BOOM Esports

BOOM Esports kept their The International 2022 dreams alive with a 2-0 win against their toughest opponents yet — Group A's first-placed Evil Geniuses.

But SEA fans will be happy to know that they still have some fight left in them, instead of going out of the tournament with a whimper. BOOM isn’t totally out of the woods yet, needing to win against Soniqs and BetBoom Team in the tiebreakres to qualify for the TI11 playoffs. The Group A toppers went for Naga Siren for a strong mid-game timing, and a Rubick to ensure that they had a strong Black Hole counter. The offlaner caught two of EG’s Black King Bar-ed cores in his first Black Hole, before Refreshing for another one to truly seal the deal against the rest of his opponents. The game was still kept mostly in check by an EG who relied on dodging BOOM’s heroes and taking whatever kills they could, but they had no answer for a Bristle that hit his item timings. But EG didn’t top Group A for nothing — they had a spirited comeback inside of them as well. Arteezy played phenomenally on his Naga, whose Song of the Siren helped his entire team disengage whenever it looked like the tides were turning towards BOOM. Once again, the midlaner had a phenomenal early game, earning kill after kill and terrorizing EG. The rest of BOOM, especially Erin “Yopaj” Ferrer’s Leshrac, constantly roamed the map to make space for their Bristleback. The hero’s laning prowess, able to constantly deny ranged creeps with Demonic Conversion, coupled with its late-game strength thanks to the spell immunity-piercing Black Hole, combines for a hero in hot demand. EG opted for a Pudge carry for Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, who suffered in the lane against an Enigma. Enigma is the second-most contested hero through the TI11 group stage, picked and banned in 89 percent of drafts,