posted by EskayDota,
A handful of TI winners and number of first-timers — the attendees of the Bucharest Minor are a real mixed bag of experience. Who are those with a shot at their first-ever DPC points, and how was their journey to the Minor?

BOOM ID



BOOM Esports are certainly not newcomers if you’ve been following the SEA scene. For those who aren’t familiar, BOOM ID are an Indonesian powerhouse, and have been winning national competitions since early 2017.

They received a direct invitation to The International 2018 SEA qualifiers, noted as one of the most consistent rosters and creating noise in their region. They were invited alongside the likes of Fnatic and TNC Predator, teams certainly in the top tier of the game.

Their roster has featured the same players since mid-2017, with the exception of newcomer Rafli 'Mikoto' Faturahman. After he joined in November this year, the organisation crushed team after team at their first competition together — The Bucharest Minor SEA qualifiers.





One of their most memorable performances came in the DAC SEA qualifiers — where they beat Fnatic in a tense series, winning in style with a huge play. Teams have definitely not underestimated them since. This is their first Valve competition, and their first chance at establishing themselves at the DPC table.



Another beautiful moment fom the Fnatic series.



BOOM ID have been setting themselves up for success over the past year, and are definitely a team with the potential to cause a big upset at the Minor.


Playmakers Esports



Demolition Boys are no strangers to Valve events. With players like Christian 'Accel' Cruz and Steve 'stingeR' Vargas, the Peruvian team are certainly not lacking experience. While most of the Playmakers squad have played together or for the same organisations — Infamous, Not Today* or Team Unknown — this is the first time that this specific roster has come together.

Forming in early November, the team headed straight into the qualifiers. With their performances steadily improving, Playmakers swept aside the competition in the Bucharest SA qualifiers, dropping only a single game to Infamous — a team many consider to be the best in the region. With both games in the Grand Final of the qualifiers looking like stomps, Jacky 'EternaLEnVy' Mao and JingJun 'Sneyking' Wu were certainly warned of the dangers of joining such a competitive region.



Playmakers take the first game against Infamous in 22 minutes



Faker is the only real newcomer on the team, and is notably only 17 years old. Starting his professional career in 2017, it didn’t take long for the Peruvian to climb to the top of his field. He is certainly a player to keep an eye on in the upcoming competition.

One of the most memorable teams to come from Peru was Team Unknown, back in 2015. Hyper aggressive and making high-risk-high-reward plays with incredible flair, Unknown were one of the most exciting teams to watch. Featuring Accel and StingeR from the Playmakers roster, fans of Unknown.xiu will certainly be excited to see these two play together at the top level once again.



Unknown wait for Necro's ult to close out a game, but they do so in an unprecedented style.



Team Team



beastcoast are by no means newcomers, in any sense of the word. Featuring five American veterans, the squad formed in early September ready to compete in the upcoming qualifiers. Previously featuring Guilherme 'Costabile' Silva Costabilé, the well-known carry from SG e-sports, the team’s performances improved with the addition of compatriot Samuel 'Sammyboy' Anderson.

To those who have not followed the scene for too long, Team Team are a side with a wealth of experience. Braxton 'Brax' Paulson and Michael 'ixmike88' Ghannam have been playing since the early days of the game, and had arguably experienced most of their success a number of years ago. Sammyboy and Jason 'NewSham' Newsham will be remembered for their time on Leviathan, a North American side that found relative success.

Their journey to the Minor hasn’t been easy. Losing out in the qualifiers for The Kuala Lumpur Major, DreamLeague Season 10, ESL One Hamburg 2018 and The Chongqing Major, ixmike88 and company finally found their feet in the Bucharest Minor qualifiers. This success was somewhat poetic, beating a compLexity Gaming side who had put an end to their Malaysian dream — the NA side knocking Team Team out of the KL Major qualifiers just three months previously.





Eric 'Ryoya' Dong is well-travelled, having played for 17 teams in a four-year career. The team have only been together for a few months, but their performances have improved steadily. For the majority of these players, Bucharest is their first shot at DPC success.



Who would you like to see take the final spot at The Chongqing Major? Have your say in the comments below!



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