BLAST Slam VIII Preview: Format, Rosters, Day One Schedule
Tomorrow, September 29, the group stage matches of BLAST Slam VIII will begin. The tournament format, team rosters, prize pool distribution, and schedule for the first day of competition are detailed below.
Format
The group stage will take place from September 29 through October 2 in a GSL format with four groups of four teams each. All matches will be best-of-three series. The group winners will advance to the seeding matches, the second-place teams will move on to the last-chance stage, and the remaining teams will be eliminated from the tournament.
The seeding matches and last-chance matches will take place on October 3 in a best-of-three (bo3) format. The winners of the seeding matches will advance to the semifinals, while the losers will move on to the quarterfinals. Winners of the last-chance matches will advance to the quarterfinals, while the losers will be eliminated from the tournament.
The playoffs will take place from October 8 through 11 in a double-elimination bracket. All matches, except for the grand final, will be best-of-three; the grand final will be best-of-three.
Team Rosters
1w Team
- Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko
- Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov
- Neta “33” Shapira
- Matthew “Ari” Walker
- Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
- David “MoonMeander” Tan (coach)
Aurora Gaming
- Oliver “skiter” Lepko
- Igor “Stojkov” Stoykov (stand-in)
- Chun “Ws” Weishen
- Miroslav “Mira” Kolpakov
- Oleg “kaori” Medvedok
- Damien “kpii” Chok (coach)
LGD Gaming
- Héctor “Wits” Orozco Alsá
- Said Samail “SumaiL” Hassan
- Cedric “Davai” Dekmin
- Thiago de Oliveira “Thiolicor” Cordeiro
- Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu
- Sam “BuLba” Sousail (coach)
MOUZ
- Bilguun “423” Altanginj
- Ondřej “Supream^” Štarha
- Miroslav “BOOM” Bichan
- Artem “mrls” Selepko
- Hoel Eduardo “MoOz” Mori Osambela
- Daniel “ImmortalFaith” Moza (coach)
Natus Vincere
- Taras “gotthejuice” Linnikov
- Artem “Niku” Bachkur
- Yuri “pma” Prots
- Tamir “daze” Tokpanov
- Stanislav “Riddys” Mitroshkin
- Aske “Cy-” Larsen (coach)
Team Nemesis
- Sulia “JaCkky” Khoomfetsavong
- Argl “Ken” Lyesis
- Anucha “Jabz” Jivarong
- Tri “Jhocam” Kungkoro
- Ravdan “NARMAN” Narmandah
- Leon “Arthur” Li (coach)
Team Yandex
- Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov
- Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov
- Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf
- Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
- Arman “Malady” Orazbaev
- Alexander “Accell” Litvinenko (coach)
Xtreme Gaming
- Wang “Ame” Chun-yu
- Ge “Xm” Hongcheng
- Nicholas “zeal” Lim
- Zhao “XinQ” Zixing
- Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao
- Wang “Maps” Yutian (coach)
Yakult Brothers
- Lu “lou” Zhen
- Zhou “Emo” Yi
- Xiang “Beyond” Zhenghong
- Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi
- Jiang “天命” An
- Wang “Yakult” Hao (coach)
Level UP
- Nikolai “WoE” Ruban
- Alexey “Ainkrad” Diveevsky
- Nikolay “bb3px” Evdokimichev
- Alexander “queezy” Lipin
- Andrey “Htrd” Fedorov
- Sergey “Sbdush” Fatullaev (coach)
GamerLegion
- Enzo “Timado” Gianoli O’Connor
- Francis “RCY” Fundemera
- Viktor “Fayde” Zuev
- Daniil “Bignum” Shekhovtsov
- Paul “Speeed” Boccicchio
- Andrey-Vlad “Mangusu” Satyanu (coach)
OG
- John Anthony “Natsumi” Vargas
- Topias “Topson” Taavit-Sainenen
- Valery “SSS” Lazarev
- Ivan “OneJey” Zhivitsky
- Andrey Gabriel “skem” Ong
- Igor “kaffs” Furtado (coach)
BetBoom Team
- Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov
- Matvey “MieRo” Vasyunin
- Vitaly “Save-” Melnik
- Georgy “swedenstrong” Zainalabidov
- Vladislav “Kataomi`” Semenov
- Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek (coach)
Team Liquid
- Michael “m1CKe” Wu
- E “MidOne” Naizheng (substitute)
- Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles
- Samuel “Boxi” Swan
- Eric “tOfu” Engel
- William “Blitz” Li (coach)
Team Spirit
- Ilya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk
- Denis “Larl” Sigitov
- Bogdan “Batyuk” Batyuk
- Alexey “not me” Kosmyinin
- Ivan “rue” Filin
- Ilya “Illidan” Pivtsaev (coach)
PARIVISION
- Alan “Satanic” Galliamov
- Vladimir “No[o]ne-” Minenko
- Evgeny “Noticed” Ignatenko
- Edgar “9Class” Naltakyan
- Andrey “Dukalis” Kuropatkin
- Klement “Puppey” Ivanov (coach)
Prize Pool Distribution
A total of $750,000 will be awarded during the event.
