Advertisement

Dota 2: JaCkky, Yopaj shine as BOOM Esports sweep Team SMG

JaCkky and Yopaj put on a show as BOOM Esports swept Team SMG, 2-0, to kick off their campaign in the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour Regional Finals. (Photos: BOOM Esports)
JaCkky and Yopaj put on a show as BOOM Esports swept Team SMG, 2-0, to kick off their campaign in the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour Regional Finals. (Photos: BOOM Esports)

BOOM Esports kicked off their campaign at the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Winter Tour Regional Finals for Southeast Asia with a blast, as they dominated Team SMG in a 2-0 sweep in their opening match on Friday (11 February).

BOOM Esports put on a stellar performance as a whole, but a special note goes to newcomer Souliya "JaCkky" Khoomphetsavong as well as midlaner Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer.

BOOM Esports draft in game one was built to make space for JaCkky to farm on Medusa. With Yopaj on a mid Kunkka, Saieful "Fbz" Ilham on Beastmaster, Timothy "Tims" Randrup on Mirana, and Andrei "skem" Ong on Lion.

JaCkky got one of the best laning matchups possible for a Medusa, with an offlane Spirit Breaker and Tusk up against him. Two melee heroes facing up against two ranged heroes in a lane is a recipe for disaster, so BOOM's new carry was practically free to farm all game.

BOOM made good use of their aggressive draft, fighting non-stop and keeping the pressure on SMG. With all the space being made by his team, JaCkky was able to top the networth charts at the nine-minute mark and never relinquished his spot.

While SMG did not roll over despite their deficit, JaCkky was too far ahead to be brought down and BOOM Esports knew this. With the Aegis of the Immortal in his inventory, JaCkky simply stood in front of his team and took down the SMG barracks, daring them to try and kill him.

After joining BOOM as a stand-in for the Regional Finals just days before it started, JaCkky couldn't ask for a better debut with his new squad. The Lao carry finished with a clean 11 kills and 20 assists on his unstoppable Medusa.

Yopaj gets 30 kills in game two, the highest this DPC season

The draft for game two was similar for both teams. BOOM Esports retained their Medusa, Mirana, and Lion while SMG opened their draft with Morphling and Spirit Breaker. SMG’s reliance on this combo made their game plan quite predictable along with making their lanes a little weak.

The surprise pick for BOOM Esports was Yopaj on a mid Snapfire. While Snapfire as the position 2 hero is something Dota 2 fans have seen before, Yopaj is arguably the best player on the hero and he definitely proved it in game two as he led BOOM in securing the 2-0 sweep.

Yopaj was very active on his Snapfire, building Boots of Travel as his first big item to rotate around the map and help his allies. Eul’s Scepter was the second item he purchased and it was perfect for this game, as it allowed Yopaj to remove Spirit Breaker’s Bulldoze buff and set up kills with the stun from Firesnap Cookie.

Yopaj then combined Blink Dagger and his hero's Aghanim's Shard-upgraded Scatterblast to provide devastating close-range damage to enemies.

This combination of multiple utility items allowed Yopaj to bait SMG into diving for him then turning the fight around with a three-man Cookie stun to set up an Ultra Kill.

It was the Yopaj show in game two but his allies also had outstanding plays as well. Fbz on Pangolier was a nightmare for SMG to deal with, as he was constantly able to roll in on key targets and disable them before fights began.

Fbz found Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng's Morphling next to a cliff during a critical moment in the game, locking him down with a well-placed Rolling Thunder and winning the fight for BOOM.

Yopaj closed out the series with a whopping 30 kills — the highest amount of kills recorded by any player in a single game in the season thus far —and 14 assists against just two deaths. It was an absolute delight to see such a high-level performance by the mid superstar. JaCkky also impressed with a combined score of 18-1-51 across both games, giving him a nice 69 KDA score for the series.

With their victory, BOOM Esports advance to the upper bracket finals against T1. Meanwhile, Team SMG drop to the lower bracket and will be fighting for their tournament lives against Fnatic.

The Winter Tour Regional Finals will take place across the weekends of 11 to 13 February and 18 to 20 February, with three regions competing in each weekend. It will feature the Top 4 teams of the DPC's six regions competing for their cut of a US$100,000 prize pool and all-important DPC points.

For everything you need to know about the Winter Tour Regional Finals, check here.

BOOM Esports roster:

  1. Souliya "JaCkky" Khoomphetsavong

  2. Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer

  3. Saieful "Fbz" Ilham

  4. Timothy John "Tims" Randrup

  5. Andrei "skem" Ong

Team SMG roster:

  1. Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng

  2. Kam "Moon" Boon Seng

  3. Ryan "Raging Potato" Jay Qui

  4. Tue "ah fu" Soon Chuan

  5. Roger "Roddgeee" Tan Boon Thye

Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.