BLAST has hit the jackpot with its Slam tournament, as the Dota 2 format has become one of its bigger and more successful endeavours. In fact, it has proven to be so grand already that BLAST is literally doubling down on Slam for the future.
This will mean that more teams will be competing in the action, alongside more qualifiers and matches being featured too. Each event will now last for two weeks and will have both an online and a LAN element too. The first week will be entirely online and feature qualification matches for 12 of the best teams around the world, before being followed by a group stage in the second week, where the top two teams get direct LAN semifinals spots, and the remaining others battle it out for Play-In and Last Chance Playoff spots too. The Play-In and the Playoffs will be the two LAN events, as the Last Chance is purely online.
As for where the LAN activities will be held, we’re told that they will be either in a BLAST studio or in an arena around the world. There is no mention of any chosen arenas yet, but due to the expanded format, the schedule for coming events has been adjusted, with the tweaked schedule seen below.
- BLAST Slam IV: 27th October – 9th November 2025
- BLAST Slam V: 25th November – 7th December 2025
- BLAST Slam VI: 3rd – 15th February 2026
- BLAST SLAM VII: 26th May – 7th June 2026
- BLAST Slam VIII: 29th September – 11th October 2026
- BLAST Slam IX: 17th November – 29th November 2026