Team Yandex defeat LGD Gaming to win BLAST Slam VII

With their victory at BLAST Slam VII, Team Yandex now have three Tier 1 tournament titles this season.

Eastern European Dota 2 powerhouse Team Yandex have been crowned as champions of BLAST Slam VII after they defeated South America's LGD Gaming, 3-1, in the tournament's grand finals on Monday (8 June).

With their victory, Yandex claimed the grand prize of US$400,000 (split between US$300,000 for the players and US$100,000 for their organisation) out of the tournament's US$1 million prize pool. BLAST Slam VII also marks the third Tier 1 tournament won by Yandex in the 2025-2026 competitive season after DreamLeague Season 27 last December and PGL Wallachia Season 7 in March.

With three titles now under their belt, Yandex will be carrying a lot of momentum as we head into the climactic period of the season. They will be among the biggest contenders in the Dota 2 event at the Esports World Cup 2026 and The International (TI) 2026, with Yandex among the seven teams to earn direct invites to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament.

Meanwhile, LGD settle for second place and US$195,000 (split between US$150,000 for the players and US$45,000 for their organisation) in consolation.

While they fall short of the title, it is still a commendable result for LGD in its first outing since their return to the Dota 2 competitive scene after a two-year absence. The iconic Chinese organisation returned to the game by signing the South American roster of ex-HEROIC shortly before the start of BLAST Slam VII.

BLAST Slam VII

Type: Online (Group Stage), Offline (Playoffs)
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark (Playoffs)
Venue: BLAST Studio (Playoffs)
Schedule: 26 May - 7 June, 2026
Participating teams: 12
Prize pool: US$1 million
Organiser: BLAST

Yandex's path to becoming BLAST Slam VII champions

The two grand finalists of BLAST Slam VII took very different paths to meet in the championship round. While they were not considered favourites by many, LGD hit the ground running in the Group Stage and finished as the top seed with a 8-3 record. LGD's first meeting with Yandex in the Group Stage notably saw the South American squad outlast their eventual grand finals opponent in a 111-minute thriller.

LGD's strong start in the Group Stage earned them a direct berth to the upper bracket semifinals in the Playoffs alongside second seed PARIVISION, arguably the biggest favourites to win BLAST Slam VII.

Meanwhile, Yandex finished the Group Stage with a solid 7-4 record. However, that was not enough to guarantee them a spot in the Playoffs, forcing them to first play in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). There, Yandex punched their tickets to the Playoffs by defeating Team Spirit in the second round of the LCQ and earning a spot in the upper bracket quarterfinals.

But before the main event kicked off, the competitive landscape was blown wide open as PARIVISION were forced to miss the Playoffs due to visa issues. As a result, PARIVISION's spot in the upper bracket semifinals was given to BetBoom Team while Team Liquid also earned a Playoff spot despite losing in the LCQ.

With arguably the biggest favourites removed from the field, the BLAST Slam VII title was up for the taking.

Yandex started the Playoffs strong by sweeping regional rivals Aurora Gaming in the upper bracket quarterfinals to set up their second matchup with LGD in the next round. Yandex defeated LGD in three games to advance to the upper bracket finals and send the South American squad down to the lower bracket.

Yandex then defeated another regional rival in BetBoom with a 2-1 reverse sweep to become the first team to advance to the grand finals.

Meanwhile, LGD started their lower bracket run with a sweep over Liquid in the lower bracket quarterfinals. They then pulled off a 2-1 reverse sweep over Aurora in the lower bracket semifinals, notably capping off the series with another 111-minute win to survive to the final day of the tournament.

LGD then defeated BetBoom in three games in the lower bracket finals to earn a rematch with Yandex in the grand finals.

Yandex came out swinging to start the grand finals, stomping LGD to the tune of a 32-12 kill lead in 48 minutes to take their first win of the series. Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov on a mid Monkey King and Martin “Saksa” Sazdov on Keeper of the Light fueled their team's dominance in game one with 10 kills apiece and a combined 25 combined assists against five deaths between the two of them.

Yandex continued rolling in game two behind Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov's Templar Assassin and took a commanding 2-0 series lead after 42 minutes of action. Watson paced his team's 33-14 kill lead in game two with a clean nine kills and eight assists while CHIRA_JUNIOR on Invoker added 13 kills and 16 assists on three deaths.

A sweep seemed imminent early into game three, as Yandex absolutely dominated the laning stage and looked to be in prime position to secure the championship. However, a resilient LGD squad managed to claw things back with excellent play in teamfights sparked by Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles' Dark Seer repeatedly catching multiple Yandex heroes with Vacuum. After a 52-minute thriller, LGD forced the series to a game four.

But despite LGD's best efforts to force a deciding game five, Yandex simply could not be denied as they secured the championship of BLAST Slam VII in the most one-sided affair of the grand finals. Watson's Shadow Fiend and Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin's Necrophos combined for a clean 18 kills and 11 assists in a 31-minute rout to give Yandex the 3-1 grand finals victory.