Spirit return to action in strong BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 field
Published: May 14, 2024 - Last Updated: Jun 24, 2024
Even though the three-week Counter-Strike gauntlet that was ESL Pro League Season 19 ended just yesterday, more tier-one competition is on the menu with the BB Dacha Belgrade 2024 event starting shortly on May 14th.
The CS2 tournament sees Spirit back in action for the first time, since the Major in Copenhagen, the debut of Abdul “degster” Gasanov in a Heroic jersey after a year on the sidelines, and the EPL Champions MOUZ’s bid for a second trophy on the trot. Let’s take a closer look at the format and interesting storylines coming into the event.
BB Dacha Belgrade Format
Eight teams have been divided into two groups to be played out in a BO3 GSL format. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals, where the first team from one group faces the second team from the other group.
The $500,000 prize pool has been allocated as follows:
- 1st – $300,000
- 2nd – $100,000
- 3rd/4th – $50,000
- 5-8th – $0
Here’s how the opening matches schedule shapes up:
May 13th
- MOUZ vs BetBoom (14:00 CEST)
- Virtus.pro vs Falcons (18:00 CEST)
May 14th
- Spirit vs Aurora (12:00 CEST)
- HEROIC v MIBR (16:00 CEST)
Two BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Favorites
Team Spirit
Every Counter-Strike fan is excited to see Spirit on the server again. Following the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen, the Russian squad chose to skip IEM Chengdu and ESL Pro League Season 19 to get some rest and practice. Given that they haven’t played any officials in almost two months, they might come into the event a bit cold. Thankfully for them, they are in the easier of the two groups, so playoff qualification shouldn’t be a worry.
Obviously, everyone is waiting to see Danil “donk” Kryshkovets tear the opposition apart as he did at IEM Katowice. It will be interesting to see if some of the best CS2 teams managed to find a way to counter the phenom’s antics or if he’ll continue to wreak havoc and power Spirit through to more trophies in the coming months.
MOUZ
After winning their second ESL Pro League title in a row, MOUZ’s confidence should be sky-high coming into the BB Dacha Belgrade 2024. The whole squad was firing on all cylinders in Malta with Dorian “xertioN” Berman leading the way in terms of impact and fragging output, even shutting down an in-form Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut on the side of Vitality. Their commanding Grand Final victory could be the catalyst to MOUZ overcoming their mental block in the playoffs and becoming a serious title contender for every tournament remaining in 2024.
The only thing that could hurt them at BB Dacha Belgrade 2024 is the short turnaround from ESL Pro League Season 19, where MOUZ lifted the trophy. There’s a big chance they might come in tired and not even take this event as seriously as other attendees.
BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Players to Watch
We already gave our praise to donk and xertioN, so you’d obviously want to watch them. On top of that, pay very close attention to degster and electroNic at this event.
degster (Heroic)
After sitting on OG’s bench for a year, degster finally got another shot at a tier-one team, it being Heroic in this case. Joining the Danish organization is a massive chance for degster to put himself on the map again and get his name out there. The Russian sniper has shown a lot of promise in his previous teams, with his aggressive plays and clutch potential being his main two attributes, but he’s yet to play a single official in CS2.
Heroic getting degster means they were looking for a heavy hitter that can consistently contribute in the fragging department. The question is if he still carries the same attitude problems his previous teammates complained about and can Heroic handle his personality and supposed big ego?
electroNic (Virtus.pro)
Virtus.pro’s first outings with Denis “electroNic” Sharipov at ESL Pro League Season 19 left fans with more questions than answers. While the Russian team achieved a top-eight finish, they didn’t have many impressive wins throughout the tournament and got bodied by Complexity in the quarter-final stage. At BB Dacha Belgrade they’ll have the chance to prove themselves against more high-level competition and continue integrating electroNic into the squad.
The 25-year-old rifler is yet to set the server alight with VP, but it should only be a matter of time until he regains some of his early CS2 form. While that may not happen in this event, he’s still a player worth focusing on, due to his exciting play style and ability to pop off at any given moment.
