Natus Vincere sensationally eliminate PARIVISION, qualification results
The closed qualifiers for Blast Slam VI have concluded. PARIVISION, Xtreme Gaming and Rekonix secured spots at the tournament. The organizers held only three closed qualifiers, allocating one slot to each.
The qualifiers were not without controversy. BLAST ran the qualifiers in a Single Elimination format and also barred Spirit Academy and NAVI Junior from participating due to a "conflict of interest", since the main rosters – Team Spirit and Natus Vincere – received direct invitations to the tournament. This rule did not affect the Chinese organization Yakult Brothers and YB.Tearlaments; the teams even played against each other within the closed qualifiers.
The main event of the day was the victory of Natus Vincere over PARIVISION. Natus Vincere were considered clear underdogs in this matchup, which may have pushed PARIVISION into a bolder and more reckless style of play – for which they were punished on the third map. Holding a lead of almost 15,000 gold, PARIVISION dove under the enemy T4 towers and ultimately paid for this mistake with their tournament slot.
The Rekonix organization, led by Fbz, defeated the main favorite of the qualifiers, Team Nemesis with 23savage, without too many problems, thus making a loud statement and qualifying for Blast Slam VI.
The Chinese qualifier turned out to be interesting. Xtreme Gaming, the main favorites, confidently dealt with their opponents and in the final defeated Vici Gaming, who had recently returned to the pro scene. This match was not only a battle for a tournament slot, but also a personal showdown for Xm against his former teammates from Xtreme Gaming. The third map was the most spectacular: it lasted 92 minutes, and Xtreme Gaming managed to pull off a comeback from a 30,000-gold deficit.
The closed qualifiers for Blast Slam VI took place on January 4–5 in an online format. Based on the results of the qualifiers, Natus Vincere, Rekonix and Xtreme Gaming secured berths to the LAN stage in Malta