Tundra, Falcons finish on top, grab BLAST Slam IV semi spots

Tundra Esports suffered a rare loss Saturday night but nonetheless held on to grab one of the two guaranteed semifinal spots as group play concluded at the Dota 2 event BLAST Slam IV.

Tundra rebounded from its loss to Team Aureus to top Yakult Brothers and finish group play 9-2, tied for the top spot with Team Falcons, who went 2-0 on Saturday.

The $1 million Dota 2 tournament now advances to the playoffs, which begin Sunday. The bottom four teams in group play will first pair up in Last Chance Playoff, with the two winners advancing to the Play-In matches. The winners of the four Play-In matches will advance to the quarterfinals, which begin Nov. 6. All of Sunday's matches are best-of-three, as are the quarterfinals and semifinals. The grand final is a best-of-five and will take place Nov. 8.

The championship squad will receive $750,000 as prize money, in addition to $250,000 in team earnings.

The bottom four teams went a combined 2-6 on Saturday and will begin Sunday in those Last Chance Playoff matches. Team Liquid will face Yakult Brothers and BetBoom Team will play Execration.

The winner of Liquid-Yakult Brothers will then play HEROIC later Sunday and the BetBoom-Execration winner takes on Team Spirit.

Aurora Gaming plays Natus Vincere and MOUZ takes on Aureus in the other Play-In matches.

Unlike Tundra, Falcons did beat Aureus on Saturday before topping Aurora to finish 2-0 on the day -- the final day with single-map matches.

MOUZ topped Spirit and Liquid, though Liquid beat Yakult Brothers and Spirit beat HEROIC as they both earned splits. HEROIC also got a split with a win over BetBoom, who later beat Natus Vincere. Execration suffered two losses to round out group play, losing to Aurora and Natus Vincere.

When Sunday's action is over, six teams will remain -- the four Play-In winners and Tundra and Falcons. Tundra and Falcons will face the quarterfinal winners.

Sunday's BLAST Slam IV Last Chance Matches

--Team Liquid vs. Yakult Brothers

--BetBoom Team vs. Execration

Sunday's BLAST Slam IV Play-In Matches

--MOUZ vs. Team Aureus

--Aurora Gaming vs. Natus Vincere

--Team Liquid / Yakult Brothers winner vs. HEROIC

--BetBoom Team / Execration winner vs. Team Spirit

Final BLAST Slam IV group standings

T1. Tundra Esports, 9-2

T1. Team Falcons, 9-2

T3. HEROIC, 7-4

T3. MOUZ, 7-4

T3. Team Spirit, 7-4

6. Natus Vincere, 6-5

T7. Aurora Gaming, 5-6

T7. Team Aureus, 5-6

T9. BetBoom Team, 4-7

T9. Team Liquid, 4-7

11. Execration, 2-9

12. Yakult Brothers, 1-10

BLAST Slam IV prize pool ($1 million total with $750,000 awarded as prize money and $250,000 as team earnings):

1. $300,000 ($100,000 team earnings), TBD

2. $150,000 ($50,000 team), TBD

3-4. $60,000 ($20,000 team), TBD

5-6. $35,000 ($15,000 team), TBD

7-8. $30,000 ($7,500 team), TBD

9-10. $25,000 ($5,000 team), TBD

11-12. $10,00 ($2,500 team), TBD

--Field Level Media