Aurora Gaming defeated Team Spirit in the group stage of BLAST Slam VII in Dota 2. The Bo1 match ended 1:0: Aurora closed the map in 53 minutes with a final kill score of 40:39.
For Egor Nightfall Grigorenko’s lineup, it was their second win at the tournament alongside four losses. Team Spirit also remained at a 2-4 record after six matches. As we predicted, Aurora were expected to put up a fight against Team Spirit and managed to claim important points in a direct matchup against a team from the lower part of the standings.
After that, Aurora Gaming will face Team Liquid in the group on May 28 at 12:20 CEST, while Team Spirit will play against Team Falcons at 11:10 CEST. Under the group-stage format, teams continue the Bo1 round-robin stage, where the top teams advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the middle teams move to Last Chance, and the bottom two teams are eliminated from the tournament.
BLAST Slam VII runs from May 26 to June 7 online and on the LAN stage in Denmark, where 12 teams are competing for $1,000,000. You can follow predictions for upcoming BLAST Slam VII matches and other tournaments on Winio!
image credit: PGL
Falcons look more stable and are better at turning advantages into wins. Xtreme can put up a fight if they slow the game down, protect Ame’s farm, and reach the late game.
Poor Rangers and Rune Eaters made Group A less predictable by taking maps from stronger teams. The favorites still have higher ceilings, but repeated draws now make clean execution more important than reputation.
Xtreme and BetBoom both enter at 4–2, but neither looks fully consistent. Xtreme seem steadier, while BetBoom can win if they control the tempo.
Team Spirit opened their Esports World Cup campaign with a 1–1 draw against MOUZ, but the result does not fully capture how close they came to losing the first map. MOUZ controlled most of the game, secured megacreeps, destroyed every Tier 4 tower, and left Spirit defending an exposed Ancient. Spirit still held, won the decisive fight without Yatoro, and eventually completed the comeback.
PARIVISION are expected to start EWC with their full lineup after Dukalis resolved his visa issue. This removes a major early risk and makes the team easier to judge by its real form and drafts.
EWC 2026 Dota 2 may depend more on current form and adaptation than reputation. With best-of-two groups, stand-in risks, and Survival matches, early drafts and lineup stability will be crucial.
Miposhka said his first focus after returning to Team Spirit was improving the team’s drafts. If Spirit’s picks start matching opponents better, they could become more stable before major events.
