Boombl4's bid to write a new chapter starts in Copenhagen

After suffering a setback that threatened to ruin his career, Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov is on the path to redemption with his new squad.

Boombl4 was on top of the world by the end of 2021. He was the No. 1 team's in-game leader, had won seven tournaments that year, secured an Intel Grand Slam title, and lifted the trophy at the first post-pandemic Major in Stockholm without dropping a single map. At the turn of the year Natus Vincere was poised to build an era that could rival that of prime Astralis, backed by a wealth of talent on a roster that also included the best player in the world. There was also no clear challenger that was seemingly ready to take them on.

Fast-forward to May 2022 and Boombl4 had been removed from Natus Vincere's active lineup due to "high reputational risks for the club." Meanwhile, the team had also slipped from their perch atop the world rankings amidst the rise of FaZe and due to the external circumstances of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which had put immense pressure on the entire roster.

The reasons for Boombl4’s removal from the team quickly became apparent. He was in the midst of a divorce from the woman he proposed to only months prior, after winning the Stockholm Major, and very soon after his removal a compromising video of him was posted to social media by his soon-to-be ex-wife. It was a terrible situation for the young leader to find himself in. Not only had his team experienced a dip in form for reasons far outside of their control prior to his removal, but he personally had his career torpedoed by someone who had been close to him.

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Boombl4 ended his temporary exile by joining 1win nine months after the turmoil that threatened to derail his career. Whilst his new squad are certainly not tier one stalwarts comparable to Natus Vincere, it seemed inevitable that Boombl4 was going to have to take a step back in order to return to the competitive scene. Of all of the teams he could have joined, G2 aside, 1win may very well be one of the most intriguing. The roster was not only home to one of the most exciting young talents in the game, the stunningly consistent Denis "⁠deko⁠" Zhukov, but also a solid tier two performer in Aleksandr "⁠TRAVIS⁠" Timkiv.

1win have also been one of the most impressive squads outside of elite tournaments for some time, regularly taking top placings in the ESL Challenger League as well as other online events like Malta Vibes Knockout Series and the more recent CCT events. To thoroughly emphasize this point, 1win placed second or third in four Challenger League seasons in a row. The Russian side also made several other ambitious upgrades along with Boombl4's arrival, bringing in the ex-Entropiq trio of Aleksei "⁠NickelBack⁠" Trofimov, Igor "⁠Forester⁠" Bezotecheskiy, and coach Dmitry "⁠hooch⁠" Bogdanov.

A Major winner, an experienced and well-respected coach, and plenty of proven talent in the mix make for a roster that can potentially grow to match Boombl4’s stated ambition to return to tier one. In other words, he now has the tools to turn around what could have been a tragic career tale.

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What might come as a surprise to many is that Boombl4 is in fact not the in-game leader of the team. That role instead sits firmly on the shoulders of NickelBack, who called for the Entropiq roster that peaked at No. 9 in the world ranking in late 2021. "Since the beginning we decided to stick with NickelBack as IGL," hooch stated when asked by HLTV for his insight on Boombl4’s new team. "Of course Boombl4 has a great background of being one of the best IGLs in our region and the world, but me and the whole team are confident in NickelBack IGLing." Instead, Boombl4 is allowed to "play the roles he’s good at," whilst also acting as a secondary caller.

What are those roles? Well, the 24-year-old is filling a similar void he did on Natus Vincere, serving as the most aggressive presence on the T side while acting as 1win's anchor on the defense. "He’s making a lot of space for our team as T," hooch opined, which is clear to see when watching 1win’s demos and is also apparent when one delves into the statistics: Boombl4 takes a whopping 27.6% of his team’s opening attempts on offensive halves. Taking on such an aggressive role on T and the less glamorous anchor roles on CT comes with some tradeoffs, of course, the most obvious evidence of which is Boombl4’s 0.95 rating since joining 1win. With performers like deko, TRAVIS and Forester on the team, however, Boombl4 is not required to put up huge numbers.

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Is deko the truth?

When examining more closely the way 1win play it becomes even clearer that Boombl4 has joined a team with potential, particularly when focusing on their T-side play. Of course the team at times utilizes a default approach on the attack, with Boombl4 forming part of the map control pack more often than not, but there is a great variety in the way 1win approach offense. They usually have several different looks to their defaults and they employ a diverse range of faster-paced executes and aggressive manoeuvres. On top of that, within all of these approaches, players will at times trade pack and lurking duties, making their efforts even harder to read.

Forester and TRAVIS tend to operate towards the extremities, but this is not a sure thing as NickelBack and Boombl4 can also be found flying solo at times. All of this combines to produce a 51.5% round win percentage on offensive halves. It is impressive to see such variety from a new team, which is of course intentional. "We are a flexible team who knows our strong sides," claims hooch, a flexibility that is particularly apparent in their attacking play.

So far this new-look 1win have been performing well with Boombl4 amongst their ranks despite fielding a revamped roster that has only been together for a couple of months: they sport a 14-8 record in the matches they have played thus far, which makes for a healthy 64% win rate, and they have beaten some very tough opposition, including the likes of FORZE. Their losses have generally only come at the hands of the very best of tier two teams, such as Aurora and 9INE, and usually in hotly-contested series.

As for Boombl4 himself, he is by no means the star fragger of the team, but he has been performing his role to a solid standard. He has posted decent if unspectacular numbers across a range of statistics, but focusing on some of the key numbers, he currently sports 0.11 opening kills per round, 69.6 damage per round, and 66.5% KAST. These numbers compare reasonably favorably to Thomas "⁠birdfromsky⁠" Due-Frederiksen, one of the better matches for Boombl4 role for role and in terms of quality of opposition played, who sits at 0.10 opening kills per round, 68.9 damage per round, and 69.2% KAST.

It is also important to remember the other contributions Boombl4 offers outside of the cold hard stats, which hooch cites as being "his confidence and understanding of the game and meta." The coach also adds that "it would be strange not to mention his winning experience in the past," something that can be vital in do-or-die moments in big games.

Boombl4 now has his first chance to show how he will perform against the highest caliber of opposition, as well as a golden opportunity to prove that he can return to the highest echelons of CS with a new team as 1win head into the RMR. It's hard to imagine a better chance than the qualifier in Denmark, too, when considering that there will be only six top 20 teams present in their group compared to ten in the other. Furthermore, hooch's men have a seemingly even first match-up against Bad News Eagles.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A
06/04/2023	Bad News Eagles 14:10 1win	Match

Down the line there is also the tantalizing possibility of a match-up between Natus Vincere and 1win, should results allow it. Whilst Boombl4 has stated in interviews since his removal that he bears no ill will towards his former organization, there could be no better way for the rifler to make a statement than to get one over his old teammates, and no better way for his team to show they have the chops to make it in the top flight than to upset a top five team.

Boombl4’s career story so far reads like the beginning of a movie pitch about a young man who rose to the top of the game only to have the rug pulled out from under him due to questionable life decisions. Now it's time for him to take control of the third act and write his own ending. 1win can help him do it and the Paris Major's RMR is the first step.