B8 team member Aleksei "alex666" Yarmoshchuk reflected on his team's performances at two recent LAN tournaments: ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 and Elisa Masters Espoo 2024. He shared his thoughts in an interview with bo3.gg.
He expressed his satisfaction with their performance at ESL Challenger Katowice but felt more uncertain about Elisa Masters. He noted their victories against relatively weaker teams, leaving him with mixed impressions. Reflecting on ESL Challenger, he mentioned that the entire team was pleased with their strong showing. They could have won the final, but he believed their opponents were better prepared. He pointed out that they only had 30 minutes after their semi-final victory over paiN, which made things difficult. The match had been gruelling, and SAW defeated them decisively, leaving no chance.
The Ukrainian esports player also shared his expectations of facing Team Spirit in the first round of the upcoming RMR tournament in Shanghai.
He stated that their success at ESL Challenger Katowice demonstrated their ability to beat top-10 world teams and felt confident about their chances against Team Spirit. As it would be a best-of-one, he considered the odds evenly split at 50/50. Preparation, winning at least one pistol round and a force round, would be crucial for a smooth match. While acknowledging Team Spirit’s strength, he believed B8 could defeat them, as they had done against Eternal Fire.
Yarmoshchuk also expressed hope for qualifying for the Major. Assessing their group, he identified G2, Eternal Fire, HEROIC, and Team Spirit as the most stable teams. However, against the remaining teams, he felt B8 wouldn’t be clear underdogs, estimating the matches to be 50/50.
To recap, B8 secured second place at ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 in Poland, losing to SAW in the final. At Elisa Masters Espoo 2024 in Finland, they finished in the top four. Across both tournaments, the team earned $35,000 in prize money.