Team Spirit of Dota 2 reached the BLAST Slam VIII grand final after losing an earlier playoff series against Team Yandex. The rematch was possible because Spirit still had a route through the lower bracket. Yandex eventually won the championship 3-1, and Spirit’s return shows how a lower bracket keeps a team in contention after an upper-bracket defeat.

A single-elimination bracket removes a team after a series defeat. At BLAST Slam VIII, however, that first upper-bracket loss moved the defeated team onto a different route through the remaining playoff matches. BLAST’s format announcement set out a six-team double-elimination bracket for the finals in Malta, ending with a best-of-five grand final. The bracket determines where teams go after each series. An upper-bracket defeat sends a team into the lower bracket, where it can continue toward the championship match. The two routes eventually meet at the grand final, where their remaining teams compete for the same title.

The tournament round also provides context for Dota 2 esports betting at Thunderpick. The upper-bracket final sends its winner to the championship match and its loser to the lower final. That lower final fills the remaining championship place, so losing there ends the team’s run.

How the upper and lower brackets work

A bracket records the connections between matches: which winners advance, where defeated teams go, and when a team leaves the tournament. The upper bracket is the initial playoff route. Teams that keep winning remain there until one reaches the grand final.

The lower bracket collects teams defeated on that route. Both routes belong to the same six-team playoff competition. Those teams face opponents who have also dropped down, and a further series defeat ends their run. From that point, every lower-bracket match decides whether a team continues in the competition. Reaching this part of the competition does not reserve a final place.

The distinction also depends on what counts as a defeat. A Dota 2 game is one contest within a series. In a best-of-three, the first team to win two games takes the series; in a best-of-five, it’s the first to three. Bracket movement follows the completed series result, so losing an individual game does not automatically send a team downward.

BLAST also gave the two top seeds a later starting point: they entered the upper-bracket semifinals. The other four playoff entrants began in the quarterfinals. Seeding-match losers joined that field alongside two last-chance winners. The last-chance stage completed the playoff lineup before the lower bracket came into play. Losing a seeding match therefore affected a team’s starting position rather than sending it into the lower playoff bracket.

In this six-team playoff bracket, starting in the upper semifinal meant needing two series wins to reach the grand final along that route: one in the semifinal and one in the upper final. A quarterfinal entrant needed three series wins. Dropping into the lower bracket added matches, with the remaining path determined by the round of the defeat.

Team Spirit’s route back to the final

The upper-bracket defeat had changed Spirit’s position in the tournament. The team could no longer advance directly through the upper bracket and had to win an additional match before returning to face the same opponent. Yandex, meanwhile, had already secured its final berth and did not need that extra series.

PARIVISION reached the lower final by beating Aurora 2-0 in the preceding round. That result left Spirit with a single opponent between it and another meeting with Yandex. PARIVISION’s lower-bracket progress had kept its own title challenge alive, setting up a match for the remaining championship place.

This Yandex–Spirit tournament recap describes the earlier encounter that sent Spirit into the lower bracket, followed by their meeting in the championship match. Between those meetings, Spirit defeated PARIVISION 2-1 in the lower final. That victory completed the remaining route and earned another series against Yandex, this time to decide the championship.

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The grand final then began as a separate contest. Spirit won the opening game, but Yandex took the next three to claim the title. That opening result was a game victory within the championship series, not another change of bracket. The earlier upper-bracket result and the later final each had their own score and consequence.

The IPL comparison

Cricket followers have a familiar reference in the IPL’s playoff structure. As Reuters’ 2025 format guide explains, the top two teams contest Qualifier 1, whose winner reaches the final. Its loser plays the Eliminator winner in Qualifier 2 for the remaining place.

The third- and fourth-placed teams start in the Eliminator, where defeat ends their campaign. Only the top two receive that second route. The parallel is limited but useful: the consequence of losing depends on the round and the position earned before it.

Where the comparison ends

BLAST’s lower bracket and the IPL’s qualifiers organize their routes differently. Understanding one does not supply every rule of the other. Their connection is the distinction between a defeat that changes a team’s route and one that ends its competition.

The championship match also has its own endpoint. BLAST Slam VIII concluded with one best-of-five grand final; the upper-bracket finalist did not carry a right to another championship series. Earlier progress earned a place in that match, and the final result decided the trophy.

Spirit’s lower-final win earned the rematch. It gave the team another chance to contest the title, with the championship still decided by the new series against Yandex.