Team Yandex advance to upper-bracket final at BLAST Slam VII

Field Level Media|published: 06/05/2026, 2:57am EDT

YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year.

Team Yandex and Team Falcons won their respective upper-bracket quarterfinal matches, and Team Yandex also won their upper-bracket semifinal on Thursday at the BLAST Slam VII playoffs in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The other upper-bracket semifinal, which will be held on Friday, will feature BetBoom Team and Team Falcons. The winner of that contest will oppose Team Yandex in the upper-bracket final on Saturday.

The $1 million event began with a 12-team group stage last month. Group play was a round-robin, best-of-one format. The top two teams advanced to the upper-bracket semifinals of the playoffs, while the third- and fourth-place teams started in the upper-bracket quarters.

The fifth- and sixth-place teams proceeded to Round 2 of the last-chance qualifier, while teams 7-10 in the standings began in Round 1 of that stage. The bottom two teams were eliminated.

On Thursday in an upper-bracket quarterfinal, Team Yandex swept Aurora Gaming with a 62-minute win on red and a 48-minute victory on green. Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov of Kazakhstan led Team Yandex with a 28-3-14 kill-death-assist ratio.

Team Falcons also pulled off a sweep, taking out Team Liquid with a pair of victories on green (50 minutes, 38 minutes) in the other upper-bracket quarterfinal. Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf of Jordan led Team Falcons with a K-D-A of 23-4-35.

In the upper-bracket semifinals, Team Falcons opened with a 40-minute win on red, before LGD Gaming pulled even with a 37-minute victory on red. In the decisive third map, Team Falcons prevailed in 60 minutes on red to advance. Watson again led the way for Team Falcons, posting a 29-13-24 K-D-A.

The tournament continues with three matches on Friday:

--BetBoom Team vs. Team Falcons (upper-bracket semifinal)

--BetBoom Team/Falcons loser vs. Tundra Esports (lower-bracket quarterfinal)

--LGD Gaming vs. Team Liquid (lower-bracket quarterfinal)

BLAST Slam VII payouts (prize money, team earnings)

1. $300,000, $100,000

2. $150,000, $45,000

3. $70,000, $23,000

4. $50,000, $17,000

5-6. $40,000, $15,000

7-8. $25,000, $10,000 -- Team Spirit, Team Liquid

9-10. $15,000, $5,000 -- OG, Tundra Esports