Before the decisive match of the BLAST Slam V in Chengdu, host Zhang "Dove" Tiange and Artour "Arteezy" Babaev shared their thoughts with RosesaGaming about the tournament, the arena's atmosphere, and their own prospects in esports. Their impressions of the return of major events to China highlight the growing significance of the region for the Dota 2 scene.

Dove on Returning to the Big Stage

Assessing the scale of the tournament and the audience's reaction, Dove emphasized the event's importance for the region.

It's a return to good times. We've been waiting for an event of this scale in China for a long time.

 

For Dove, the tournament in Chengdu was her first major hosting experience in China in several years. She admitted to feeling a mix of excitement and joy from the live audience before her performance.

I was excited and a bit nervous. It's been so long since a big international tournament in China… But Dota is still alive here, and fans come just for a good game.

 Zhang "Dove" Tiange

Speaking about the differences between Chinese and Western audiences, she noted the unique interaction with the crowd.

The Chinese audience is a bit shy. In the West, the audience gets excited on their own, but here you have to ask them to react. But I've found my way to work with it, and the atmosphere in Chengdu is amazing.

 Zhang "Dove" Tiange

She is confident that Chengdu is ready to host world-class tournaments and could become an important venue in the future.

Chengdu is a very lively city, the food here is great, the fans are incredibly passionate. I know they want to host more tournaments here, and I hope to see TI or other LANs right here.

 Zhang "Dove" Tiange

Arteezy on Team Yandex's Breakthrough, Form, and Show Match

Arteezy was surprised by how confidently Team Yandex reached the grand final, defeating the tournament favorites.

It's crazy that Yandex is in the grand final… and they beat Falcons 2:0. It looked pretty easy. Many underestimated them.

 Artour "Arteezy" Babaev

Assessing his own form, he admitted that he is far from optimal but has begun preparing for a possible return.

Right now, I'm far from in good shape. If I were to rate it, it's a "three out of ten." But I've started trying again and putting in the effort. I think I can still make a comeback.

 Artour "Arteezy" Babaev

He added that the arena's atmosphere evoked nostalgic feelings from playing in major tournaments.

The atmosphere here is amazing — the lights, the stage, the crowd. I have only good things to say. I even missed this a little.

 Artour "Arteezy" Babaev

The 2v2 show match on Pudge was an unexpected challenge for them. They had to share a keyboard and agree on the layout.

We never practiced, and Artour insisted on legacy keys. I said, 'No, let's do QWER,' because I don't know the buttons on Pudge. In the end, I played on QWER.

  Zhang "Dove" Tiange

"I thought we'd get crushed. Yuno still plays Dota and is strong. But we managed — a pleasant surprise.  

  Artour "Arteezy" Babaev

 BLAST Slam V took place from November 25 to December 7, 2025, in Chengdu, China, marking the fifth event in the SLAM series. Twelve teams participated in the tournament. The total prize pool was $1,000,000. You can check the full statistics and results of all matches via this link.