VALORANT, the first FPS developed by Riot Games, has been quite popular in various parts of the world, including Indonesia. The rapid growth of the VALORANT esports scene in Indonesia can be seen in BOOM Esports. Interestingly, BOOM Esports is dominated by professional CS:GO players who “changed their lanes”. One of them is the captain, Gary Dastin aka BOOM blaZek1ng.

In retrospect, the name blaZek1ng has appeared in numerous CS:GO local major events along with big teams in Indonesia. His name was featured in one of the biggest CS:GO tournaments in Indonesia, the ROG Masters 2017 Indonesia, which took place in September 2017. His team at the time, AKARA, defeated Recca Esports, one of the biggest teams in Indonesia during its era.

ROG Masters 2017 as blaZek1ng’s Last CS:GO Tournament

On GLHF Production’s podcast, blaZek1ng revealed that the ROG Masters 2017 Indonesia was his and his team’s final chance to prove themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the scene. 

If they couldn’t win the title, he, along with William 'kr0' Adinata, would leave the esports scene altogether and focus on their real-life.

In retrospect, 2017 was a tough year for most teams aside from Recca Esports. At the time, Recca Esports just had the arrival of TEAMnxl>’s three main players, and the up-and-coming Kevin 'xccurate' Susanto.

Their success in the biggest CS:GO LAN tournament in Indonesia propelled Gary Dastin into a big professional esports player, even that he’s now at BOOM Esports.

Two months after the victory, he joined Executioners (XcN), which is a legendary organization in Indonesia, that still exists today. 

At this team, he’s playing with Tejas 'rite2ace' Sawant, now a TEAM MAHI player, along with Adrian 'adrnking' Setiawan, who’s also his teammate at BOOM Esports.

Rex Regum Qeon once joined the CS:GO scene in the IESPL TBOF. With XcN breaking up, Gary eventually joined RRQ in the middle of the IESPL TBOF.

At that team, he played with Kevin 'dispenser' Te and Jayvee 'DubsteP' Paguirigan, who’s now playing at Bren Esports VALORANT Philippines. His experience playing alongside these star players is certainly valuable.

A few months after that, as the IESPL ended, dozens of esports organizations were gradually leaving the CS:GO scene in Indonesia, including Rex Regum Qeon, a powerhouse team in Indonesia.

“Since I knew that RRQ would be disbanded, we knew, RRQ is a mobile (game) team, I told them. We were playing in the IESPL, and (the team) would be disbanded whether or not we win the title. So, when it was disbanded, I, WnD, DubsteP, and dispenser, we just laughed about it,“ Gary said on GLHF.

His Transition to VALORANT

After leaving RRQ, Gary had his hiatus from the competitive scene to finish college and then pursued a career in one of the biggest corporations in Indonesia.

Project A was announced by Riot Games at the end of 2019, and it caught Gary’s attention, although he’s quite pessimistic about it at the time. However, after VALORANT had its public release, his perception changed 180 degrees. “My first reaction was, wow, this game looks amazing, exciting.”

The similar mechanics between VALORANT and CS:GO also helped his transition to the new game. “When I tried out VALORANT, it’s quite easy for me as I’ve got the basics (from playing CS:GO).”

blaZek1ng’s professional career in the VALORANT scene began with him joining Boys With Love. Along with his four teammates, who are also former CS:GO pro players, he won four titles in community tournaments. One month after the release of VALORANT in June 2020, they were bought by BOOM Esports.

In fact, six out of seven players at BOOM Esports are former CS:GO pro players. Adrian 'adrnking' Setiawan was Gary’s teammate at XcN CS:GO. While Agung 'Sys' Frianto and Kevin 'Eeyore' Gunawan were playing for Recca Esports.

The Riyan 'Notoriouszx' Fiqri - Nanda 'Asterisk' Rizana duo, also start their history from BOOM ID CS:GO (now BOOM Esports).

NcSlasher is the only BOOM Esports player with a different background. He’s a former PUBG player at Aerowolf ADS (Team One). At one point, the team was the best PUBG team in Indonesia, the team even made its way to the top eight of the FACEIT Global Summit 2019 – the first PUBG international tournament in the world.

As for BOOM blaZek1ng, his decision to leave his promising career in corporate behind and switch to the professional gaming scene was described by him as a gamble. “But I wanted to do what I want to.”

The big names of each player helped BOOM Esports in their journey, which, at the time of writing, is the second-best team in Indonesia just after NXL LIGAGAME.

Led by Gary, the team has won numerous trophies, from the VCT Indonesia Stage 1 Challengers 1 and 3, and VCT Indonesia Stage 2 Challengers 1 and 3. In the international scene, they often competed against other big SEA teams, such as Paper Rex, Bren Esports, and X10 Esports.

VALORANT Scene in Indonesia and Asia

The VALORANT Champions Tour, better known as VCT, is the official league from Riot Games that serves as the benchmark and proving ground for teams all over the world. With VALORANT closing in on its first anniversary, more and more teams are adopting varied tactics and gameplays. 

Teams all over the world are competing to come up with the most effective strategies and tactics to dominate their respective regions.

The development is reflected in the ever-changing team comps from each stage of the VCT, especially at the domestic level.

In the VCT, BOOM blaZek1ng also mentioned the development of Asian teams. Since players have varied tactics, the team comp they had in the first VCT was different from the second one. 

As an illustration, only three teams qualified for three of the VCT Stage 1 Challengers Indonesia tournaments: BOOM Esports, Alter Ego, and Seniman Grooming.

When asked regarding the player who deserves to be on everyone’s watch list in VALORANT Indonesia, he mentioned X10 Esports’ Patiphan 'Patiphan' Chaiwong. The 17-year-old pro player used to be an Overwatch pro player. Back in 2018, he represented Thailand at the Overwatch World Cup.

In the future, BOOM blaZek1ng also hopes that Indonesia, especially BOOM Esports, will be able to play at the VCT Masters Stage 3 in Berlin, Germany, next September. “Bismillah, Berlin.” he jokingly said.

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This article was first published on Gamebrott.com, with the title "BOOM blaZek1ng dan Kisah Perpindahan Haluan dari CS:GO ke VALORANT", written by Juandi.

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