After securing a victory against Liquid in the second round of IEM Cologne Major 2026 Stage 1, BetBoom captain Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov sat down with the ESL desk to discuss the current state of his team. The Russian squad has faced severe consistency issues regarding their starting five, forcing them to rely on different configurations across recent tournaments.
A revolving door of players and visa issues
The core of BetBoom’s recent struggles stems from persistent visa complications. The team confirmed that Pavel “s1ren” Ogloblin will not be able to attend the Major, bringing Daniil “d1Ledez” Kustov into the starting lineup in his place. BetBoom CEO Artem “Pioneer” Saveliev addressed these logistical hurdles earlier this year in an interview with HLTV, stating, “For any CIS team, visas are always a major challenge.”
This exact challenge has resulted in a severe lack of preparation for the current Major. Boombl4 highlighted the toll this has taken on the team’s tactical depth and overall practice schedule.
I’m thinking that we are really now BetMix instead of BetBoom,” Boombl4 said. “There have been a lot of tournaments with stand-ins so that is crazy. We don’t have a lot of days with practice because we were playing with s1ren, and we only got one practice day with d1Ledez, and he got some new roles on some of the maps, so it’s really hard. But we are working every day and trying our best.
A look at BetBoom’s last five tournament appearances illustrates this instability:
- IEM Cologne Major 2026: Boombl4, Magnojez, zorte, FL4MUS, d1Ledez
- IEM Atlanta 2026: Boombl4, Magnojez, zorte, FL4MUS, s1ren
- NODWIN Clutch Series 7: Boombl4, Magnojez, zorte, s1ren, and a mix of d1Ledez and Robert “Patsi” Isaynov
- Stake Ranked Episode 1: Boombl4, Magnojez, zorte, FL4MUS, s1ren
- Roman Imperium Cup VII: Boombl4, Magnojez, zorte, FL4MUS, s1ren
A reunion against GamerLegion
BetBoom will face GamerLegion in the next round of Stage 1. This matchup carries additional weight due to recent history and player transfers. Timur “FL4MUS” Maryev previously played for GamerLegion before joining BetBoom. Furthermore, the two teams recently clashed on LAN at Stake Ranked Episode 1.
Boombl4 expects a highly motivated opponent heading into the server.
We got a LAN match against them at Stake, so I think they will hope to get revenge,” Boombl4 explained. “And of course FL4MUS played in GamerLegion before, so I think this will be a hard matchup.
Adapting to the mechanics of CS2
Beyond the immediate tournament situation, Boombl4 also shared his perspective on how the competitive meta has evolved since the transition from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Counter-Strike 2. The in-game leader feels the new game places a higher premium on raw mechanical ability.
For me CS:GO was 50% brain and 50% individual skill and experience,” he noted. “In CS2 it is more like 75% individual skill and 25% brain.
As BetBoom continues their run in Cologne, they will have to rely heavily on that individual skill to compensate for their lack of structured practice time with d1Ledez.
