Team Yandex have put another trophy on the board, defeating reigning International champions Team Spirit 3-1 in the best-of-five final of BLAST Slam VIII. The win brought Yandex US$270,000 and a second major-event title of the young 2026-2027 season, while Watson helped close the series with 19 kills and 14 assists.
Spirit had beaten Yandex in their earlier seeding-match meeting, but that result did not carry into the final. The tournament report from GosuGamers also records Yandex’s late-September PGL Wallachia Season 9 win, making BLAST Slam VIII their second major title in succession.
Three meetings, one final answer
The finalists took different routes through the group stage: Spirit topped Group B, while Yandex earned first place in Group C. Spirit then edged Yandex in the seeding matches, but Yandex responded in the playoffs by beating LGD Gaming and tournament favorite PARIVISION before sweeping Spirit in their second meeting to reach the final.
Spirit earned another shot by reverse-sweeping PARIVISION in the lower-bracket final. Their third clash with Yandex lasted four games: Spirit took the opener, then Yandex won the next three to claim the championship. The reported game times were 40, 52, 48 and 56 minutes.
Yandex’s semifinal sweep of Spirit was one step in that bracket run, after the pair had already traded a result in the seeding stage.
Watson led the closing push
The final map gave Yandex the title, with Watson finishing on 19 kills, 14 assists and five deaths. ATF added 13 kills and 22 assists, while CHIRA_JUNIOR contributed 10 kills and 27 assists. Spirit finished the map with 37 kills to Yandex’s 51, but the scoreline could not force a deciding fifth game.
Yandex’s comeback began in game two, where ATF posted 20 kills and seven assists with three deaths as his team levelled the series, 43-27 in kills. Watson then produced a clean 14-kill, 14-assist game three, helping Yandex build a 2-1 lead while the team held a 33-17 kill advantage.
Spirit had set the pace in the opener, winning 48-19 in kills. Yatoro recorded 19 kills and 12 assists with one death, but Yandex recovered from that loss to take control of the remaining three maps.
A second major title for Yandex
The result extends Yandex’s strong start after PGL Wallachia Season 9 in late September. The GosuGamers report described ATF’s arrival as the biggest move of the post-TI 2026 roster shuffle and said Yandex now look like the world’s strongest team; those are the outlet’s assessments, rather than a ranking or official designation.
Spirit leave the event in second place with US$135,000. It was their first appearance since Batyuk and coach Ilya “IllidanSTR” Pevcaev joined following breaks from competition by Collapse and coach Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov, according to the same report.
| Final map | Duration | Kill score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | 40 minutes | Yandex 19-48 Spirit | Spirit win |
| Game 2 | 52 minutes | Yandex 43-27 Spirit | Yandex win |
| Game 3 | 48 minutes | Yandex 33-17 Spirit | Yandex win |
| Game 4 | 56 minutes | Yandex 51-37 Spirit | Yandex win |
The back-to-back event wins give Yandex an early-season marker as the circuit moves toward its next major tests. The wider season picture includes the road to The International 2026, but this final supplied the immediate headline: Spirit struck first, and Yandex took the trophy.
