Dota 2
BLIX.gg’s Arseny Kuzminsky takes us through exactly why we should keep our eyes on BetBoom at the upcoming Stockholm Major.
Daxak. Remember the name.
Two years ago, he would play at the ESL One Los Angeles with ppd and Universe as a part of Ninjas in Pyjamas. But COVID struck, and the tournament was moved online. They finished in 13-14th place and disbanded.
Nikita "Daxak" Kuzmin is quite popular in his native region. He's a simple guy who knows how to play his position well, streams a lot, and charms his fans with his simplicity. He can be kind and angry, but you always know and feel from the rhetoric on his streams and in interviews that he is not evil. Daxak just wants to play Dota. Sometimes it seems this is all he wants, to be honest.
Daxak's BetBoom made it to the Major sensationally in the upper bracket of the playoffs, beating Team Spirit in their debut match. Although, to be honest, this was to be expected given the level of competition during the pre-tournament Qualifiers. Daxak's team played D2CL when the DPC tournament was suspended for two seasons in a row. They lost S8 but won S9. Learning is easy: just follow in Team Spirit's footsteps. It is essential to keep your skills sharp and participate in tournaments. Eventually, it will bear fruit.
I believe BetBoom can go pretty far at the Stockholm Major — simply because no team is ready for Nikita if he is in his prime.
Daxak, Lukawa (manager), SoNNeikO, Noticed, Forcemajor, Larl
When asked in a recent Q&A with fans what would happen if his signature Visage and Nature's Prophet were banned, Nikita answered confidently: "We have at least two carries that I can play 1v9 and at least 5-6 that are just good."
And speaking of 1v9, it doesn't sound mad when you see Daxak play. His Visage and Furion are incredible. Nikita can be greedy, but at the same time, he knows perfectly well when the power spike comes, and when the time comes, he immediately dives into battle. He is so self-confident — in a good way — that BetBoom drafts heroes for Daxak during the first phase of the pick/bans stage. He just doesn't care if he gets countered because he knows how to play against almost any line-up.
Why is Daxak such a fantastic player? Three reasons.
Firstly, BetBoom's strategy is built on... pub games experience. SoNNeikO, the team's captain, together with Mag, the coach, understand the strength of their main carry and plan accordingly.
As you can see, it pays off. Everything's pretty simple. There was a moment in Daxak's MMR pub career when he just got bored and began to random heroes and played based on them. Judging by his YouTube channel, he spent a lot of time (and the precious MMR points) on this — but gained something intangible and vital; understanding the chemistry between most of the game's heroes and how to better match-up lanes. Of course, he could have achieved this by reading descriptions and comparing information too — but this is not Nikita's way. He's his own analyst and mental coach.
Secondly, Daxak was taught by champions. He played with PPD and Universe at Ninjas in Pyjamas for three months. He even admitted that the PPD listened to him, although he couldn't express himself in English: "Peter invited me for a reason, I guess. I felt more pressure because of the English; I'm not even sure that they understood me. I just drew something on the map, and it worked! [laughs]."
Thirdly Daxak never gives up. His mentality is set to win, and this is the only thing that drives him. He will improvise during an already-lost match hoping for success. And once in a while, it can pay off. It's not what people call arrogance but a simple, slightly optimized pub attitude — mute all (but not quite) and do as you know.
Image via WePlay Holding
Even other professional players highlight Daxak's discipline. For example, NAVI's ex-offlaner Viktor "GeneraL" Nigrini shared Nikita's secret of laning stage success: "Daxak is the most patient laner there is. You can't gank him. When you play against him, you can tell your midlaner at the very beginning of the game that they don't have to gank. Because this dude, if he doesn't see the midlaner in the mid lane, will just leave the lane right away".
No one doubts that Daxak alone can win any match, but it's much easier to do it when you have good players in your team.
The abovementioned team captain SoNNeikO and the coach Andrey "Mag" Chipenko, did a tremendous job with analytics and preparation. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and both are very experienced Dota players. Mag himself admits in a post-match interview with BTS: "Most of our drafts are carry-related, they are built around Nikita Daxak. He is not an ordinary player, and he has a very infuriating hero pool." At the same time, SoNNeikO underlines that they did not even have to reveal their entire strategy and hero pools during the Qualifiers because Forcemajor's Mars and Daxak's Visage were quite enough.
Another shining star in BetBoom, Larl the Midlaner, is a prominent player. He might be your second reason to keep an eye on BetBoom: Larl is great in the lane on non-trivial and non-meta heroes, manages to farm well playing in the same team with Daxak, and then performs his keyboard off, reminding w33's early Liquid years. Believe it, his signature Storm Spirit will be permabanned.
And finally, Nikita promised to practice Pudge for pos1. Will we witness it at the Major?
For some reason, I want to root for this good-natured and goatee-bearded man. I guess it's all about the positive vibe and non-standard pool. Well, what else do you need?
If you are also going to cheer for Daxak at the Major, just use this copypasta and spam all over the Twitch chat:
«лупи их дахао😈меси их дахао🤙🏻ломай их дахао💪🏻гаси их дахао😤гноби их дахао😎топчи их дахао💀 дави их дахао🦍 руби их дахао☠️##### их дахао😼испепеляй их дахао👊🏻».
It's basically a motivational tribute to Daxak, encouraging him to smash the opponents. Nikita even has a t-shirt with this phrase.
All BetBoom players have already received visas. And the Dota 2 Major in Stockholm starts on May 12. Fourteen teams will compete for priceless DPC points and $500,000 USD.
