BLAST Slam VIII Preview: Post-TI Roster Chaos, Favorites & Dark Horses
BLAST Slam VIII starts basically immediately after PGL Wallachia Season 9. We get one day to breathe and then BOOM—another tournament with sixteen teams, a $750,000 prize pool, an online group stage, and the final eight traveling to Malta for the playoffs. It runs from September 29 to October 11, so this post-TI roster shuffle is going straight into the fire.
BetBoom Team
Finally, we can see Save- on mid, because apparently he wanted to try it for a long time. Gpk is taking a break; swedenstrong replaces Save- at pos 4, and TORONTOTOKYO is now the coach. What is this roster? xD
I expect their whole playstyle to change. Save- is a midlaner very similar to Topson in the sense that he can play all these weird heroes normally designed for position 4. Maybe it will look completely genius, maybe they will draft some nonsense and lose in 25 minutes. Either way, I WANT to see it.
PARIVISION
Well, there is no surprise that they are probably the favorites AGAIN. They were one game away from winning TI 2026, losing the Grand Final 2-3 against Team Spirit, and before that they already won the Esports World Cup. They are just too strong.
The only question is whether they are still hungry after TI or mentally destroyed after losing that final. Also, there are some talks about a possible change around 9Class, but nothing official yet, so I will not pretend that the roster has changed until it actually happens.
Aurora Gaming
Aurora is still playing at PGL Wallachia without Mikoto, with Stojkov standing in on mid. Skiter officially replaced Nightfall as the carry, but I am still not really sold on this change. Nightfall was extremely stable, but skiter can either look like a two-time TI winner or build something that makes me close the stream.
To be fair, they recovered after getting destroyed by Natus Vincere and then beat LGD Gaming 2-0. But from what I watched, ws and the supports are doing A LOT of work. If Mikoto returns for BLAST, they can be dangerous. If not, I don’t see this version winning the tournament.
Team Yandex
Probably the strongest-looking team at Wallachia right now. They started 3-0 with a 6-1 map score and completely dismantled NAVI 2-0. ATF joining this roster made them absolutely fearless, maybe even cocky.
watson farms, Chira_Junior plays fast, Saksa and Malady move everywhere, and Ammar just runs at people like they owe him money. ATF officially replaced DM before Wallachia, and somehow Yandex already looks like they have played together for months.
Honestly, they might win Wallachia AND BLAST. The only ones who can stop them are either PV or Liquid.
Team Spirit
We have Batyuk replacing Collapse, while Illidan takes over from Miposhka as coach. This is not just a random rumor anymore; Spirit announced this roster specifically for BLAST Slam VIII.
Of course, replacing Collapse is almost impossible. But Batyuk already stood in for Spirit earlier this year, and this is still Yatoro, Larl, not me, and Rue. They are the TI champions and probably still the best late-game team in the world. I have high expectations, but I don’t think they are as scary without Collapse.
LGD Gaming
Nice roster, but somehow I still find them unreliable. Their new lineup is Wits, Suma1L, Davai Lama, Thiolicor, and Sneyking, with BuLba coaching. Theoretically? Very interesting.
But Wallachia is showing exactly what I mean. One day SumaiL looks like the King again, and LGD destroys GamerLegion. The next day, they lose 0-2 to Xtreme Gaming and 0-2 to Aurora Gaming while picking stuff that makes absolutely no sense to me. One day they are playing like Nigma Galaxy at TI 2026, the other day they are throwing unlosable games. I don’t know what to do with this team.
OG
We still don’t know the official full roster YET. The expected lineup is Natsumi, Topson, SSS, SSS, and skem, but this is still based on my inside information and not a complete OG announcement.
If this roster is real, I like it. Topson and SSS can make some very weird drafts work, OneJey is always active, and Natsumi is a carry who does not need his whole team babysitting him.
But until I actually see all five names announced together, I’m treating OG as the biggest question mark of the tournament.
1win
Man...the most inconsistent team. I swear to God, watching them at Wallachia is painful. They lost to Team Nemesis, barely survived Conventus Stellarum, and then threw multiple fights against NAVI. It feels like throwing is embedded into the whole roster xD.
Pure missed Wallachia because of visa problems, so Shad is playing carry there. Assuming Pure is finally available for BLAST, they should look better because this roster was originally built around his aggression and farming. But Pure coming back will not magically stop the whole team from taking horrible fights.
Xtreme Gaming
Solid. Simply SOLID.
