Clutch plays and bold decisions propel Tundra to Esports World Cup 2025 semifinals, BetBoom Team out

Tundra Esports once again showcased their macro plays, map control, and individual skills to advance to the semifinals at the Esports World Cup 2025.

Tundra was just the second team to be pushed to a decisive game three in the eight days since the Esports World Cup (EWC) began. Their battle against BetBoom Team for a spot in the semifinals started with a bit of a reminder of what zoo meta is in Dota 2.

Zoo meta on display

“We have Lycan, they have Broodmother, zoo meta is back, I guess,” said Tundra coach David "MoonMeander" Tan as the game one draft was wrapping up. While he also mentioned that they were not prepared for a last pick Broodmother from BB Team, Tundra knew exactly how to deal with the pesky spider. In the end, they have in Neta "33" Shapira the uncontested Brood master.

BB’s Brood was played in the carry position, which forced 33 on his Lycan to play musical lanes to avoid the spider. Nonetheless, Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko followed 33 with every lane swap to make sure he slows down his progress. But while the attention was on these two, Tundra’s support duo was busy starting the Roshan kills as soon as Matthew "Whitemon" Filemon hit level six on his Shadow Shaman and gave Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov an extra life to play with from early stages.

But even so, the team fights were tricky to take by Tundra, who fixed the issues through unconventional itemisation on Lycan and Bzm’s Queen of Pain. They doubled down on their mobility to make sure they can disengage, kite BB Team and fight them on their terms.

It was a perfect display of team coordination and good team fight decision from Tundra, who won the “zoo meta” battle in game one. However, headed into the next game, BB Team had Vladislav "Kataomi`" Semenov on Winter Wyvern, one of his signature heroes, who was able to control the fights with his saves and ultimate to help his team push the series to a game three.

A(nother) bzm show

Early Roshan kills with the Shadow Shaman Serpent Ward have become a Tundra trade mark at EWC, but even so, BB Team allowed them to get the hero in the decisive game of the series. On top of that, they also allowed bzm to play his signature Invoker and steal the show with it.

The game started with BB Team taking the lead, given favourable matchups in the side lanes. But much like in the opening game, while BB Team were controlling the lanes, Tundra were playing the map, taking Roshans with Shadow Shaman, farming, securing Tormentors, and ultimately putting their trust in bzm’s capability to clutch when it mattered.

“I think it was the biggest comeback we had here,” said 33 in the winner’s interview on stage at the end of a back-and-forth game, in which Tundra had to make a comeback from a 17k gold disadvantage. Once the battle reached the late stage, it all came down once again to who would survive the initiation or who would bait a team fight better.

“We kind of knew that they like to play as five, that they don’t really play the map, so we were confident that if we find a way to deal with them, the game is ours,” said 33, whose decisions throughout the game, along with bzm’s clutch moves, sent BetBoom Team home in the top eight at Esports World Cup 2025.