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BOOM Esports has seen two of its support players depart following the conclusion of The International 12 (TI12). Ye "BoBoKa" Zhibiao and Yap "xNova" Jian Wei made their departure known through their respective social media handles but the Southeast Asian (SEA) organization has not officially announced it. According to xNova on Twitter, he is looking for a new team. BoBoKa on Weibo also mentioned he is looking for a new team, adding that he does not have an active contract currently. From August to November 2023, BoBoKa was on loan to BOOM Esports from Team Aster.
Xnova and BoBoKa exit BOOM Esports
Xnova announced to the Dota 2 community on 2nd Nov, 2023, that he is looking for a new team by tweeting, "Lft lft lft lft."
Despite having an incredibly competitive roster on paper, xNova and BOOM never reached the success and momentum expected of them during their competitive season in 2023. Towards the end, roster changes were made to try and turn things around, but the campaign ended with failure to qualify for TI12.
Meanwhile, a similar announcement on the same day was made by BoBoKa on Weibo.
As a result, in addition to BoBoKa's time with BOOM coming to an end, it also means that his time with Team Aster has ended after five years. As a member of the team since 2018, BoBoKa had some periods of success, the biggest of which was his fourth place finish at TI11.
After being replaced by Hu "Kaka" Liangzhi, BoBoKa was loaned to BOOM to participate in TI12’s SEA qualifiers, but the team only managed to place 5th-6th in the SEA regional qualifiers, where it was eliminated by Execration.
After a breakthrough season for BOOM last year, the 2023 run proved to be a complete reversal, with the club faltering throughout. The roster contained talented individuals but was never able to create the rhythm necessary to thrive as a team.
As the SEA squad restructures, its CEO Gary "natshuba" Ongko will communicate with fans on Twitter Spaces on 3rd Nov 2023, about what to anticipate from their Dota 2 roster.
BOOM currently has John "Natsumi' Anthony Vargas in the carry role, Erin "Yopaj" Jasper Ferrer in the midlane, and Chung "Ws" Wei Shen in the offlane on its roster, and it remains to be seen whether any of these players will leave.
