The BLAST Slam I tournament joins the ranks of million-dollar Dota 2 tournaments this season. Announced and organized by BLAST, it is the first of ten more iterations that the organizer has in store for the 2025-2026 Dota 2 Esports season.
The event spans from November 26 to December 1 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the International 2024 (TI13) happened.
Blast Slam I (Image credit: BLAST)
BLAST Slam I matches will be available live on BLAST’s official Twitch channel.
What makes this event stand out above the rest is their interesting tournament format. Particularly, the group stage comprised of two round-robin groups of five teams each, where all matches are best-of-one. Teams are seeded to the playoffs based on a ‘King of the Hill’ placement:
Essentially, the better a team places in their respective group, the further they are placed in the playoffs. This gives a good reason for teams to deliver their best in the group stage since they are getting higher placements as a result.
Additionally, since the group stage is only best-of-one matches, making no team face elimination in the group stage is a fair decision.
Speaking of teams at the BLAST Slam I, ten invited teams are competing, featuring:
BLAST made sure to invite only the best Dota 2 teams to their first BLAST Slam, so expect phenomenal Dota 2 action at this event.
Participating Teams at Blast Slam I (Image credit: BLAST)
There is definitely no shortage of fan favorites at BLAST Slam I. Hailing from TI13 Hall of Fame are Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators, the grand finalists of said championship. Liquid are the Champions, but Gaimin certainly gave them a run for their money as the runner-up.
Meanwhile, Team Falcons stand out as the current strongest team after post-TI13 roster shuffle, where they did not change their roster. As such, many fans attributed their recent success at DreamLeague S24 and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 to their seasoned roster.
Outside of the most celebrated Dota 2 teams this year, BetBoom Team, Team Spirit and Tundra Esports are also monstrous opponents to participate at BLAST Slam I.
Then, there’s team OG, the oddball out of the group. Now a husk of its former glory, OG rocks a new generation of players, that still has a lot to prove their worth against the biggest powerhouses in the Dota 2 Esports scene.
Nevertheless, their new players are worth keeping an eye out, especially with the celebrated players like Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, Leon “Nine” Kirilin and Yap “xNova” Jian Wei.
Finally, representing the thriving South American Dota 2 scene is HEROIC, which recently accomplished a major feet. HEROIC defeated Team Falcons at the PGL Wallachia S2, which is an upset to the latter team. However, the bigger picture of this accomplishment is that HEROIC is the first South American Dota 2 team to win a major tournament like PGL Wallachia.
Hence, they certainly deserved the direct invite as the sole SA representative.
With this much anticipation awaiting us Dota 2 fans nearing the festive season, BLAST Slam I is a must-watch for the holiday season.
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