Liquid salvage their run, HEROIC impress further at BLAST Slam 4

The group stage of BLAST Slam 4 is nearly over, as the pecking order of this new Dota 2 season continues to take shape.

Teams with their shiny new rosters and fresh acquisitions are feeling each other out more and more, in order to see what works for them and what doesn’t.

Out of dire straits, but only just

Last time I checked in on the participating clubs’ progress, Team Liquid was going through teething issues with their two newest recruits. On the third day, they continued to slump even further, losing both of their games to teams that they absolutely should not have lost to on paper. Their start to today’s proceedings made me really worry for them, and quite frankly I went into this day thinking that they needed to win against Team Spirit to stand any chance at even going to Singapore.

So what did they do? Floundered like they have all tournament, that’s what. They lost to Spirit in just 35 minutes and change, looking completely lost all the while. They completely fumbled the laning phase, giving them no leverage whatsoever heading into the mid game. And although they managed to stay afloat for a while, it was only a matter of time until Spirit’s Disruptor-Gyrocopter combo kicked in to run them over.

BIG WIN!

We take the game over @AuroraDota2_GG in a dominant fashion, securing a win on the penultimate day of the @BLASTDota Slam IV group stage! 🙌#TLWIN pic.twitter.com/35xrP60aoo

— Team Liquid Dota (@teamliquiddota) October 17, 2025

Fortunately, they did eke out a win at the end of the day. They put forth a much more inspiring effort against Aurora Gaming in their second game today, with new offlaner Marcus “Ace” Christensen finally getting to stretch his legs for once this tournament. Hell, he even gave Michael “miCKe” Vu enough space to do well as carry Windranger, in 2025. Imagine that.

So what is it that’s been getting them down when they’re not sneaking in a win here or there? Their drafts have been extremely repetitive thus far, and it just seems like they don’t ever want to step out of their comfort zone in that regard. This makes them very easy to draft against, as their opponents just have to ban their usual picks in order to throw them off their rhythm.

And that’s been working well for everyone else so far. Their decision-making in mid game teamfights isn’t nearly as sharp as it used to be, and they just fold under pressure a lot as a result. It doesn’t help that Samuel “Boxi” Svahn and Erik “tOfu” Engel aren’t adjusting well to each other as a support duo; they’re just exchanging hero picks with each other without actually finding what works.

Naturally, having two new players in their roster presents problems with finding their identity as a team, which Liquid have obviously had to work through early this season. But how come Matthew “Ari” Walker is able to come into his own with Tundra Esports so quickly, while Ace and tOfu can’t? Thankfully, with their win against Aurora today, they have bought themselves some valuable time to figure things out some more and possibly save themselves from the last chance playoff.

The HEROIC march

On the other hand, I have to give it to HEROIC for performing admirably at BLAST Slam 4 thus far. I didn’t really think they made the right moves during the post-International 2025 (TI14) roster shuffle, but right now they’re proving me quite wrong for doubting them coming into this event.

And while I will admit that they’ve surprised me here, I still stand by my initial assessment that getting rid of Adrián “Wisper” Dobles in favor of Cedric “Davai Lama” Deckmyn would be a downgrade — and I know I’m not alone in this. That being said, the way they’ve worked around this idea is admirable to say the least, and they now have a 6-3 record in the tournament for it.

Getting there wasn’t easy, either. They had to pull out a gutsy win against Team Falcons in day 2 and fend off a desperate Team Liquid in day 3. They’ve been cruising since beating Liquid, winning two more games from there in order to get where they are now. How are they doing this? In typical HEROIC fashion, of course: flexing their ridiculously deep hero pool as a team and making every hero that they pick look god tier at every turn.

Sure, Falcons and Tundra are both on fire right now as I expected, but this team is not far behind. If they continue their trajectory and the top two teams slip here and there, we might just see them fighting for a direct semifinal berth at the LAN portion of the tournament in November. And while I’m at it, huge props to Elvis “Scofield” Peña. He is playing beautifully well from the 4 position, and will be HEROIC’s best asset moving forward at this event.