BLAST Slam VIII, featuring a new format, will be launched in Malta in October.

Danish tournament organizer BLAST has announced that its flagship Dota 2 tournament, BLAST Slam VIII, will be held from September 29 to October 11.

Following its sixth edition in February, the event returns to Malta this fall with several changes, including expanded participation and a revised format.

The number of participating teams in this year's tournament has increased from 12 to 16. Among them, 12 teams will receive direct invitations (including 1 slot from the Americas region), and the list of direct invitees will be announced before August 4.

The remaining four spots will be determined through regional qualifiers, with two for Europe and one each for Southeast Asia and China. The open qualifiers will be held from August 26 to 27, followed by the closed qualifiers from August 29 to 30.

This tournament has undergone a major overhaul of its format. The online group stage will be held from September 29th to October 3rd, with 16 teams competing in a double-elimination GSL group stage on a European server. All matches will be best-of-three.

The top team in each group advances to the seeding battle, with the winner going directly to the winners' bracket semifinals and the loser entering the quarterfinals; the second-place team in each group competes for the remaining quarterfinal spots in the final round.

The six teams that ultimately emerge victorious from Signal will travel to the BLAST Studio in Malta for the offline finals. From October 8th to 11th, the six teams will compete for a total prize pool of $750,000. The finals will be a best-of-five series.

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