The South American Dota 2 scene was demolished at The International 2023, placing 13th at best after 2022’s miracle fifth-place run. When this was combined with the DPC uncertainty, organizations decided to take a step back, but a new challenger entered the arena in the form of BOOM Esports.
BOOM, a SEA organization, just announced the signing of SA superstars Christian “Pakazs” Savina and Farith “Matthew” Puente today.
Dota 2 fans naturally wondered whether BOOM was moving to SA for the season, and the answer came in a follow-up tweet where the organization announced two more members of the team.
Jordan “SLATEM$” Vega and Romel “Mjz” Quinteros Rojas from Thunder Awaken joined the new BOOM squad, indicating that the organization would move its Dota 2 operations to South America for the 2024 competitive season.
Following TI 2023, multiple organizations, beastcoast, and Evil Geniuses, dialed back their Dota 2 operations due to the poor results at TI 2023 and the unclear direction of the competitive landscape with the Dota Pro Circuit being gone.
The decision marks a massive milestone for BOOM, as it’s been operating in SEA since 2017 with various Dota 2 rosters. While the organization had a promising roster for the TI 2023 qualifiers, featuring xNova and BoBoKa, the team failed to qualify for the event in the regionals.
The level of competition has also been increasing in SEA, with multiple big-name organizations stepping into the scene, like Blacklist International, who recently bolstered its Filipino all-star team.
While the reasoning behind this move remains a mystery, BOOM might have prioritized having a competitive roster in a region that’s currently being abandoned by organizations instead of getting into contract wars with SEA titans.
BOOM Esports’ South American Dota 2 roster is set to compete in ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 open qualifiers, which will end on Nov. 15.
