Boombl4: "It's important for the young players to have this new experience"

BetBoom's dream run at the IEM Cologne Major has come to an end, with Boombl4's men falling short against Aurora 2-0 (13-6, 13-9).

The Turkish squad left BetBoom behind on Nuke, putting together an airtight T-side behind big guns Wicadia and XANTARES, but both team's in-game leaders went huge in keeping their squad in the hunt.

MAJ3R (1.13, 13-9) opened the first half with 10 quickfire kills, while Boombl4 (1.40, 17-13) landed two crucial clutches to keep the scoreline close before Aurora ultimately kicked away.

Boombl4 caught up with DFRAG on-site for a quick chat after the loss to talk about the vital experience today was for the team, and a little about how he views how an IGL finds impact in modern-day CS2.

Condolences for the loss here, but a massive congratulations to you on making it to the Lanxess Arena all the way from stage one nearly three weeks ago. How does it feel to make it here?

"Right now we're feeling a little bit tired because there's been a lot of practice and a lot of games played, but still I think we're really happy with this result because we were playing on the big stage in the arena.

"It's really important for the young players in my team to have this new experience, you know. Of course, we lost, but still it's a great result for us."

How does your next season look after this result? Are your expectations slightly higher now after seeing how high the ceiling is for BetBoom now?

"I think the next step for our team is to be a stable team who is playing at tier one tournaments and going to the playoffs more regularly.

"It's hard enough to play at the top level, but it's much harder to play at that level consistently against the good teams. So right now we have, like, two weeks and the next tournament in China, so I hope the result will be good."

As an in-game leader, do you think that fragging individually is super important in the modern day? Is it possible for you, or any IGL for that matter, to out-call a weaker performance in today's CS2 climate?

"I think inCS 2, the average IGL does frag more, but it can be on a game-by-game basis. It can be, like, you can do great calls in some games, and in some you should kill. I think the stability is to kill and call as well, to find the middle.

Stay tuned to dfrag.gg and our revamped YouTube channel for more coverage of the IEM Cologne Major, live from the Cathedral of Counter-Strike itself.

• Read more: IEM Cologne Major 2026: Your complete coverage hub

Interview conducted by N3bu1a. Edited and published by Nicholas "Taffy" Taifalos