Esports

Cloud9 Part Ways with Boombl4 and Ax1Le

By Tit Krajnik

10 Jan 2025

Tit Krajnik 10 Jan 2025

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Cloud9 release two players from their Counter-Strike roster
Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov and Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov leave the team
The departed players head to BetBoom Team

Boombl4 (Getty Images)

On Friday, Cloud9 announced the departure of Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov and Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov, leaving the Russian Counter-Strike team with just two active players. The news comes amid reports of the lineup breaking up following a rough run through the 2024 season.

The departed players have already joined their next squad, BetBoom Team, who, like many other Counter-Strike 2 squads, have opted to freshen up their roster for the 2025 season.

Ax1Le and Boombl4 were the only remaining players of Cloud9's superteam roster, which the organisation constructed in 2023. The previous two members, Denis "electroNic" Sharipov and Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy, left Cloud9 in April.

ElectroNic has already found a new home at Virtus.pro, whereas Perfect has been on Cloud9's bench since April, awaiting his release.

The superteam lineup, consisting of some of the top Russian Counter-Strike players, had high goals but never lived up to expectations, struggling to perform in the season's biggest events.

Their two most notable results were a quarterfinal run at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and a top-four finish at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023.

The poor results led to another major roster rebuild in April 2024, when Cloud9 added Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko, Timofey "interz" Yakushin, and Kaisar "ICY" Faiznurov, who linked up with Ax1Le and Boombl4. Yet, like the previous project, Cloud9's new roster failed to accomplish much.

After a streak of early tournament exits, including two ninth-16th-place finishes at CCT Season 2 European Series #11 and #14, Cloud9 found some momentum and secured a ticket for the Major with a third-fifth-place finish at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A.

Yet, despite their resurgence in the RMR, Cloud9 struggled to perform in China, ending their campaign with a 1-3 record and defeats against Team Liquid, paiN Gaming, and Complexity Gaming.

Following a tough season with Cloud9, Ax1Le and Boombl4 now join BetBoom Team as key players of BB Team's roster rebuild.

BetBoom Team opted to freshen up their roster after struggling to break into the upper echelons of the Counter-Strike scene in 2024, consistently hoovering around the no.20 mark.

They failed to qualify for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and shortly after removed Vladislav "nafany" Gorshkov and Aleksandr "KaiR0N-" Anashkin, who got replaced by their compatriots.