BetBoom Team in CS started without a coach at all. In the fall, they signed Innersh1ne - a strong analyst, who lacked experience in leading a team. And in March, a new person joined - RAiLWAY, a coach of the new generation.
Artem has had a long, albeit not the most illustrious, gaming career as a captain. He went through Espada, shone in Aurora and K23 - in general, until recently, he was an active CS player. And this is his main advantage compared to top coaches who started searching for matches several years ago.
Who are considered the coolest coaches in our region? HuN's last team was 5 years ago, Blade's - 6 years ago. Groove and Hally don't even want to be mentioned in this context: they are cool in macro, but they can't suggest the best options for micro plays and setups. Many years ago, everyone seriously discussed whether a coach should know grenades. Coaches of the new generation, who have recently ended their player careers, understand both macro and micro play very well.
RAiLWAY is a unique example. He used to combine roles as a player, so now he can easily manage BetBoom Team:
"In teams, I have always been a coach and IGL, worked very little with other coaches. For me, there is no special difference [between a coach and a captain], just more focus on the team aspect and a slightly different approach. The main difference lies in conveying your thoughts because if you are a player, you can express your idea in the game yourself, but if you are a coach - you need to convey your thoughts to the game, more clearly and understandably."
The three most important qualities for a coach according to Artem: stress resistance, leadership qualities, and confidence in his words. It seems he has it all. And most importantly - he plans to focus on developing players: "I think, first of all, you need to be flexible and understand how to implement the best qualities of your players in the team." This is a very important setting if you don't have a star like s1mple, M0nesy, or Niko in your lineup.
Insilio's boss believes in Coach Artem, with whom RailVay has worked briefly: "The best coach in esports is a former captain who knows a lot about the game, can provide a lot psychologically, motivational boost. Approaching, choosing the right words. And he understands the game because he is a captain. RAiLWAY will definitely establish himself in a tier-1 team."
RAiLWAY has already brought the team some initial results. BetBoom Team took third place at Skyesports Masters and easily passed through the group stage qualifiers for BetBoom Dacha. They also won the A1 Gaming League - a small online tournament, but in the final, the team defeated the strong 3DMAX. There, the best player by rating was the newcomer Magnojez, who is now in great shape under RailVay's guidance.
Artem is far from the only experienced player who has recently ended his career to move to a coaching position. Valyna, Waterfalls, and many others are leaving for quite understandable and logical reasons.
"The age is already big, with whom would I like to play - everyone is already in other teams, and who would like to play with me... It's again trying to achieve something in the game with young players. Playing with young players is a coin toss, and I've been tossing it my whole career, it wasn't very successful. Therefore, I made a decision in favor of something more stable and new in my life," explains RAiLWAY.
Working with young players is indeed a coin toss. But coaching BetBoom Team with top riflers is a more challenging test, where the result depends entirely on RailVay's correct decisions.