I was sooo upset when they changed Xm for NothingToSay last year, you have no idea. Now Xm and XinQ are back with Ame, while zeal plays pos 3 and BoBoKa has moved to position 5. This is easily the best Chinese roster right now.
They started Wallachia 3-0 and destroyed LGD 2-0. Ame looked like he was playing the TI Grand Final again, and the team already has much better chemistry than I expected.
I also really like BoBoKa on pos 5. He is still greedy enough to become another core when the game allows it, but he has enough experience to understand when he needs to sacrifice. Xtreme is a real title threat.
Team Liquid
Finally, we can see Wisper in action (h=Hello reddit haters). Liquid officially signed him to replace Ace, and their expected lineup is miCKe, Nisha, Wisper, Boxi, and tOfu. BLAST will be the debut tournament for this version of Liquid.
To me, they are another serious threat to the title. Wisper gives them more aggression from the offlane, and he is not afraid to create complete chaos in the early game. The only problem is chemistry. This roster has not played an official tournament together yet, so maybe they need more time—or maybe they just win immediately because it is Team Liquid.
GamerLegion
I don’t know what to say. One day they are playing like a real tier 1 team, another day they look like a deer in the headlights.
Right now, the good version is showing up at Wallachia. They reached 3-1 and secured the playoffs, with RCY completely dismantling Team Nemesis on Invoker. But I still don’t trust them when a game reaches that classic 45-minute stage where nobody knows how to push high ground.
They can beat almost anyone here. They can also throw a 15k lead against almost anyone here.
MOUZ
I had zero expectations from this stack, but somehow it is working. They play fast, they fight constantly, and when they get their Beastmaster-type push drafts, they can finish games before the opponent understands what is happening.
Of course, they still throw a lot xD. They got completely choked out by Team Nemesis, then destroyed Hokori in two fast games. That is basically the MOUZ experience: either they run you over or they suddenly forget what to do after minute 25.
I like them, but I don’t trust them against the actual title contenders.
Natus Vincere
I always said that NAVI has great potential, and I still believe it.
They qualified for BLAST by beating MOUZ 2-0, and now they are already in the Wallachia playoffs with a 3-1 record. They beat Aurora Gaming and 1win, with their only loss coming against this monster Yandex roster.
This young squad is fearless in early-game skirmishes. Niku and gotthejuice are not afraid of any tag, and that matters a lot. I genuinely think NAVI can make another deep run here. They are my dark horse.
Level UP
This is the same roster that competes under Two Move in EPL Season 40: WoE, Ainkrad, bb3px, queezy, and Htrd. They qualified for BLAST by beating Pipsqueak+4 and Team Lynx in the European qualifier.
Meeeh. I had higher expectations from them, to be honest. They can beat tier 2 teams consistently, but whenever they face real tier 1 pressure, they look a little too slow and predictable. Maybe they surprise me, but I see them fighting just to escape the group.
Yakult Brothers
On paper, this is probably the second-strongest Chinese roster here after Xtreme: Lou, Emo, Beyond, Kaka, and Tianming. They qualified by beating Team Resilience 2-1 in the Chinese final.
But Wallachia was not good. They finished 1-3, with the only win coming against PlayTime, and then got eliminated 0-2 by Conventus Stellarum.
They are still solid, but “solid” is not enough in this field. Emo and kaka can always carry one series, but I don’t see Yakult making a deep run unless their drafts improve FAST.
Team Nemesis
Don’t sleep on them. There is a reason WHY they keep winning these SEA qualifiers.
They qualified for BLAST with JaCkky, Ken, Jabz, Jhocam, and NARMAN, beating Execration 2-0 in the final. At Wallachia, they are using Mo13ei and SabeRLight as stand-ins—and they still managed to beat both 1win and MOUZ.
That tells you everything. They have zero fear, JaCkky is playing well, and they are very comfortable turning games into complete chaos. Are they winning BLAST? Probably not. Can they eliminate a big-name team that underestimates them? ABSOLUTELY.
My Predictions
Favorites to win: PARIVISION, Team Yandex, Xtreme Gaming, Team Liquid
Dark horse: Natus Vincere
Upset picks: Team Nemesis and BetBoom Team
Teams that could exit early: Level UP, Yakult Brothers, MOUZ
Grand Final: PARIVISION vs Team Yandex
Winner: Team Yandex
Yes, PARIVISION is probably the safer pick. But after watching Yandex at Wallachia, I just can’t go against them. They are fast, methodical, and fearless, and ATF looks like he joined this team just to prove a point to everyone.
Team Yandex to win BLAST Slam VIII. Match-by-match predictions are available here.
