The premier Dota 2 tournament, BLAST Slam VI 2026, has been confirmed to be held in Malta.

BLAST, the tournament organizer, recently announced that its flagship Dota 2 tournament, BLAST Slam VI, will be held in Malta from February 3 to 15, 2026, with the total prize pool remaining at $1 million.

As the sixth edition of the BLAST Slam series, this competition will continue the brand's consistent high standards and scale, pitting it against top professional teams from around the world. Since officially entering the Dota 2 flag game arena in 2024, BLAST has quickly become a significant force in the Tier 1 competition.

In November of this year, BLAST Slam IV just concluded in Singapore, with Tundra Esports winning the championship for the third consecutive time. This event has become one of the most exciting finals in the history of Dota 2, and it was also the first time that BLAST held a tournament with a live audience.

Currently, BLAST Slam V has been confirmed to take place in Chengdu, China in December 2025, and the official tournament structure and qualification system for BLAST Slam VI have also been revealed.

Regarding team invitations, the top four teams from BLAST Slam IV—Tundra Esports, Team Falcons, MOUZ, and Heroic—have secured direct invites to BLAST Slam VI. The remaining four spots will be determined based on performance in BLAST Slam V. Additionally, the Americas region will receive one direct invite, while the other three will be decided through closed qualifiers in Europe, China, and Southeast Asia.

The preliminary rounds of the tournament are scheduled as follows:

• Open preliminary rounds: January 2-3

• Closed preliminary rounds: January 4–5

In terms of the competition format, this year's event will follow the BLAST Slam IV structure, with the competition divided into group stage, final chance stage, play-in stage and offline playoffs.

The group stage (February 3–7) will be played in a best-of-one round-robin format. The top two teams will advance directly to the playoffs semifinals, teams ranked 3rd–8th will enter the play-in stage, and the bottom-ranked team will be relegated to a final-chance match to compete for a spot in the playoffs. The final six teams will then compete in an offline Playoffs tournament in Malta to vie for the championship title.