Nightfall and gpk are a gruesome twosome.
Gaimin Gladiators entered BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 as a solid podium contender, but BetBoom Team has suddenly made that goal much more difficult. In a shocking turn of events, BetBoom defeated the triple-Major champion 2-0 in the semifinals of the event. Core duo Danil "gpk" Skutin and Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko put on an incredible performance in what will likely be the biggest upset of the tournament.
With this victory, BetBoom also secures a top-three finish at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 and at least $100,000. It will now face Falcons in the upper bracket final of the tournament.
The two squads met in the winner’s side of the semifinals. Gaimin was fresh off a massive upset of its own, taking down Team Spirit in just two games. Meanwhile, BetBoom barely squeaked into the playoffs with a 4-6 group stage record. The Russian-Moldovan team did score a big win over LGD in the opening round, but wasn’t expected to go far. Fans hoped for a game against GG.
Save- scores the highlight of BetBoom Team over Gaimin Gladiators
Game one started out dead even, with neither team having more than a 2,000 gold or XP lead for the first 15 minutes. However, a single team fight at 16 minutes was both the first and last nail in the coffin. BetBoom proceeded to pick off GG’s heroes left and right, only stumbling once at the penultimate fight. Nightfall and gpk combined for a 21-1-28 KDA with more than 50,000 hero damage across 28 minutes.
Game two was much closer, with Gaimin actually taking the lead in the mid-game. Quinn Callahan’s Viper did an excellent job of starting and ending fights favorably, but Nightfall’s Naga Siren eventually came online with Black King Bar and Bloodthorn. BetBoom chose to slowly grind down GG while only taking a handful of fights in the 72-minute slog. While the cores once again racked up pretty KDAs, the play of the game definitely goes to Vitalie "Save-" Melnic’s Lion.
After besting Gaimin Gladiators, BetBoom Team will now face Falcons for a slot in the grand final. Six teams remain the event, with Team Spirit, Team Liquid, and Azure Ray still holding on in the lower bracket. BetBoom’s next step towards the trophy will begin on Feb. 15 at 3 pm CT on the official BetBoom Twitch channel.
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