BOOM Esports has made a significant change to its Dota 2 roster. Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon will be a stand-in for the remainder of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit’s first season, the organization announced.
This move comes as BOOM tries to finish strong in the upper division of Southeast Asia’s regional league following a 2-3 start through the first four weeks.
23savage was originally slated to enter the 2021 DPC with Vici Gaming while playing in China, but the team released him just days after the competition was announced due to travel restrictions brought on by COVID-19.
23savage also cited the language barrier between players as a reason for his release, noting that Vici thought it could cause potential communication issues down the line. He never actually played in a tournament with Vici and has remained teamless since his release.
The Thai player now joins BOOM as the first non-Indonesian player to suit up for the organization since its Dota division was founded in 2017.
Based on the image posted with the announcement, it appears 23savage will be replacing Andrew “Drew” Halim as the team’s carry for at least the remainder of this season. The team has not committed to dropping the former Reality Rift player or signing 23savage to a long-term deal as of yet.
At the start of week five, BOOM is sitting in fifth place at 2-3 and only needs to win one more series to ensure the organization remains in the SEA upper division for season two of the DPC. The BOOM roster should feature 23savage, Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman, Saieful “Fbz” Ilham, Brizio “Hyde” Putra, and Alfi “Khezcute” Nelphyana heading into the team’s final two matchups against Execration and Vice Esports.
If Khezcute and his squad can win against XctN and Vice, there’s a chance they could sneak into the Singapore Major as the third seed out of SEA should TNC Predator and T1 lose out.
