The coach and commentator told esports.gg what he expects in BetBoom Dacha.
BetBoom Dacha CS2 2024 is kicking off soon and we prepared a special preview for everyone watching the event at home.
Esports.gg caught up with former Team Liquid, HEROIC, MAD Lions, Imperial, and Complexity head coach Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu, who branched out to commentating and working at the analysis desk in Counter-Strive events, to get a better picture of what to expect from BetBoom Dacha in Belgrade, Serbia.
The tournament starts on Saturday, Aug. 24 with a play-in phase featuring Falcons, 9z, paiN, and BetBoom (group A), and Eternal Fire, FURIA, Aurora, and 9 Pandas (group B). Only two per group will advance to the double-elimination playoffs, which will have Team Spirit, MOUZ, Virtus.pro, and HEROIC awaiting.
Peacemaker will be working on BetBoom Dacha himself, so he's been following all teams in attendance closely. Come with us and see who the Brazilian picked as favorites to win the tournament, the dark horses, and who could disappoint.
BetBoom Dacha preview: The favorites
MOUZ
"It's a project that the results speak for themselves. I like their project a lot, it's modern, there's a mix of young players, and they have a coach who knew how to put together a project similar to what Andrij "B1ad3" Ghorodensjkyj made in Natus Vincere."
"The MOUZ coach Dennis "sycrone" Nielsen has players who worked with him in the academy, talented players, and they have someone more experienced in the form of Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin. The project goes along with what I think is ideal and how the coach should work, as sycrone has a big say in how the team play and the players' development."
"As for the in-game aspect, they play well, their playbook is updated, they mix up stuff well, and commit very few mistakes. And, on top of that, they have a captain who's the best of his generation. So, the big favorite for me is MOUZ."
Spirit
![Donk is the best player attending BetBoom Dacha (Photo by Stephanie Lindgren via BLAST)](https://admin.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/donk-Team-Spirit-1024x683.jpg)
"Not only because of Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, but it's a tournament with a lot of other Russian teams, and it's a BetBoom tournament, which sponsors Spirit. I think they'll have extra motivation to show that their result at IEM Cologne, which wasn't so good, doesn't reflect their potential."
"Sometimes teams need to be shaken up to wake up. I think that what happened in Cologne will motivate them enough to show a strong form here. They have quality, and the project has that donk effect, Donk is one of the best players in the world at the moment and is undoubtedly the best rifler. He fell off a bit I don't know why, and I studied to see if his roles had changed, but nothing changed. Probably there's something inside the team affecting him or the teams studied him and Spirit, and understanding how to counter him and the team."
"It's very normal, year after year, to see teams who perform at that level, get studied by the others. Spirit are still a very good team, very dangerous, and if donk is well and performs like he's capable of, he's only one of the few players in the world that can make a lot of difference. Since we don't have that many S-tier teams here, I believe donk has everything to have an excellent tournament."
paiN
"I'll be audacious here and say something a lot of people aren't expecting: what paiN showed me in Cologne makes them one of the favorites here. Although paiN starts in the play-in, the CS they displayed on the server, makes me believe they can do well."
"What paiN lack currently is the belief they are capable of beating S-tier teams. This hasn't happened yet, and when they faced better teams in Cologne, they had a lot of difficulty and didn't play their game. If they play well or even win against a team like Spirit, Virtus.pro, or anyone that's already in the playoffs, they'll get a huge confidence boost and can get to the grand finals."
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BetBoom Dacha preview: The dark horses
Virtus.pro
![Can electroNic find his old rhythm with Virtus.pro? (Photo via ESL FACEIT Group)](https://admin.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/electronic_ESL-1024x683.jpeg)
"Honestly I'd not call them a dark horse, but they're not among the favorites, and the results show this since Denis "electroNic" Sharipov arrived in Virtus.pro. I read some interviews electroNic gave and he said he's not feeling 100% comfortable in the team. electroNic mentioned there's still a difference between how he likes to play and how he wants to play in comparison to how Dzhami "Jame" Ali controls the things as a captain."
"He said they're still trying to find that sweet spot. There was a big expectation when electroNic arrived and their results clearly haven't been better than before. We saw Virtus.pro win the Major in IEM Rio in 2022, and they're not even close to that form. electroNic has the experience, he's been a captain too, and he can deliver in so many aspects, after all, he's one of the best players of CS:GO's history."
"The addition of electroNic to Virtus.pro proves that it's not that simple to plug a player into a team. I think the way Jame plays can be very good, but I also think other teams got used and the vast majority understand how to play against them. Virtus.pro's style didn't change as much over time, and it's something that can work really well or bad. For me, this is the biggest reason I don't see them as a team that can win BetBoom Dacha. For me, they can either make a deep run or heavily disappoint."
FURIA
"Especially for this kind of tournament that perhaps doesn't have all the best teams in the world, FURIA arrive as a team who can go very well, if you consider their roster. They have excellent players, they have Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato and Yuri "yuurih" Boian who are a worldwide reference on a good day, a captain who went through everything and knows how to play well against all these different playstyles, and also is up to date in terms of the meta."
"There's not a single team in this tournament I feel FalleN have a tough time playing against, maybe only someone like Spirit in their prime. If donk is playing well, it could be a problem. But FURIA recently played against MOUZ and had a decent series, and there's no one impossible to beat in the play-in. I'd be very surprised if FURIA don't go past the play-in."
"They went through the IEM Cologne play-in, which they couldn't in the past, and have been breaking some barriers, but it's unclear if they'll keep evolving in this tournament. Like paiN, maybe if FURIA win a series versus a team like MOUZ, they can get more confident. The difference is that paiN are some steps ahead of FURIA at the moment as a team."
BetBoom Dacha preview: The team likely to disappoint
HEROIC
![sAw had to stand in for HEROIC as degster missed matches due to visa issues (Photo by Stephanie Lindgren via BLAST)](https://admin.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sAw-HEROIC-1024x683.jpg)
"With all the pain in my heart because I like some of the players there, I even coached Rasmus "sjuush" Beck, the team likely to disappoint are HEROIC. I'd not pick them, but after watching their recent losses, I think their problem is outside the server."
"Abdulkhalik "degster" Gasanov had visa problems and didn't play in all matches, so I think it's hard for them to manage the mental aspect. For example, what is their team? Is degster staying? This uncertainty regarding the future is affecting, but it isn't an excuse because the CS displayed on the server hasn't been one of the best."
"This is a big challenge because the head coach Eetu "sAw" Saha choose Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski as the captain earlier this year. He's an IGL who was on Apeks before, but none of the results he got in Apeks, made me believe a 100% that kyxsan would successfully transition to lead an international team that has the ambitions of HEROIC."
"I think he could be a good captain, but I think he's lacking a bit. I don't think he's being a good leader, he's not getting the best of his players yet, and he's not so good individually. The move can pan out still, he's young, and I by no way mean to put him as the scapegoat for HEROIC nor think it's all his fault. But at the moment I can't imagine HEROIC playing well with all these problems, unfortunately."