BLAST Slam V preview: Teams, format, predictions, and more

Dota 2 and Gaming Editor

Publish Date: November 24, 2025

There’s no stopping Dota 2 this holiday season, with BLAST Slam V taking place from Nov. 25 and running into the first week of December, this is the final short-format major tournament of the Dota 2 calendar.

Hosted at the Wuliangye Culture & Sports Center in Chengdu, China, BLAST Slam V pits 12 of the best teams from around the globe against each other. But let’s dive in and find out more.

Table of Contents

BLAST Slam V details and format
How to watch BLAST Slam V
BLAST Slam V teams
Players to watch during BLAST Slam V
BLAST Slam V odds and betting tips

BLAST Slam V details and format

As mentioned, BLAST Slam V will run from Nov. 25 until Dec. 7. Featuring 12 teams, seven directly invited, and five by regional qualifier, they’ll all compete in a best-of-one round-robin group stage. From there the top two teams will advance directly to the semifinals while the remaining teams will proceed to either the play-in or last chance playoff.

The last chance playoff will feature teams in 9th to 12th place in a series of best-of-three bouts with one single team advancing to the play-in.

In the play-in, more best-of-three matches will decide the four finalists who will head to the Playoffs. Playoffs are single elimination with a bye for the best performing teams from group stage.

Image Credit: BLAST

How to watch BLAST Slam V

BLAST Slam V will be broadcast on Twitch, YouTube, and Kick. Links are below:

BLAST Slam V teams

12 teams will head to Chengdu to compete at BLAST Slam V. The event features directly invited teams from around the world, and five regional qualifier teams from the Americas, two from Europe, China and Southeast Asia. As the host China also received an additional invite for Xtreme Gaming.

Here’s all the teams at BLAST Slam V:

Teams	Region	Qualifying Method
Xtreme Gaming	China	Host Region Invite
Team Falcons	MENA	Invited
Tundra Esports	Europe	Invited
Team Yandex	CIS	Invited
OG	SEA	Invited
Team Tidebound	China	Invited
Yakult Brothers	China	Invited
HEROIC	SA	Americas Qualifier
MOUZ	Europe	Europe Qualifier
Natus Vincere	Europe	Europe Qualifier
Tearlmates	China	China Qualifier
Execration	SEA	Southeast Asia

Players to watch during BLAST Slam V

We’ve got a host of star players to watch at BLAST SLAM but here’s a few standouts:

Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf is one of the best players in the game today, and he’s captaining, arguably, the best team in the world, coming off a lot of rest and recharging. Team Falcons have proved doubters wrong and now are looking to cement their legacy as something beyond flash-in-the-pan greatness. ATF is leading the charge, and wants to put his name in the annuls of history, and winning another major tournament will sure help that case.
Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan was the standout player of PGL Wallachia S6, leading MOUZ to a career-defining victory from the offlane. The meta is clearly in his favor, and there’s perhaps no other player laning as well as him right now. If MOUZ can keep their composure, and consistency
Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang was part of the Team Tidebound roster that shocked Tier 1 competition at Clavision Masters 2025: Snow-Ruyi. The event, just prior to TI14, put Tidebound in good stead for a deep run. Now reunited with former iG and LGD Gaming teammates on Xtreme, we could see him having a huge impact at BLAST Slam V.

BLAST Slam V odds and betting tips

Here are the outright odds for BLAST Slam V:

Teams	Odds
Xtreme Gaming	11
Team Falcons	2.75
Tundra Esports	4
Team Yandex	17
OG	13
Team Tidebound	17
Yakult Brothers	41
HEROIC	9
MOUZ	7
Natus Vincere	21
Tearlmates	100
Execration	82

If you’re a Dota 2 betting fan, then BLAST Slam V is definitely an event you’ll want to focus on. While there’s some obvious favorites, we expect some top play and maybe some upsets to shake things up.

It’s kind of dull, but inevitably Team Falcons are the favorite. Even though they’ve taken a tournament off, and maybe missed a beat, they’re still reigning TI14 champs and one of the best teams in the world. If you’re looking to pick a winner, look no further.
MOUZ just won PGL Wallachia Season 6, and we think they’re in incredible form. While the team will have to face some challenges it was able to avoid during that event, namely Tidebound and Falcons, we still expect a high finish from this team.
Tundra Esports were in the finals of BLAST Slam IV just a few months ago, and it’s hard to imagine a BLAST Slam finals without them.
If you’re branching out, why not look at Tidebound. The squad are playing with home field advantage, and historically have done very well when playing on Chinese soil. Beyond this, this is a rested team with a chip on their shoulder after being forced to miss PGL Wallachia. We think they’re due for a win, or a high finish.
Never forget that 2025 has been one of the most stacked Dota 2 competitive years of all time. So you can’t count out Team Liquid, or Team Spirit. Honestly, we’d hate to be a bookie putting together Dota 2 odds right now as the field is wide open.