Is it time we take BETBOOM seriously?

Is it time we started taking BETBOOM seriously?

Whilst on its surface Thunderpick is something of a ‘zugzwang’ event - an event where the outcome matters naught and only exists because these teams need something to do - it actually mattered a great deal to every team there who had something to prove.

One only needs to see the relief on FURIA’s faces to know they needed a win, and they weren’t the only ones.

Yet despite everyone having a point to make, it was BETBOOM who came out in second place, beating Falcons, Legacy and PARIVISION en route to the final. The semi-final win over Falcons was the most eye-catching, and it’s not the first time this year they’ve taken a big scalp - you may remember a famous win over Vitality at the height of their powers.

BETBOOM are often hand-waved away as an upset team given their eclectic mix of talent that has been moved around the Russian-speaking scene, but they have proven they’re a bit more than just that. They are a real team capable of top eights and capable of upsetting a top team in an important game.

Dismiss them at your own peril.

At the heart of much of what they do well is Magnojez, a cold-blooded killer who is as reliable as he is explosive. He was always rated highly in our rating systems internally and externally, and the surface level stats are equally impressive. His K/D, ADR, KPR - anything you can think of - is good. Always good. He’s demonic on Mirage especially, but anything with sand will do.

Magnojez is given the reins on this team because he’s quite clearly the stand-out player. As FURIA toppled BB in the grand final, it was Magnojez who had BB on top in the first place and nearly won them the trophy on his own in map four. Any time BB are playing well, it’s Magnojez putting in work. He is as capable of aggression as he is patience, though it is more often this patience that is rewarded. He is a superb late-round player, so letting him die early is rarely part of the plan.

But it has been the reintroduction of d1ledez after FL4MUS that has been the real revelation. FL4MUS seemed to kick this team up a gear when he joined, and him going back to VP felt like a move that might kill this project; but d1ledez came back in and leveled up. He was a bit part player before, but since has proven himself very useful as an aggressive piece.

He didn’t have his best game against FURIA in that grand final, but he still found ways to be useful to make space for Magnojez.

s1ren is a player who keeps the baseline steady - he’s pretty much the benchmark average middle of the graph tier one player. That sounds quite disrespectful, but seriously, he lands in the middle of pretty much any X and Y axis you want to run. He’s very rarely going to win you the game, and he’s very rarely going to lose you the game. zorte is sort of the opposite, where he can definitely lose you the game because he’s very inconsistent, but on it he’s electric fast. Mechanically in terms of his speed and reactions he’s got it, but his accuracy is fleeting. If you wanted the biggest upgrade you could get to this team to seriously make them a threat, zorte would be first to go. m0NESY on this team and we’re talking.

Obviously, that’s out of the realms of possibility. At least in this plane of existence.

As it is, we must take BETBOOM at face value. Man for man, you wouldn’t say they can handle these top teams, but some of these results speak for themselves. This year alone they’ve beaten Falcons twice, Vitality, G2 and Legacy, all of whom are top 8 teams. They came within two rounds, including a 4v2 loss at 12-11, of beating FURIA 3-1 at Thunderpick, and seem to be finding their groove at the right time.

I’m not suggesting that BETBOOM are anything like the best team in the world, just that they shouldn’t be disregarded. In any eight team playoff format you’d be crazy to be certain of their involvement or non-involvement, though I’d err on the side that a top 8 finish is more likely than not.

Given their decent track record at upsetting teams, too, it’s not completely insane to see them making the semi-finals of the Major in under two months. I’m not joking. Stop laughing!

You can’t see them going 3-2 or even 3-1, beating a Falcons or FURIA or, God forbid, a G2 in the quarter-finals? I think you’re lying to yourself if you don’t think Boombl4 has a big map in a quarter-final in there still. That doesn’t mean I think they’re a top four team, just that I wouldn’t discount the idea of them making semi-finals outright. And from there… well, you simply never know. You sort of know. They’re not going to win the Major, alright. Fine.

But gun to your head, right now, you have to pick G2 or BETBOOM to finish top four. Are you picking G2?

We’ve taken G2 seriously, here at rdy.gg we’ve taken Legacy seriously because of their trophies and some fantastic results, and we still sort of take NAVI seriously despite both of those things. It’s time we start talking about BETBOOM as a team who can genuinely do some damage at a big event, and stop raising our eyebrows when Magnojez carries a game against a big team.

Again.