BetBoom break duck against Tundra to secure maiden Dota 2 BLAST Slam victory

Nicholas Taifalos

Nicholas Taifalos

BetBoom can finally open their trophy cabinet with this historic win in Denmark.

BetBoom has finally notched a tournament win, taking home the inaugural BLAST Slam Dota 2 event 3-1 over Tundra Esports in a thrilling final last weekend.

The unique finals format favored the two teams, who sat at the end of a multi-round gauntlet. No other team was able to crack the semifinalists, leaving the two group stage leaders going at it on championship Sunday.

BetBoom finally dust off trophy cabinet with Denmark victory

The Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko-led BetBoom dropped one game on their way to topping Group A at BLAST Slam. Doing so locked BetBoom into the semifinals in BLAST's playoffs format, and while fans were hoping for a gauntlet run by lower group stage squad, it wasn't to be.

PARIVISION gave it a crack, beating HEROIC and TI champs Liquid but BetBoom dispatched the hopefuls with ease. With Gaimin and Falcons eliminated in the other half of the bracket, the door was open for BetBoom to finally claim their first trophy.

BetBoom opened the grand final with a 42-minute win behind Matvey "MieRo" Vasyunin's 7-0 performance on Magnus, but Tundra struck straight back through mid-laner Artem "lorenof" Melnick's Puck.

But that's as close as Tundra would get. BetBoom closed out a tough 56-minute third game to secure championship point, then wrapped up the BLAST Slam Dota win with a quick 24-6 kill score to walk away champs.

It puts to end one of the longest trophy droughts in competitive Dota 2. BetBoom entered the MOBA back in mid-2022, signing the Winstrike roster. While none of those players remain with the squad today, the name has become synonymous in Dota as both a team and a tournament organizer.

The current lineup formed in October with Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko departing for Tundra; Gleb "kiyotaka" Zyryanov (Aurora) and Vladislav "Kataomi`" Semenov (Cloud9) joined up. Almost immediately BetBoom found impact: The Russian squad finished third at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade and second at DreamLeague Season 24.

BLAST Slam here to stay with events penned for 2025

It was a relatively smooth entry into Dota for tournament organizer BLAST, who have already committed to the MOBA into 2025.

The opening event had its drawbacks, including a custom HUD that took some time for fans to become accustomed to, as well as a technical issue midway through the event that forced a match to be replayed, extending a group stage day well into the night.

BLAST Slam will return in 2025 and 2026. (Photo via BLAST)
BLAST Slam will return in 2025 and 2026. (Photo via BLAST)

The playoffs were issue-free, however, with just under 200,000 viewers tuning in for the grand final according to EsportsCharts. The event averaged 97,003 viewers across the groups and playoffs.

BLAST, previously known for hosting Counter-Strike events, have already locked in February 2025 for the next Slam tournament. It'll be one of four Slams in 2025 and eight over the next two years, all with a one million dollar prize pool.

While event locations are yet to be revealed, it is expected BLAST will head to Singapore next year with the Dota 2 product. The organizer has also held events in western Europe and North America.

For more Dota 2 news, check out esports.gg.