BoombI4 on ArtFr0st: "I saw that he has a healthy ego, he wants to prove he's a strong sniper"

Whilst he doesn't know if the team will bring him onboard long-term, Boombl4 is happy with what ArtFr0st is doing on the server.

BetBoom have endured a difficult year thus far, but with two significant bright spots: qualification for BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals at the start of the year, and more importantly, an appearance at BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Following a season of a few ups and many downs, BetBoom decided to make a change in the off-season, benching Aleksandr "⁠zorte⁠" Zagodyrenko and bringing Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov in as a stand-in.

The move has paid dividends thus far as the Russian side have made a run to the playoffs at FISSURE Playground 1, their first event with the new constellation. GamerLegion now await Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov and company in the quarter-finals.

Date	Matches
FISSURE Playground 1
18/07/2025	GamerLegion 20:30 BetBoom	Match

"I can say that the team and I personally are happy with what ArtFr0st is doing on the server," Boombl4 told HLTV. "I don't possess information on whether we will be able to sign him or not, but we'll see. So far, it's going well."

With a LAN playoff appearance on the horizon, Boombl4 spoke to HLTV to discuss his team's Major performance, the benching of zorte, and their run in Belgrade thus far.

---

BoombI4, congratulations on making the playoffs. The first playoffs since Copenhagen Major for you, how do you feel?

Very happy, to be honest, because I had some sad thoughts after the first loss. The past six months were not so great. We made it to the Major, but it's still not the result we wanted to achieve. Overall, not very many LANs - the Major was the only LAN for me for half a year. The other LAN I didn't make it to because I didn't have a visa.

So we had a tough six months, and now I'm happy that the team has renewed, and the new sniper has come in. It's nice to make it to the playoffs and play in front of an audience. Just overall, it's nice to feel like some kind of a winner.

Speaking of the Major, you said that your goal was to make the playoffs, but you struggled in Stage 2 and went out 0-3. What happened?

Honestly, I think it's pretty standard. Losing two BO1s, you don't feel confident. Some said that it's silly to make such bold statements, but I didn't mean to say that we will most definitely reach the playoffs. This was our team's goal, and I believe each team has the right to set its goals.

Overall, the match against Heroic affected us the most. We had a great opportunity to win it. We turned the tide by winning a force when Ax1Le made four frags from short, and broke their economy, essentially. After that, we lost the dumbest force, I guess it affected us a lot. I believe that if we hadn't lost that round, Stage 2 could have ended differently for us.

At this tournament, what would you say about your game here relative to the way you played at the Major? What are your impressions overall?

It's hard to compare because the team is a bit new due to the sniper change, and we've had a vacation recently. But I'll just say, we practiced for only six days online, and the individual form left much to be desired. We were missing a lot, and it was tough to break down the macro mistakes when you simply can't kill, and it wouldn't even get to situations worth breaking down. But we tried to show our strat book to our new sniper, and practice the things that we can, see what strong sides he has, and how he sees himself within the team. So, practice as best as we can.

At the LAN itself, we're trying to prepare for our opponents and just do everything step-by-step. Improve on our individual game, prepare for the game, and try to realize our potential across the board.

You've picked up a new sniper and sent zorte to the bench. Can you explain the reasoning behind this decision?

In any case, the reason is in our results for the past six months. I can't really say that our results were on him, but we just needed some change within the team. The guys, zorte, s1ren, and Magnojez have been playing for longer than I've been on the team. So we've just come to the conclusion that we need such a change. Just to change the atmosphere up, we needed a breath of fresh air.

We parted ways with zorte on a good note: he wished us luck, we wished him luck in his career moving on as well. It just turned out to be like this. I think it's just normal in esports, that changes happen when something doesn't work and you see some things are hard to change, considering the baggage from the time that you've been playing together.

ArtFr0st told me that he wants to remain and continue playing for this team. What are your impressions of playing with him, and what are his differences with zorte?

First of all, I would like to not talk about the in-game differences, because we haven't played for long with ArtFr0st, and it's hard to compare them. But I can say that he's trying hard to show himself because he's gotten on a new team. He's a sniper who played for Spirt with donk, won BetBoom Dacha, then he got replaced with sh1ro, then he went to PARIVISION, then he got replaced by Jame - so he kinda was only replaced by snipers with a name. All I saw was that he has a healthy ego where he wants to prove he's a strong sniper, that he can take the initiative, that he can put on highlights here and there.

So he's got all the qualities, and he will need more time to realize his potential, but overall, I can say that the team and I personally are happy with what he's doing on the server. I don't know how it's gonna go next, I don't possess information on whether we will be able to sign him or not, but we'll see. So far, it's going well.

What are your expectations from the playoffs and the game against GamerLegion specifically?

Honestly, I don't want to build any expectations for the game. Obviously, we want to win. But primarily, I will be walking out with a thought that I will finally be playing in front of an audience. So I just want to enjoy it.

I don't really want to get into my head, regardless of the results. I am probably even ready to lose as long as we will be playing well and won't be blaming ourselves for losing due to nerves, silly mistakes, forgetting something, or miscommunication. I don't want these kinds of mistakes. If we lose, I want us to be outplayed. But overall, I want to enjoy the match. The fact that we've made it to the playoffs to play in front of an audience is an achievement by our entire team, so everyone will be even more eager in the next game.