BLAST Slam VIII overview: Teams, format, and the favorites to place your bets on

Zloster Published September 23, 2026

BLAST Slam VIII will be the second major Dota 2 tournament after TI15, set to take place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 11.

Starting just two days after the PGL Wallachia Season 9 is over, it will feature a total of 16 teams competing for a share of the $750,000 prize pool. Let’s learn more about the event and the potential favorites.

BLAST Slam VIII Overview and Prize Pool

Unlike most Dota 2 tournaments, this one will have four distinctive stages:

Group Stage
Seeding Matches
Last Chance
Playoffs

The Group Stage will start on September 29 and we will see four GSL groups. All matches are a best-of-three, and the teams that finish first will have the chance to play in the Seeding Matches. The team that finishes second will proceed to the last change qualifier, whereas the remaining teams will be eliminated.

Speaking of the Seeding Matches, they will follow a best-of-three format. The teams that win continue competing in the Semifinals, whereas the losers will head into the Quarterfinals.

The Last Chance stage also features Bo3 matches; the winners advance to the Quarterfinals, while the losers are eliminated.

Lastly, we have the Playoffs, which will be between October 8 and 11. There will be a double-elimination bracket with Bo3 games and a Bo5 Grand Final.

As for the prize pool, the 16 Dota 2 teams will compete for a $750K prize pool. $550,000 of that amount is prize money, while the remainder will be awarded as Team Earnings.

BLAST Slam VIII Teams

Image credit: BLAST

Unlike with PGL Wallachia Season 9, this Dota 2 tournament features directly invited teams and clubs that earned their slot via qualifiers. Here is a full list of every squad you will find:

BetBoom Team – Invited
PARIVISION – Invited
Aurora Gaming – Invited
Team Yandex – Invited
Team Spirit – Invited
LGD Gaming – Invited
OG – Invited
1w Team – Invited
Xtreme Gaming – Invited
Team Liquid – Invited
GamerLegion – Invited
MOUZ – Invited
Natus Vincere – Qualification
Level UP – Qualification
Yakult Brothers – Qualification
Team Nemesis – Qualification

BLAST Slam VIII Betting Favorites

Assuming what happened at The International 2026 and the PGL Wallachia Season 9, there are a few teams that deserve more attention.

The first one is definitely PARIVISION because this was the big favorite for TI15, with Dota 2 odds agreeing with that. Despite not winning the event, PARIVISION lived up to the expectations and finished second. Unlike most other teams, PARIVISION did not make any roster changes after TI15 came to an end. Their consistency is something to be kept in mind during Dota 2 betting.

Speaking of TI winners, we have to mention Team Spirit. Even though it made some big roster shuffles after lifting the Aegis, TS remains one of the best Dota 2 teams in the world. As a result, there is a good chance it will perform well.

Lastly, we have BetBoom Team and Team Yandex. At the time of writing, Team Yandex is doing amazingly well at PGL Wallachia Season 9, and we expect to see similar results here. It seems the team knows how to navigate the Dota 2 patch 7.41f. As for BetBoom Team, this will be the first “battle” for one of the TI15 favorites, so it will be very interesting to see what happens.

If you are looking to wager on the event, check out our list of best betting sites.

Closing thoughts

BLAST Slam VIII will take place in Malta and people who want to watch the Playoffs can do so by going to the BLAST Arena Studios. As always, fans will have the opportunity to see all of their favorite names from the Dota 2 talents. There is no arguing that this is an important tournament (judging by the quality of the participating teams), so it will be interesting to see the final results.

Featured image credit: BLAST

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