BLAST Slam IX Dota 2 — Teams, Format & Pick/Ban Stats
BLAST Slam IX Dota 2 (Nov 20–29, 2026): teams, format, prize pool and live pick & ban stats once play starts, plus the BLAST Slam VIII meta recap.
BLAST Slam IX runs November 20–29, 2026: 16 teams, online, $750,000, GSL groups into a six-team double-elimination playoff. Going in, Bounty Hunter was the most contested hero at BLAST Slam VIII (93.3% of 60 drafts through October 3, 2026).
Teams
Sixteen teams: twelve invited by BLAST and four from closed qualifiers (two from Europe, one from China, one from Southeast Asia). Qualified so far, as of October 4, 2026:
- Natus VincereEurope qualifier
- Dawn BullsEurope qualifier
- Team NemesisSoutheast Asia qualifier
The twelve invites and the China qualifier slot are still to be announced. Once the event starts, the results and pick/ban tables on this page fill in from official match data automatically.
Tournament format
Group stage (November 20–23): 16 teams in four GSL groups of four, every series best-of-three. Group winners advance to the Seeding matches, runners-up to Last Chance, and the bottom two of each group are eliminated.
Seeding & Last Chance (November 24): Seeding winners go straight to the playoff semifinals and Seeding losers to the quarterfinals; Last Chance winners take the final two playoff spots.
Playoffs (November 27–29): six-team double elimination, best-of-three series and a best-of-five grand final on November 29.
The prize pool is $750,000 ($550,000 in prize money plus $200,000 in team earnings), with $270,000 for the winner. The event is played online on European servers — the same structure as BLAST Slam VIII, minus its Malta LAN finals.
Meta coming in: BLAST Slam VIII
The most recent BLAST Slam (September 29 – October 11, 2026, playoffs in Malta) — its most contested heroes so far, the best tier-1 reference for what teams will prioritize in November, patch changes permitting.
| # | Hero | Contest rate | Picks | Bans | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bounty Hunter | 93.3% | 4 | 52 | 4–0 |
| 2 |  Dark Willow | 91.7% | 32 | 23 | 17–15 |
| 3 |  Enigma | 88.3% | 4 | 49 | 4–0 |
| 4 |  Hoodwink | 83.3% | 33 | 17 | 14–19 |
| 5 |  Nature's Prophet | 83.3% | 20 | 30 | 10–10 |
| 6 |  Brewmaster | 83.3% | 17 | 33 | 9–8 |
| 7 |  Lone Druid | 81.7% | 10 | 39 | 6–4 |
| 8 |  Doom | 76.7% | 14 | 32 | 5–9 |
| 9 |  Ember Spirit | 73.3% | 19 | 25 | 6–13 |
| 10 |  Earth Spirit | 65% | 16 | 23 | 10–6 |
Top 10 of 93 contested heroes across 60 games (BLAST Slam VIII; official match data via the OpenDota API). Contest rate = (picks + bans) / games; W–L is the hero's actual record when picked, not a model output.
The data angle
During the event this page rebuilds from official match data as games finish: per-hero picks, bans, contest and win rates, per-team signature heroes, and every series with links to replay its real drafts in our Captains Mode simulator. Every number is the tournament's actual record.
Move this data into a draft
Take the draft further
Practice a Captains Mode draft step by step, or put two lineups into our predictors to see how the heroes match up.
BLAST Slam IX FAQ
When is BLAST Slam IX?
November 20–29, 2026: group stage November 20–23, Seeding and Last Chance on November 24, and playoffs November 27–29, ending in a best-of-five grand final. The whole event is played online.
What is the BLAST Slam IX prize pool?
$750,000: $550,000 in prize money and $200,000 in team earnings. The champion receives $270,000, second place $135,000 and third place $95,000.
Which teams play BLAST Slam IX?
Sixteen teams: twelve invites plus four qualifiers. As of October 4, 2026, Natus Vincere and Dawn Bulls have qualified from Europe and Team Nemesis from Southeast Asia; the invites and the China slot are still to be announced.
What were the most contested heroes at the last BLAST Slam?
At BLAST Slam VIII, Bounty Hunter (93.3%), Dark Willow (91.7%), Enigma (88.3%) were the most contested heroes across 60 games through October 3, 2026.
Batru is an independent data site and is not affiliated with BLAST or Valve. Results and pick/ban statistics are computed from official match data via the OpenDota API; event details per BLAST and Liquipedia as of October 4, 2026.