The organizers of BLAST Slam VIII have updated the format of the tournament's group stage

Tournament operator BLAST has decided not to hold a group stage in the Round Robin format with Bo1 matches at the next tournament in the Slam series. The group stage at BLAST Slam VIII will follow the GSL format, with 4 groups of 4 teams each.

Sixteen teams will compete at BLAST Slam VIII, whereas previous events in the series had fewer participants. Twelve teams will receive invitations, one of which is specifically reserved for a team from the Americas. The invited teams will be announced on August 4. Roster lock for BLAST Slam VIII participants is scheduled for September 14.

Four more teams will be selected through regional qualifiers. Two slots will be contested in Europe, and one each in Southeast Asia and China. The open qualifiers will take place from 26.08.2026 to 27.08.2026, and the closed qualifiers from 29.08.2026 to 30.08.2026.

The main stage of BLAST SLAM VIII will consist of an online group stage and a LAN playoffs in Malta.

All group stage matches will be played in a Bo3 format. The teams finishing in 1st place in each group advance to the seeding matches. The teams finishing in 2nd place in each group advance to the “Last Chance”. The remaining teams are eliminated from the tournament.

The winners of the seeding matches advance to the semifinals, while the losers will face the two strongest teams of the “Last Chance” round in the quarterfinals.

The playoff bracket for BLAST SLAM VIII is a double-elimination format with Bo3 matches, except for the Bo5 Grand Final.

BLAST SLAM VIII will take place from 23.09.2026 to 11.10.2026. For the first time, the tournament’s prize pool will total $750,000 ($550,000 allocated as prize money for players, with an additional $200,000 distributed as revenue to clubs).

As CyberScore previously reported, Valve published the official rules for The International 2026.