Cover-Credits:
BOOM Esports has become the first SEA team and ninth overall to secure the direct invite to The International 2022 (TI11), this year’s Dota 2 World Championship. This became possible after BOOM Esports secured a clutch 2-1 victory over Team Liquid in an elimination match at the PGL Arlington Major 2022 playoffs to secure a top-eight finish and net enough DPC points to cross the current TI11 qualification threshold of 1130 points. BOOM Esports handily won Game 1 and Game 3 with Team Liquid securing a Game 2 victory in the elimination match.
This will be the first TI appearance for BOOM Esports and four of its members - Souliya "JaCkky" Khoomphetsavong, Erin "Yopaj" Ferrer, Saieful "Fbz" Ilham, Rolen "skem" Ong while Timothy "Tims" Randrup will be playing his fifth TI.
BOOM Esports vs Team Liquid: Match recap and highlights
In Game 1, both sides chose in-meta heroes which were also comfort picks for the majority of the players. Neither team was able to gain any significant advantage in the opening 30 minutes, with the focus being on obtaining the crucial item timings as quickly as possible. When Roshan became a goal for both teams, they began to engage, and with BKBs running on BOOM Esports' heroes, they had an advantage in teamfights. Despite MATUMBAMAN's carry Alchemist, all three BOOM cores farmed extremely effectively, producing a solid performance to win a competitive game in 44 minutes.
In game 2, Liquid put up an excellent Dota 2 performance. BOOM chose a team that intended to be the aggressor and go at Liquid, but the way the lanes played out, Liquid was simply tearing down its towers one by one. BOOM's draft could do nothing except watch the opposition dominate bigger areas of the map, and Liquid acquired megacreeps and won the game in just 27 minutes.
In the post game interview, skem stated that BOOM Esports did feel pressurized in Game 3 with TI11 qualification on the line, but added that they made it through anyway.
With top performances across events, BOOM has consistently been the best SEA team in the DPC 2021-22 and has rightfully earned a place at TI11. Beginning to be ranked among the top teams in the world at the start of the year, the team had a dip in form, but now appears to have recovered a great deal of that spark. Having qualified for its first TI, BOOM Esports has reaped the reward for investing in a star-studded SEA roster. This will also be the first time four players on the team will be playing at TI.
Furthermore, this is not the end of BOOM's journey in the ongoing PGL Arlington Major as it will go on to play against Entity vs Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket.
A team like Liquid, who seemed dominant in regional leagues for most of the DPC 2021-22, fails to qualify for TI based on DPC points for the second year in a row. It is unfortunate that a team with this reputation and skill, boasting some of the best players, did not carry their form from the regional league to international events, leaving them just short of direct qualification.
With teams such as Team Nigma, Team Secret, and Entity awaiting in the Western Europe qualifier, Liquid will face tough competition to qualify for TI11.
