NAVI secured a spot at BLAST Slam VIII. In the decisive match of the RES Unchained 5 qualifiers, the Ukrainian team defeated MOUZ 2-0 and secured their spot in the upcoming tournament.
The road to the “Born to Win” slot began with a closed qualifier, to which the team received a direct invitation. To advance, NAVI had to win two matches in a row. First, the team confidently defeated Summer Bear, and then repeated that success against MOUZ.
The team owned by Maksym Krippa is heading into BLAST Slam VIII as the winner of EPL Masters I. At that tournament, NAVI earned $50,000 in prize money.
BLAST Slam VIII itself will take place from September 29 to October 11 in a hybrid format—some matches will be held online, while others will be held in person. Sixteen teams will compete for a total prize pool of $750,000.
The champion will receive $270,000: $200,000 will go to the team, and an additional $70,000 will be the club’s share. The runner-up will earn $135,000, the third-place team $95,000, and the fourth-place team $65,000. Teams finishing in 5th and 6th place will each receive $35,500; 7th and 8th place, $20,000 each; 9th through 12th place, $11,500 each; and teams finishing in 13th through 16th place will each receive $7,000.
Currently, four BLAST Slam VIII participants have already secured their spots in the tournament: NAVI, Level Up, Yakult Brothers, and Team Nemesis. The remaining teams will receive invitations, and the organizers will announce the list at a later date.
NAVI’s roster remains unchanged:
- 🇺🇦 Yuriy “pma” Prots — offline
- 🇺🇦 Stanislav “Riddys” Mitroshkin — Support
- 🇺🇦 Taras “gotthejuice” Linnikov — carry
- 🇺🇦 Artem “Niku” Bachkur — mid
- 🇰🇿 Tamir “daze” Tokpanov — Support Captain
- 🇩🇰 Aske “Cy-” Larsen — Coach