BLAST Slam VII Playoffs Preview - Visa issues transform the playoff picture

Michael Hassall Published 03/06/2026

BLAST Slam VII is the last major tournament before teams lock-in and compete at the EWC and The International, and as a result, we’re seeing a tournament with some unique outcomes.

With teams seemingly treating this as a last-minute tune-up before the championship clashes of the next two months, a South American team has topped the table and some of the best teams in the world are either without players or forfeiting.

All this considered, it’s likely to be a hard playoffs to predict, but we’ve put together a preview that should get you up to speed. Here’s our BLAST Slam VII Playoffs Preview.

BLAST Slam VII Group Stage recap

BLAST Slam VII kicked off at the end of last month, and almost immediately there were some shocks as LGD Gaming, the former HEROIC lineup managed to score a number of upsets on Day 2 and 3. The team would ultimately top the groups at 8-3 scoring victories over BetBoom, Aurora Gaming, and PARIVISION.

PARIVISION themselves would also go 8-3 but besting some of the teams LGD struggled with including Team Falcons and OG Esports.

The biggest surprise was the relative weakness of teams such as Tundra Esports and Team Spirit, normally top teams who crashed out after a low finish to the Group Stage and a disappointing Last Chance Qualifier. That left us with six remaining teams for the Playoffs, LGD Gaming, PARIVISION, BetBoom Team, Team Falcons, Team Yandex, and Aurora Gaming.

Visa troubles, replacements, and stand-ins at BLAST Slam VII Playoffs

Even with this tumultuous Group Stage, the break in-between groups and playoffs would deliver even more of a shake-up, and a cold, hard dose of reality as multiple teams were affected by visa issues.

The in-person playoffs for BLAST Slam VII are being hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark, and as a result, multiple Russian players have been denied entry for the tournament due to Denmark’s existing restrictions on Russian nationals.

The first team hit by this was PARIVISION, who despite finishing second in groups and being directly seeded to the Upper Bracket, forfeited their spot. This in-turn meant that BetBoom would take their spot, and Team Liquid, who had lost out in the Last Chance Qualifier round would automatically advance to the playoffs.

PARIVISION, who presumably knew they would not be able to compete in the playoffs, may well have been treating this event as a warm-up for the upcoming championship opportunities such as TI and the EWC. Still, their absent will definitely shake-up the playoffs.

Then, on Wednesday, we discovered that Team Falcons would be affected as Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak’s visa was also denied. In his place Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan will stand-in, potentially limiting their performance. While SumaiL is no slouch, playing without your normal lineup is definitely not as simple as it looks.

BLAST Slam VII Playoffs predictions

While the whole playoff picture is definitely hard to predict, it’s not impossible. Here are our picks from the current matchups

Team Yandex vs. Aurora Gaming

This one is a dead split on the prediction markets, with both teams underperforming in Group Stage compared to their earlier dominance in 2026. But if we had to give an edge, we’d look at Aurora. The lineup has consistently performed at a very high level in recent events, claiming a podium in three of their last five Tier 1 events.

Pick: Aurora

Team Liquid vs. Team Falcons

Another close one on prediction markets, Team Liquid currently holds a slight edge, likely due to Falcon’s recent stand-in news we explained above. We’re going to agree with the slight Team Liquid advantage, due to the team’s experience together, and the fact they’ve generally had a good record against Team Falcons.

Image via Kalshi

Pick: Team Liquid

LGD Gaming vs. TBD

We really want to pick LGD Gaming here, but with either Team Yandex or Aurora Gaming coming through to face them, we really can’t endorse them to make a much deeper run in the Upper Bracket.

BetBoom Team vs TBD

More information will be added as teams advance.

Featured Image Credit: BLAST

Michael Hassall

About Michael Hassall

Michael is a eight-year veteran of the games writing space, but has being playing them for as long as he can remember. With bylines across the internet, he’s used his expertise to cover esports, prediction markets, mainstream gaming, streamers, and more besides.

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