BLAST Slam is set to feature a live audience in its Playoff stage for its fourth edition onwards.
Danish tournament organiser BLAST has announced a slew of changes to its Dota 2 tournament series, BLAST Slam, on Friday (13 June). The BLAST Slam series now features an updated schedule, a new qualifier system, a revamped tournament format, and a LAN finale for every iteration.
BLAST entered Dota 2 in November last year, hosting BLAST Slam I in an online and fast-paced setting. Excitingly, following tremendous success in its past three tournaments, the organiser is ramping up its Dota 2 series in almost every aspect.
The most notable update sees BLAST opening its doors to a live audience for all of its Dota 2 tournaments. While the first week of the event will be an online stage, the Playoffs in the second week will allow live viewing both in the studio and the arena.
Here are more significant changes implemented:
New invite and qualifier system
Previously, BLAST Slam featured a full-invite system where 10 teams were to play directly in the tournaments. The new system instead brings 2 additional teams that make up 12 total participants, among which only 6 are invited.
The 12 participants of upcoming BLAST Slam events comprise of:
- 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)
BLAST Slam qualifier dates
BLAST Slam will now host three regional qualifiers to determine three of its participants. There will be open and closed qualifiers for Southeast Asia (run by Relog), China (run by GGTV), and Europe (run by Relog). The organiser also revealed qualifier dates for all of its Dota 2 tournaments in 2025:
BLAST Slam IV: Singapore
- Open Qualifier 1: 29 September - 30 September
- Open Qualifier 2: 1 October - 2 October
- Closed Qualifier: 3 October - 5 October
BLAST Slam V
- Open Qualifier 1: 6 October - 7 October
- Open Qualifier 2: 8 October - 9 October
- Closed Qualifier: 10 October - 12 October
New tournament format
Fans can now soak in more Dota 2 action with BLAST’s new tournament format. The first week of BLAST Slam will feature an online phase of Group Stage (Tuesday to Saturday), Last Chance Playoffs, and the LAN Play-In (Sunday). The Group Stage results will lead to the following arrangement:
- 1st - 2nd place: Advance directly to the Semi-Finals at the LAN event.
- 3rd - 8th place: Progress to the LAN Play-In stage for a chance to qualify for the Quarter Finals.
- 9th - 12th place: Enter the Last Chance Playoff. Two best teams will join the LAN Play-In stage while the rest are eliminated.
While the Top 2 of Group Stage await in the semifinals of the Playoffs, the Last Chance Playoffs will occur with only two out of four teams surviving. The LAN Play-In follows with six teams, plus two more from the Last Chance Playoffs, clashing for a slot in the quarterfinals.
The second week features the LAN Playoff round, starting with two best-of-three quarterfinal rounds on Friday, followed by two best-of-three semifinal rounds on Saturday. The best-of-five grand finals will then conclude the tournament on Sunday.
Updated BLAST Slam tournament dates
With the massive change in date and formatting, BLAST’s entire Dota 2 calendar also shifts. Here are the updated dates for all upcoming BLAST Slam tournaments:
- BLAST Slam IV: 27 October - 9 November 2025
- BLAST Slam V: 25 November - 7 December 2025
- BLAST Slam VI: 3 - 15 February 2026
- BLAST SLAM VII: 26 May - 7 June 2026
- BLAST Slam VIII: 29 September - 11 October 2026
- BLAST Slam IX: 17 November - 29 November 2026
The next BLAST Dota 2 event, BLAST Slam IV, is set to take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from October 27 to November 9 and with tickets already on sale. This marks BLAST’s first Dota 2 LAN event following several successful online editions. It joins the ranks of high-profile, million-dollar tournaments in the Dota 2 competitive scene, alongside events like PGL Wallachia, ESL One, and the DreamLeague series.

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