BLAST SLAM VIII expands to 16 teams and all-Bo3 groups

BLAST SLAM VIII will expand from 12 to 16 Dota 2 teams and remove best-of-one matches from its online stage. Six teams will advance to a four-day LAN final in Malta from October 8–11.

The field includes 11 direct invites, one separate Americas direct invite and four regional qualifier places. Europe receives two qualifier slots, while China and Southeast Asia receive one each.

Four GSL groups replace the previous online format

The online stage runs September 29 through October 3 on European servers. Four groups of four use the GSL format, and every series is best-of-three.

The four group winners move into seeding matches. Two winners advance directly to the upper-bracket semifinals in Malta, while the two losers start in the quarterfinals.

Four second-place group teams enter a Last Chance stage for the remaining two quarterfinal places. Teams finishing below second in their groups do not reach the LAN final.

Malta hosts a six-team double-elimination final

The final six compete at BLAST Arena Studios in a double-elimination bracket. The championship match is best-of-five, while the two leading seeds begin one round deeper in the upper bracket.

BLAST lists a combined $750,000 pool: $550,000 in prize money and $200,000 in team earnings. Open qualifiers run August 26–27, closed qualifiers follow August 29–30, and the roster lock is September 14.

Our International 2026 team guide tracks the next major Dota 2 field, while our format analysis explains the different consistency tests created by GSL groups and double elimination.

BLAST said invited teams and ticket information would be announced separately, so neither should be inferred from the initial format release.

Source: BLAST.tv, July 1, 2026.