Image: GosuGamers
Even if BetBoom Team are in the lower bracket, TORONTOTOKYO still believes his team has what it takes to become this year's champions.
Six players still stand a chance to repeat as Dota 2 world champions in The International 2024 (TI 2024) ahead of its Finals Weekend in the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. One of them is 
BetBoom Team position 5 player Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek.
TORONTOTOKYO has had one of the most interesting career arcs in recent Dota 2 esports history. The world came to know him and his iconic in-game name as the dynamic mid laner of Team Spirit during their legendary run to the championship of TI 2021. But after they bombed out of TI 2022 in 13th-16th place, TORONTOTOKYO parted ways with Spirit and joined BetBoom Team while also shifting to his current position 5 support role.
Many questioned TORONTOTOKYO's decision to leave Spirit back then, especially after Spirit claimed their second Aegis of Champions in TI 2023 while BetBoom only finished in 5th-6th place. However, TORONTOTOKYO remains steadfast in his belief that he made the right choice and that he could still claim a second title like his old teammates did.
We can't really fault his belief either. After all, BetBoom have made it to TI 2024's Finals Weekend while Spirit have already been knocked out in 9th-12th place.
I would not be playing in a team that I don't believe could be champions. I'm playing here in BetBoom, so I believe we can be champions.
One of the things that has reinforced TORONTOKYO's belief in BetBoom is how much he has grown as a player since joining the team and making the uncommon role switch from mid laner to position 5 support.
I am very comfortable right now in my role and I think I'm really good at this. Since I became a player for BetBoom, I have really talked to my teammates a lot about our understanding of Dota. In my two years here, I think I really improved a lot.
The uphill battle
While TORONTOTOKYO claiming his second Aegis of Champions is definitely a possibility, it will be an uphill battle for him and his team to reach the pinnacle. While BetBoom was one of the few teams to earn a direct invite to TI 2024 for their strong performance throughout the year, they did not have the best start to the tournament.
BetBoom were placed into Group C for TI 2024's Group Stage, where they only managed to earn the group's third seed with a 2-4 record. In the Seeding Decider, an upper bracket berth in the Playoffs was within reach but BetBoom fell to Team Liquid in three games and were forced to start in the lower bracket.
But under threat of elimination, TORONTOKYO and BetBoom locked in and earned a spot in TI 2024's Finals Weekend. They first survived a three-game thriller versus Southeast Asia's Talon Esports in the first round of the lower bracket then soundly swept North America's nouns in the second round to reach the Top 8.
While this has certainly been a tumultuous journey for BetBoom, playing in such a high-pressure environment is nothing new for TORONTOTOKYO. After all, he and Spirit won TI 2021 from the lower bracket. BetBoom also started TI 2023's Playoffs in the lower bracket and made it all the way to the Top 6.
This year, TORONTOTOKYO is confident BetBoom has figured out what they need to make a lower bracket run to the championship.
We are almost in form, just lacking some small things. I think if we start winning in the lower bracket we'll only get stronger and stronger. Last TI, I think we could've won easily but we just did some mistakes. So yeah, at this point it's like common practice. You can lose your games sometimes, but all you can do is make better decisions and move on. We didn't lose the tournament yet, we still have a chance.
When looking back at TI 2021 and remembering his journey to his first Aegis of Champions, TORONTOKYO remembered there was still a lot of pressure on his shoulders even if they were the underdogs. Through all the highs and lows of his career since then, he's learned how to manage the pressure of expectations and keep his focus trained on the next game he has to play.
There is still pressure, of course, but TORONTOTOKYO says “It's not the same pressure as my first TI [in TI 2021].”
But despite his focus on his next match, TORONTOTOKYO admits he has thought about what the moment of him winning his second TI championship might look like. Many Eastern European Dota fans, of course, imagine a match between BetBoom and Spirit, but the latter is already out of the battle for the Aegis this year. For TORONTOTOKYO, it doesn't really matter who he'll end up facing.
Of course, Spirit would have been a hype match. Nothing personal, but I just want to beat all the teams here. To me it doesn't matter who we have to beat.
And if BetBoom do end up becoming the final victors of TI 2024, what then would it mean for TORONTOTOKYO to join the game's illustrious club of two-time TI champions?
It would mean that we did a great job as a team. And I did too, of course.
TORONTOTOKYO and BetBoom are set to play against Team Falcons in the third round of the lower bracket in the first day of TI 2024's Finals Weekend on Friday (September 13).
TI 2024 is this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament and features 16 of the best teams in the world fighting for their cut of the growing $2.36 million prize pool and the Aegis of Champions.
The event is being hosted from September 4 to 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark and is split into two distinct phases: the Group stage (September 4 to 5) and the Seeding Deciders (September 6 to 7). The first two rounds of the Playoffs (September 8 to 10) are branded as part of The Road to The International, while the remaining portion of the Playoffs for the remaining eight teams (September 13 to 15) are branded as The International itself.
For everything you need to know about TI 2024, check here.
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