TI13 BetBoom Team profile: Passing the Sticky Bomb

If the third time's the charm, prepare to be charmed at The International 2024 by a reformed BetBoom Team.

This year marks BetBoom Team’s third attempt at the Aegis of Champions. Each year they came into the pinnacle tournament of the season with a strong claim to the title, but every time they had to battle not only their opponents but also some inner demons.

For the past two years at least, BB Team has been regarded as one of the strongest competitors in the scene. But despite having some of the highest-skilled players, they have yet to win a tournament. They made small adjustments every competitive year trying to bridge that tiny gap that prevented them from lifting a trophy.

Last year it was Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko who should have made the difference for them. However, TI12 came with just a top 6 finish, which was below everyone’s expectations. Nonetheless, they played the first event after TI12 in the same formula and reached the top 4 at ESL One Kuala Lumpur in December 2023, which was the last stroke.

Having Pure and Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko on the same team seemed to be quite greedy, as both are actually carry players, with quite different views on how the game should be played. While Pure tried to learn a new role last year and play from the offlane to fit in the BB Team line-up, he and Nightfall would constantly argue in-game Danil "gpk" Skutin revealed in an interview for the Russian speaking community.

At the beginning of 2024, Pure would eventually leave and join Tundra, where he took the captainship role as well, while BetBoom set their eyes on the 21 years old offlaner of 9Pandas, Matvey "MieRo`" Vasyunin.

BetBoom Team roster

Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko
Danil “gpk” Skutin
Matvey “MieRo” Vasyunin
Vitalie “Save-” Melnic
Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek
coach: Anatoly “boolk” Ivanov

What changed

In terms of gameplay, BetBoom looked more cohesive than ever this year, but just like all other teams, they are yet to figure out how to overcome Team Falcons, who have dominated the entire season.

BetBoom’s most losses ahead of TI13 are at the hands of Falcons and Tundra, the latter probably having the best understanding of BB Team’s gameplay with Pure now carrying and leading them in battle.

Miero’s addition improved the farm distribution of the map and ensured a much more stable offlane for the team. In a meta where the offlane role is key for hitting the right item timings, Miero's understanding of the meta and wide hero pool enabled BetBoom Team throughout the season.

BetBoom Team’s most successful hero pairings before TI13

While many of their competitors at TI13 are already upping up a notch their aggression and look into expanding their hero pools, especially for the carry position, BB Team might choose to counter the meta rather than plan playing the flavour heroes. Nightfall hasn’t touched Lina, Mirana, Windranger or Muerta at FISSURE Universe: Episode 3, which is the only tournament played on the new meta. They placed fourth there, and that might have changed their mind in terms of draft priorities. But with just a few days ahead of The International 2024, their pub matches activity is neither too intense nor gives an insight on what they might be up to.

Besides figuring out how to address the meta, BetBoom Team also have to refrain from “unforced errors”. When Pure left the team, many thought that the imminent danger of them getting penalized or even disqualified from tournaments for inappropriate drawings or stream snipping was finally over. However, BetBoom is actually the only team to have received a draft penalty this year for abusing a bug in an official game.

During the group stage matches at ESL One Birmingham, BetBoom’s captain, Save-, was caught using an in-game bug that was allowing Shadow Demon to upgrade his level three ultimate skill at only level 12. The team received a level two Draft Penalty in the next game from ESL, and hopefully, they learned their lesson, otherwise, there are currently plenty of in-game bugs that could end their TI13 road prematurely.