Cover-Credits:
As the group stage of BetBoom Dacha comes to a close, BetBoom Team and Nigma Galaxy stand as the sole teams to exit from the tournament. Despite tying all three of its series, BetBoom Team finished fourth in Group A after all other teams won at least one series. Nigma, however, had a poorer outing in Group B, losing two series and drawing just one to finish last. Nigma's elimination in a highly competitive group was somewhat within the realm of possibilities given its recent results, however, BetBoom's fourth place finish in the group stage is surprising considering the promise the team has shown over the past few months.
BetBoom Dacha sees BetBoom Team and Nigma exit following the group stage
BetBoom Team
BetBoom Team was placed in Group A with Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, and TSM, and all three of these teams were replacements for those who withdrew prior to the event's commencement.
The campaign began with BetBoom going up against Team Secret, who had recently failed to qualify for The International 12 (TI12), but also had some crucial match practice in the lead up to the event.
It ended up being a 1-1 tie after both sides registered comprehensive wins. After losing the first game, BetBoom Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko came through in the second game on Sven.
Before the start of the third series, BetBoom knew it had to defeat TSM 2-0 because all other teams had won a series against each other, with victories awarding 3 points, losses 0, and draws 1.
BetBoom’s start was strong with the team holding a 16k networth advantage at 32 minutes, but a lost teamfight even with the Aegis led the way for a complete turnaround for TSM. While BetBoom rebounded in game two to tie another series, elimination was inevitable after the game one loss.
Nigma Galaxy
Nigma took on Beastcoast in Group B, both teams having had mediocre results in their respective tournaments in recent months. In the faceoff however, beastcoast had a strong knowledge of its opponents' strategies and easily won 2-0.
The campaign for Nigma then moved on to 9Pandas, which opened with an intense game that went back and forth. Nigma seemed to be moving closer to victory with a 27k advantage at 48 minutes, but a spectacular teamfight victory led by Gleb "kiyotaka" Zyryanov's Storm Spirit led to a comeback. Game 2 once again featured times when Nigma might have taken the lead, but 9Pandas did not let the momentum get stolen and won 2-0.
Nigma was hammered in the opening game of its final series versus Gaimin, confirming its elimination from the event. In the following game, both sides picked various player preference heroes, such as offlane Rubick and carry Meepo for Nigma, carry Sniper for Gaimin, and ultimately, Nigma managed to pick up its first win of the tournament with a side that continually played in the opponent's face.
Both of these eliminated teams exited the LAN event without receiving any prize money. Six teams are still competing in BetBoom Dacha, with four beginning in the upper bracket and two in the lower bracket. The playoffs will take place from 13th to 16th Sept 2023, with the winner receiving $150,000 USD in prize money.
