Boombl4: "We really needed this first win and to feel the game"

The Russian in-game leader conceded that Overpass was a bit shaky and that practice leading up to the event wasn't the best.

Cloud9 got their BLAST World Final campaign off to a good start following a 2-0 victory over ENCE. The Russian team looked dominant on Ancient before scraping a win on Overpass, where they even had to come back from two map points down.

After the match, Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov sat down with HLTV to discuss what went wrong on the second map, Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov's opinion that he is the best IGL in the world when he tries his best, and the goals for this tournament and beyond.

A 2-0 victory to get things going in Abu Dhabi. Did you expect Overpass to be as tight as it was, especially considering that the first map was one-sided?

This map was really hard for us, and I think we were feeling really nervous. Technically, it's really hard to practice in the UAE. There are no scrims, no Deathmatch, no FACEIT, and I think we really needed this first win and to feel the game. That's why it was a really hard map for us.

Do you think you made some mistakes on the CT side on Overpass?

I think they were playing really fast, using active lurkers, and we were not ready for this. And the economy was not on our side. Still, I'm really proud of the team. I'm really happy we were able to tie the game. At 12-12, we felt comfortable, and we felt that the game was ours.

Is this the sort of response the team needed to give after the results at BetBoom Dacha?

Of course, of course. It's the last tournament of the year. We didn't have the best results at BetBoom. Everyone on the team wants to show the best results here and go on vacation in a good mood.

I read an interview that electroNic did with BLAST in which he said that, when you're trying your best, you're the best IGL in the world. Do you agree with this assessment? Do you think about this, being the best IGL in the game?

You know, I don't want to talk about myself. It's really cool that electroNic thinks that, and I want to show that these words are true.

Some people have said that the results at BetBoom showed that the team is still missing a strong AWP presence. Are you still confident that the team should continue to play this way?

I think the results at BetBoom were not about the AWP. I think everything is good now.

It has been a few months since you joined the team, and you're still trying to build the system and get the team to play the way that you want. How long do you think it will take for the team to be at 100 percent and to play the way that you want?

This year, we haven't had a lot of practice days. We're trying to show the best results, boost our motivation, and think about practice for next year. Next year, we will have more practice days, the Major, and our goal is to go to the Major and show the best results there.

You said that practice has been a little bit rough here in the UAE. After you were eliminated from BetBoom, what were you able to work on?

We had a team talk to discuss what went wrong. We watched all the demos, saw our mistakes and tried to fix them, also adding some new things. We're still working at this tournament, game by game. Right now, I'm going to the practice room to watch the demo.

What are your goals for this tournament, considering you didn't have the best preparation?

The minimum goal is to go to the playoffs and play in front of a crowd.

You have the chance to take on Vitality next, if they win their game. Are you thinking about revenge after what happened at the BLAST Final Fall?

For me, facing Vitality or NAVI would be a chance to get revenge (laughs).

But you did beat NAVI in Copenhagen.

Yeah, but still, it's a new chance to beat them. I don't want to think about our opponent. We want to beat everyone.