BetBoom, the Russian esports organisation, has made some notable changes to its Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) roster this July. Sergey ‘Ax1le’ Rykhtorov, who joined the team earlier this year, has been benched as the team signs Artem ‘ArtFr0st’ Kharitonov and Daniil ‘d1Ledez’ Kustov to the starting lineup.
ArtFr0st was already familiar with the team, having stood in during the FISSURE Playground 1 event. There, BetBoom achieved a top-four finish and earned $35,000 (~£26,086) in prize money. He replaces Aleksandr ‘zorte’ Zagodyrenko, who was moved to the bench earlier this month.
D1Ledez has been away from Tier 1 CS2 competition since April after his previous team, the Russian side of 9 Pandas, benched its entire roster following a failure to qualify for the BLAST.tv Austin Major through the European MRQ. Now, he’s joining BetBoom to fill out their active roster.
BetBoom currently has four players on the inactive roster with Ax1le, zorte, Vladislav ‘nafany’ Gorshkov, and Aleksandr ‘KaiR0N-’ Anashkin. Fans won’t have to wait long to see the new roster in action. BetBoom will compete in CCT Season 3 European Series #4, which kicks off on July 29, 2025. It might be interesting to watch how the team gels with its new additions during this tournament.
August will bring the BLAST Bounty Season 2, where BetBoom is one of 32 teams battling through the online phase. The top eight teams from this phase will qualify for the LAN finals in Malta, so there’s a lot on the line.
Currently ranked 35th in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), BetBoom is just outside the top 32. If they manage to perform strongly in upcoming events, they could secure a spot in the Major qualification.
Could these roster changes help BetBoom regain its momentum? It’s definitely a moment worth watching for CS2 fans. I’m curious how the team’s chemistry will develop with ArtFr0st and d1Ledez joining the fold…