- 1st place — $200,000 for the players and $70,000 for the club;
- 2nd place — $100,000 for the players and $35,000 for the club;
- 3rd place — $75,000 for the players and $20,000 for the club;
- 4th place — $50,000 for players and $15,000 for the club;
- 5th–6th place — $25,000 for the players and $10,500 for the club;
- 7th–8th place — $12,500 for the players and $7,500 for the club;
- 9th–12th place — $7,500 for the players and $4,000 for the club;
- 13th–16th place — $5,000 for the players and $2,000 for the club.
Schedule for the first day of play
September 19, times are in Moscow time.
- 1:00 p.m. — PARIVISION vs. Level UP;
- 1:00 PM — Team Nemesis vs. Team Spirit;
- 4:00 PM — LGD Gaming vs. Xtreme Gaming;
- 4:00 p.m. — 1w Team vs. Natus Vincere;
- 7:00 p.m. — Team Liquid vs. Yakult Brothers;
- 7:00 p.m. — Aurora Gaming vs. GamerLegion.
BLAST Slam VIII Broadcast Studios
Russian-language broadcast studio:
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Hosts:
- Ivan “WYHM” Sheshin;
- Vasilisa “Vasilisa” Chernova.
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Analysts:
- Timur “Ahilles” Kulmukhambetov;
- Vladislav “BLACKARXANGEL” Ivashchenko;
- Arseny “ArsZeeqq” Usov;
- Nikita “Sheyl” Demeshov;
- Artem “Fng” Barshak;
- Mikhail “Misha” Agatov.
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Commentators:
- Artem “Artem1da” Kozhevnikov;
- Dmitry “Inmate” Filinov;
- Rustam “Adekvat” Mavlyutov;
- Daria “Eiritel” Medvedeva;
- Sergey “G” Bragin;
- Maksim “Shachlo” Abramovskikh;
- Vladislav “PIVOVAR” Pivovar;
- Stanislav “633” Glushan;
- Vladimir “PGG” Anosov;
- Vladimir “gexsun” Petryaev;
- Gleb “y0nd” Vazhnov;
- Nikolai “Whotherolly” Razuev.
English-language commentary booth
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Host:
- Natalie “NatTea” Mahoney.
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Interviewer:
- Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner.
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Analysts:
- Quinn Callahan;
- Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi;
- Robson “TeaGuvnor” Merritt.
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Commentators:
- Owen “ODPixel” Davis;
- Ioannis “Fogged” Lucas;
- Avery “SVG” Silverman;
- Austin “Cap” Walsh;
- Benjamin “Bkop” Kopilow;
- Nicholas “Gunnar” Lopez;
- Dominic “Lacoste” Stipic;
- Jared “Nomad” Badjina.
Where to Watch BLAST Slam VIII
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Broadcast in English:
- Twitch: BLASTDota, BLASTDotaB;
- YouTube: BLASTDotalive;
- Kick: blastdota, blastdotab.
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Russian-language broadcast:
- Twitch: betboom_dota_ru, betboom_dota_ru2;
- YouTube: BetBoomEsports.
BLAST Slam VIII will take place from September 29 to October 11 in Malta. Sixteen teams will compete for a $750,000 prize pool, with the winner taking home $270,000. Team Yandex won the previous tournament in the series.
Photo by Luc Bouchon, BLAST
