Team Yandex enjoys 3-0 start to BLAST Slam VII

Team Yandex took the early lead in the BLAST Slam VII group-stage standings by going 3-0 on Tuesday in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Yandex was the only team out of 12 participants to make it through the opening day unscathed. They defeated Team Spirit, PARIVISION and Team Liquid for the three-for-three sweep.

Five more teams went 2-1 in their opening three matches: BetBoom Team, GLYPH, LGD Gaming, PARIVISION and Team Falcons.

The $1 million BLAST Slam VII began with 12 participants in a group stage that runs Tuesday through Friday. Group play is a round-robin, best-of-one format. The top two teams at the end of the week will advance to the upper-bracket semifinals of the playoffs, while the third- and fourth-place teams will start in the upper-bracket quarters.

The fifth- and sixth-place teams will proceed to Round 2 of the last-chance qualifier, while teams 7-10 in the standings will begin in Round 1 of that stage. The bottom two teams will be eliminated.

After Saturday's last-chance qualifier featuring best-of-three matches, two teams will advance to the playoffs, a six-team, double-elimination bracket June 4-7. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

On Tuesday, Yandex stomped out Team Spirit in 34 minutes on green, defeated PARIVISION in 52 minutes on red and trounced Team Liquid in 28 minutes on green. The only team to lose all three of its matches was OG.

The tournament will continue Wednesday with 16 total matches.

BLAST Slam VII standings

1. Team Yandex, 3-0

T2. BetBoom Team, 2-1

T2. GLYPH, 2-1

T2. LGD Gaming, 2-1

T2. PARIVISION, 2-1

T2. Team Falcons, 2-1

T7. Aurora Gaming, 1-2

T7. Team Liquid, 1-2

T7. Team Spirit, 1-2

T7. Tundra Esports, 1-2

T7. Xtreme Gaming, 1-2

12. OG, 0-3

BLAST Slam VII payouts (prize money, team earnings)

1. $300,000, $100,000

2. $150,000, $45,000

3. $70,000, $23,000

4. $50,000, $17,000

5-6. $40,000, $15,000

7-8. $25,000, $10,000

9-10. $15,000, $5,000

11-12. $10,000, $2,500

--Field Level Media