BETBOOM conquered their demons in the quarter-finals of IEM Beijing, finally beating FURIA after suffering five losses to them in a row — including in the grand final of Thunderpick World Championship.
"To be honest, another cinema game versus FURIA." Kirill "Magnojez" Rodnov told HLTV with a smile after BETBOOM emerged victorious from overtime on the Nuke decider. "It's always fun to play versus them because they're playing really, really well. It's really a pleasure to play versus them; already six times, and no one beats BETBOOM six times (laughs)."
The 22-year-old rifler touched on Aleksandr "zorte" Zagodyrenko's form in the series and praised BETBOOM's coach, Artem "Fierce" Ivanov, for the structure he has implemented alongside Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov to bring the team on the same page.
"I think before he came, we had much less structure than right now," Magnojez said. "He's trying to involve all five players during the round so anyone can play their individual, anyone can play on 100%, and I think that's the main difference."
Listen to the interview here.
Congratulations! Finally a win over FURIA. Five straight losses to them before this, so it must feel really good now after getting it done in overtime.
To be honest, another cinema game versus FURIA (laughs). It's always fun to play versus them because they're playing really, really well. It's really a pleasure to play versus them; already six times, and no one beats BETBOOM six times (laughs).
You started out really dominant in the series, and then obviously ended up getting close in the end. Can you just walk me through your thoughts through that game?
If you talk about maps, I think Ancient is just not a really comfortable map for them. We had good preparation. Also, everyone was shooting really sharp, communication was on the top level. Score: 13-5. It's okay (laughs).
Then we played Dust2, and we had a really good game again, but we missed just some small details during the rounds, even when we had better positions than them, and just lost our situations and then just lost our game. Nuke was under our control, but again, some fluke rounds again. Versus USP-S, we trolled, some stupid rounds as well, and at the end managed to win it somehow. I don't know how, to be honest.
It's kind of been the story of some of the games you've played against FURIA. You're a little close, and then there's some hero round that happens on their end. But this time around, you managed to turn it around. What was the difference?
I think today we were much more inside the game. Our communication was much better than we usually do. Also, our shooting was at the top level as well. We managed to win some bad situations for us, and I think they were a bit tired as well, and that played a big role as well.
Last time we talked to Boombl4, he mentioned that you are getting more individually confident. Do you feel like that as well? I mean, it kind of seems like that with what you're saying, that you're shooting hard.
If you talk about me, I always know what I'm capable of doing. It's more about the team's confidence, I would say, and the way we communicate with each other, the way we're doing some duo moves, doing some solo moves. So if you talk about our team, it's obvious we are getting better day by day, and it's really great.
For a while, it felt like you were the main performer; you were putting up all the numbers. But now it seems like the team's coming together: zorte especially had a really good series after a bit of a rough group stage. Can you tell me how it's been seeing him come into his form here?
I think he didn't do something special. I'm performing because the team is doing a lot for me, and our structure is really good. It's all about the coach, I would say. zorte, I would say, has lacked some confidence sometimes, and now we've gained it. So as you can see, he's doing sometimes ZywOo performance (smiles). It's really great to see, and I'm happy that he's able to perform like that.
You mentioned the coach's impact a little bit. Can you tell me more about that? What does Fierce bring?
I think before he came, we had much less structure than right now. He's trying to involve all five players during the round so anyone can play their individual, anyone can play on 100%, and I think that's the main difference.
But also, we have a lot of talks with each other about our comfort zone, about how we're performing, et cetera, but sometimes tournaments like Katowice and TWC were, I would say, ones we needed to lose like that because, in the end, you are progressing really hard.
And can you also talk to me about Boombl4 as a leader and how he's been kind of guiding you through this whole process? Because obviously it must feel really good for him to finally beat FURIA as well, right?
If you talk overall, Fierce is the main guy who is doing the most with Boombl4 because every one of us has a different school of CS, you know? And everyone has to be on the same page. He's doing a great job right now, especially in this tournament. He's playing really well individually, 120%, and that's really great to see.
And then lastly, heading into tomorrow, it's a rematch against MOUZ, so what are your thoughts on that matchup, and how badly do you want to win it?
Obviously, they're the top-one team in the world right now. They're playing really good CS. But I think it was not our best game at all in the group stage because it was cold in the studio (laughs), and it was hard for us to play. And also our communication and shooting, again, as I said, were on a terrible level. So we lost them; I would say no chance. Mirage was a bit close, but I wouldn't say that we played well.
Is it warmer on stage at least?
Yeah, it's much warmer; it's really fine to play now. As you can see, zorte is performing because he's warm now (laughs).
Kirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovPast 3 months
FURIA
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
Yuri 'yuurih' Santos
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato
Danil 'molodoy' Golubenko
Sid 'sidde' Macedo
Kirill 'Magnojez' RodnovPast 3 months
BETBOOM
Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov
Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenko
Pavel 'S1ren' Ogloblin
Daniil 'd1Ledez' Kustov
Kirill 'Magnojez' Rodnov
Artem 'Fierce' Ivanov
Artem 'Fierce' Ivanov
Aleksandr 'zorte' ZagodyrenkoPast 3 months