BLAST Slam VIII preview - Teams and key storylines to watch

BLAST SLAM VIII will be the first Tier 1 tournament of the 2026-2027 competitive Dota 2 season.

The eighth edition of BLAST’s Dota 2 tournament series, BLAST Slam VIII, will officially open the curtains on top-tier competition for the 2026-2027 season. The tournament will feature 16 teams competing for a US$750,000 prize pool, running from 29 September to 11 October.

Some of the participating teams already made their competitive season debuts at the recently-concluded PGL Wallachia Season 9, where Team Yandex claimed the crown. However, the action is likely to be far more intense at BLAST Slam VIII, the first Tier 1 event of the new season. The tournament will feature The International (TI) 2026 champions and three-time title holders Team Spirit, alongside powerhouse PARIVISION, the runners-up of TI 2026.

BLAST Slam VIII will also be difficult to predict, with many newly formed rosters set to make their debuts. Here are all the teams competing at BLAST Slam VIII, along with some of the biggest storylines to watch.

All teams participating in BLAST Slam VIII

In BLAST Slam VIII, 12 teams received direct invites, while the remaining four qualified through regional qualifiers. Here are all the participants:

1. PARIVISION
2. Team Spirit
3. Team Yandex
4. Team Liquid
5. Aurora Gaming
6. BetBoom Team
7. 1W Team
8. LGD Gaming
9. Xtreme Gaming
10. OG
11. GamerLegion
12. MOUZ
13. Natus Vincere (1st/2nd in Europe qualifier)
14. Level UP (1st/2nd in Europe qualifier)
15. Yakult Brothers (1st in China qualifier)
16. Team Nemesis (1st in Southeast Asia qualifier)

The biggest storylines to look forward to in BLAST Slam VIII

Three favourites of BLAST Slam VIII

Team Spirit had lifted the team’s third Aegis of Champions just last month, however, the team is kicking off the new season with several significant roster changes. Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov and coach Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov are both taking a break and Batyuk of Yellow Submarine and Ilya “IllidanSTR” Pevcaev will fill in for them respectively.

It is likely that Team Spirit performs well, but not to their TI-winning standards. On top of having to adjust to new members, the team has a tendency to falter after TI season, before peaking again at major events. 

Meanwhile, finalists PARIVISION have a more stable outlook, having consistently performed well over the past two seasons. The team dominated in 2025 before taking a slower approach in 2026, though they still remained among the top performers. The team, alongside 1w Team, are the only ones that have retained their roster for the new season, now boasting the same lineup for three consecutive years. 

Coming into the tournament with the most momentum, however, could be Team Yandex. The team was one of the most consistent and decorated squads of the previous season, despite it being their first season together, largely thanks to Martin “Saksa” Sazdovs leadership. Now bolstered by the firepower of star Ammar “ATF” Assaf, Yandex appear poised to continue their strong run right after bagging their first trophy in the new season at PGL Wallachia Season 9.

New lineups bring uncertainty..and plenty of excitement

Beyond the favourites, there are plenty of juicier storylines to follow. 

We have a reformed OG in the pool at BLAST Slam VIII, marking Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen’s official return to the competitive scene. The star midlaner helped the organisation claim both of its Aegis titles in 2018 and 2019, but has now come out of retirement to face a much bigger challenge in their fourth stint together.

He will be leading a lineup of new and unproven talents. However, if there is one thing OG has consistently excelled at, it is scouting talent. So there could be plenty of promise in this fresh squad, although this tournament may not be where they shine just yet.

Team Liquid have also reshuffled their cards, with prominent South American offlaner Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles stepping into Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard’s shoes. The transition could be a rough one, as Ace and Erik “tOfu” Engel have laned together for the past five years. But Liquid are known for their long-term fine-tuning, which often pays off. Nai Zheng “MidOne” Yeik will also stand in for the team, as Michał “Nisha” Jankowski takes a break, potentially adding another layer of adaptation for the squad at this event.

One of the most exciting rosters formed for the new season is LGD Gaming, now spearheaded by TI champions Jing “Sneyking” Wu and Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan. The team made their debut at PGL Wallachia Season 9 and finished third, a relatively promising start.

Meanwhile, former Team Falcons carry Oliver “Skiter” Lepko has relocated to Aurora Gaming, replacing Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko in the lineup. Aurora’s debut at PGL Wallachia Season 9 was not as promising as some of their stronger performances from the previous season, with a Top 6 result. But they will still enter BLAST Slam VIII with more momentum than some of the other debuting teams.

The same can be said for Xtreme Gaming, who have rebuilt around Wang “Ame” Chunyu, alongside Zixing “XinQ” Zhao and Zhibiao “BoBoKa” Ye. The team finished fourth at Wallachia Season 9, marking a decent start for one of China’s most highly regarded squads.

1win, on the other hand, have opted against making any changes to their roster, but expectations remain fairly modest for the team, as they had struggled to meet expectations since the squad drastically deteriorated in mid-2026.

Dark horses and underdogs of BLAST Slam VIII

Among the dark horses are NAVI, a team that has been wildly inconsistent, showing flashes of brilliance before struggling dramatically in other events. The team missed out on TI 2026, but have made a stronger start to the new season, beating LGD Gaming and Xtreme Gaming to finish second at Wallachia Season 9. NAVI could pull off some major upsets, or find themselves overwhelmed by the top-tier competition.

Yakult Brothers are in a similar boat, boasting a lineup of prominent Chinese stars such as Liangzhi “KAKA” Hu and Yi “Emo” Zhou but remaining notoriously unpredictable.

GamerLegion performed relatively well in Wallachia Season 9, sharing their placement with Aurora Gaming. Now boasting Enzo “Timado” Gianoli in the carry role, the team could perhaps find several upsets in the event.

Rounding out the field are the underdogs MOUZ, Level UP and Southeast Asia’s Team Nemesis–all of which will be scouting for experience in this season opener.

For Dota 2 match results and updates on the go, don't forget to check out our Telegram channel.