Five best-of-fives are coming in the next BLAST Slam event.
BLAST has taken its experimental approach to tournament formats to a whole new level. The Dutch organiser has announced a never-before-seen format for its upcoming Dota 2 event, BLAST Slam VI, which will feature an entirely best-of-five (BO5) Playoffs stage.
“The competition is about to intensify as we enter the Playoffs, with all series played in a best-of-five format,” BLAST announced on its website.
BLAST Slam VI is set to take place offline in Malta next February. The tournament will start with a best-of-one (BO1) round-robin Group Stage with twelve teams competing to accumulate points. The top two finishers will earn direct seeds into the Semi Finals. Meanwhile, the remaining four Playoffs spots will be determined through the Play-In and Last Chance Playoffs rounds.
This structure has been the standard format for BLAST Dota 2 tournaments since the fourth edition last October.
However, BLAST Slam VI will see a major shake-up in how the Playoffs unfold. Instead of the traditional best-of-three (BO3) matches, we will see BO5s run in all five Playoffs series–comprising two Quarter Finals, two Semi Finals, and a Grand Final.
While this format presents a significant endurance test for teams and players, it also promises more entertainment for viewers. The extended series will push teams to their limits, with every battle feeling like the finale.
BLAST sets out to revive excitement for viewers
BLAST’s decision to tweak the Playoffs stage may stem from the underwhelming reception of its previous events. BLAST Slam V recorded the most lackluster viewership performance compared to other Tier 1 tournaments early in the season, reaching a peak of 180,000 viewers. This figure fell well behind events such as PGL Wallachia Season 6, which peaked at 371,000 viewers, and FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2, which reached 228,000 peak viewers.
Many viewers pointed out that BLAST Slam’s unusually long gap between the Group Stage and Playoffs dampened the hype leading into the finale. The tournament also featured a relatively simple Playoffs format, with only six teams and a limited number of matches due to its single-elimination structure and direct Semi Final seeding.
Instead of abandoning its unconventional format, BLAST doubled down by turning the Playoffs into a BO5 fiesta. But the move appears to have spiced things up, as fan reactions leaned positive.
X user @TenebrisHostis commented on the Playoffs changes: “That’s perfect, glad you listened to the feedback because now teams that travel actually get a fair chance to show their level. The (previous) BO3 format felt really harsh, traveling to the other side of the world just to get eliminated after a single small series was brutal.”
BLAST Slam VI will run from 3 to 15 February, live at the BLAST Studios in Malta. As of December 19, five teams–
Tundra Esports, 
Team Falcons, 
MOUZ, 
Heroic, and 
Team Yandex–have been confirmed to participate, earning direct invitations following their top performances from the Slam IV and V tournaments.
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