TI14 Qualifiers: BOOM Esports outplay rivals Flipster Talon for second SEA slot

The veritable storm known as the TI14 qualifiers in Southeast Asia is now over, and there is a calm left after the bloodbath left behind. After Team Nemesis snuck into The International 2025 off the back of an inspirational qualifier run, BOOM Esports is now confirmed to be the second team coming out of the region.

Showing that they were unfazed by the fact that they were knocked down to the lower bracket midway through the qualifier tournament, BOOM bounced back in a huge way to make it to the lower bracket final. They won four straight best-of-three series after falling to the lower bracket, in a display of sheer consistency and skill.

Speaking of the lower bracket final, they faced perennial rivals Talon Esports in the match that allowed them to punch their ticket to TI14. Unafraid of the moment and the notion that Talon might be the better team given their recent showing at DreamLeague Season 26, the BOOM players all just locked in and played their brand of Dota 2.

Drafting Prowess

For most, if not the entirety of their series against Talon, it just felt like BOOM had the draft advantage more often than not. They had Batrider and Riki against Storm Spirit in the first game, which proved to be crucial in helping them grab early momentum in the match. Of course, it did help that Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong went absolutely nuclear as Sven in this game as well, notching 20 kills and dying only once throughout the 46 and a half minute contest.

We have qualified for The International 🔥#HungryBeast pic.twitter.com/nBTPRFTOuk

— BOOM Esports (@boomesportsid) June 17, 2025

But it was still the fact that they saw that Riki was in the pool after Talon picked Storm Spirit early for Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman that allowed them to just run their opponents over. Game 2 wasn’t as great for them as Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon got to play position 1 Tidehunter (which worked surprisingly well for such an unorthodox pick), and Mikoto himself got his hands on his signature Lina.

Talon winning the second game ended up not mattering though, because in the post-game interview, BOOM Esports mid laner Armel “Armel” Tabios said that giving Mikoto a chance to play Lina just the once just part of their plans for this series. They then proceeded to first phase ban the hero in the third and final game, forcing Mikoto to instead turn to Ember Spirit. Talon likewise drafted the carry Tiny for 23savage, but both of these picks would prove to be their undoing.

Choosing to ride or die with Queen of Pain, Armel completely crushed Mikoto in lane, which set him and his team up for a comfortable mid game. A few teamfights gone awry did allow Talon to kind of get back in the game for a bit, but it wasn’t meant to be. Carry Tiny just wasn’t enough against Armel, as well as JaCkky, who was playing the carry Razor in this one. With Static Link (W) and Eye of the Storm (R) countering almost anything that 23savage was trying to do, there was just no way for Talon to turn this one around.

More Pinoy Pride

So now that BOOM Esports are going to Hamburg in September, this result bumps up the number of Filipino players at the event to a total of eight. This is a massive turnaround compared to last year’s edition of The International where Eljohn “Akashi” Andales was the lone Philippine representative at the tournament.

If this is a sign of a possible resurgence for the Philippines in the professional Dota 2 scene, you are not going to get any complaints from me. The country has needed a big win on the international stage for about a year and a half now, and having eight players from the island nation qualify for TI14 is certainly a great start in this regard. Of course, the expertise provided by Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong (from Thailand) and JaCkky (from Laos) should not go unmentioned here, even though this is a great moment for the Philippine Dota scene.

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— BOOM Esports (@boomesportsid) June 17, 2025

Naturally, both Team Nemesis and BOOM Esports will have plenty more work to do to prepare for The International. Neither squad is favored to even make the top 4 at TI14 by any stretch of the imagination, so they’ve got a difficult two months ahead of them in terms of practice and scrims. They can celebrate for now, having gotten the hard part over with — but surely they aren’t satisfied with simply qualifying.

As for Talon, this could be a big blow to their confidence, which isn’t great considering they still have the Riyadh Masters at the Esports World Cup to think about. For 23savage in particular, seeing the very people he lost faith in two years ago successfully qualify for The International must sting — though the way he threw against Nemesis yesterday, he probably deserves this. Yes, I am aware that he apologized for his wild statement, but it’s hard to forget what he said nonetheless.