BLAST Slam Changes: More teams, more qualifiers, more Dota

BLAST.tv

January 01, 1970

12:00 AM

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BLAST are making some changes to the BLAST Slam format going forward - bringing you even more matches and high-quality BLAST action.

BLAST Slam, whilst still being new to the scene, has already received record-breaking numbers this year. So we’ve decided to double down - more BLAST Slam DOTA is coming your way. Here’s what you can expect from BLAST Slam IV onwards.

BLAST Slam will now be run over two weeks, combining both online and LAN stages to determine our champion. Here's how those two weeks will unfold:

Week 1 – Online Stage

Schedule: Tuesday to Sunday
Teams: 12 of the world’s best teams, representing each region.

Group Stage (played Tuesday to Saturday ) Outcomes:

Top 2 Teams: Advance directly to the Semi-Finals at the LAN event.
3rd to 8th Place Teams: Progress to the LAN Play-In stage for a chance to qualify for the Quarter Finals.
9th to 12th Place Teams: Enter the Last Chance Playoff. Only two of these teams will earn the final spots in the LAN Play-In.

Sunday Matches:

2 x Bo3 Last Chance Playoffs: Determines which two of the bottom four teams secure a place in the LAN Play-In.
4 x Bo3 LAN Play-In Matches: The 3rd to 8th place teams, plus the two winners from the Last Chance Playoff, face off to decide who progresses to the Quarter Finals.

Week 2: Arena or Studio: Always with an audience

Location: Arena or Studio. Week 2 will always have an audience - either in a studio or arenas around the world.
Schedule: Friday to Sunday

Whether we’re in one of the world’s best arenas or our world-class studio, playoffs will feature a crowd. Dota deserves to be played in front of an audience, so we’re going to make sure there always is one.

Friday: 2 x Bo3 Quarter Finals
Saturday: 2 x Bo3 Semi-Finals
Sunday: 1 x Bo5 Grand Final

Participating Teams:

12 teams will participate in BLAST Slam going forward. These will be made up of the following:

6 invited teams
1 host region hero invite (a fan favourite team from the region where the LAN finals are being played)
2 European qualifier teams
1 China qualifier team
1 SEA qualifier team
1 Americas invite (based on performance at recent T1 events)

Qualifiers Format & Dates:

New BLAST Slam Format

BLAST Slam will now begin with 2 Open Qualifiers in the following regions: China, Europe & SEA. There is no cap on the number of teams registering to play in the Open Qualifiers. The format of these qualifiers is as follows:

Single elimination matches
Initial Bo1 matches
Bo3 quarter finals and semi-finals
Grand finalists qualify for the closed qualifiers (2 teams from each region move to the Closed Qualifiers)

There will be one Closed Qualifier played in each region. Here, 4 invited teams will be joined by the 4 winners of the Open Qualifiers (2 from each Open Qualifier). The format for the Closed Qualifiers is as follows:

Double elimination bracket
All matches Bo3
In SEA and China, the grand final winner will qualify for the main BLAST Slam event
In Europe, both grand finalists qualify for the main BLAST Slam event.

Here are the dates for the Open and Closed Qualifiers for the rest of 2025:

BLAST Slam IV: Singapore
- Open Qualifier 1: 29th September - 30th September
- Open Qualifier 2: 1st October - 2nd October
- Closed Qualifier: 3rd October - 5th October
BLAST Slam V:
- Open Qualifier 1: 6th October - 7th October
- Open Qualifier 2: 8th October - 9th October
- Closed Qualifier: 10th October - 12th October