BLAST SLAM VIII merges Americas into single region as tournament expands to 16 teams

The North and South America regions are being combined into a single region for BLAST Slam VIII, with a single team getting a direct invite to the tournament but no qualifier pathway.

BLAST has announced a major overhaul for the eighth edition of its Dota 2 tournament series, expanding the competition to 16 teams and introducing a completely revamped format that eliminates Best-of-one matches from the online stage.

The tournament, which boasts a combined $750,000 prize pool, down from $1 million dollars, will kick off in late August with the open qualifiers. Closed qualifiers will start just a week after The International 2026 concludes, before culminating in a four-day LAN finals at the BLAST Arena Studios in Malta this October.

Americas merged into one region

In a significant change to the tournament's qualification structure, BLAST has merged North and South America into a single Americas region for BLAST SLAM VIII. The region will receive one direct invite to the main event. However, unlike Europe, China, and Southeast Asia, which all have dedicated qualifier slots. the Americas will not have a regional qualifier spot of their own. This means that teams from North and South America will have only one pathway to the tournament: securing one of the 12 direct invites.

Qualifier slots:

• Europe: 2
• China: 1
• Southeast Asia: 1

BLAST SLAM VIII will begin online from 29th September to 3rd October, introducing the tournament's most significant format update to date. The organisers have removed Best-of-one matches entirely from the online stage, with every series now played as a Best-of-three.

The opening stage will feature:

• 16 teams divided into four GSL groups of four
• All matches played on European servers
• Every series played as a Bo3
• Dual-stream broadcast allowing fans to follow more action across all four groups

Following the group stage, the four group winners will compete in seeding matches. The two winners will advance directly to the upper bracket semi-finals at the LAN Finals, while the two losing teams will head to the quarter-finals. The four second-place teams will battle in a Last Chance stage, with the two winners claiming the final Quarter-final places.

Malta to host the finals

The final six teams will travel to the BLAST Arena Studios in Malta for the LAN finals, taking place from 8th to 11th October in front of a live audience. The remaining teams will compete in a six-team double-elimination bracket, with the top two seeds beginning their campaigns in the Upper Bracket semi-finals. The tournament will conclude on Sunday with a Best-of-five grand final to crown the BLAST SLAM VIII champions.