sunday

--Lower-bracket final: Team Spirit vs. Team Yandex

--Grand final: Aurora Gaming vs. lower-bracket final winner

Fissure Universe: Episode 8 prize pool

1. $125,000

2. $60,000

3. $30,000

4. $15,000 -- Team Liquid

5-6. $10,000 -- MOUZ, BetBoom Team

7-8. No money -- StrongBoys, Power Rangers

--Field Level Media