NickelBack has played with the Russian esports organization since the start of the year. 1WIN also replaced Egor “?flamie?” Vasilyev with former Entropiq in-game leader Igor “?Forester?” Bezotecheskiy earlier this month, while Aleksandr “?glowiing?” Matsievich left the team earlier this week following a “mutual agreement”.

The move to 1WIN marks Boombl4’s return to competitive gaming after almost nine months away from the activity. In May last year, the Russian player was taken off Natus Vincere’s active roster for reasons the organization said were “high reputational risks for the club”, referring to a drawn-out divorce with his now ex-wife, Lika “LiQueen” Mikhailova.

Boombl4’s stint in NAVI saw the Ukrainian squad win several international competitions, including the $1 million Intel Grand Slam Season 3 and the PGL Major Stockholm in 2021.

While the Russian player performed admirably on NAVI’s lineup, he will not reclaim his in-game leader position on 1WIN. The position will be reserved for NickelBack, who played two series with 1WIN in January.

1WIN also signed a new coach, Dmitry “hooch” Bogdanov, who will reunite with his ex-Entropiq players Forester and NickelBack. The new additions join Aleksandr “?TRAVIS?” Timkiv and star AWPer Denis “?deko?” Zhukov — the only two players remaining from last year’s lineup.

1WIN’s next challenge is the BLAST.tv Paris Major’s European RMR closed qualifier, which is scheduled to run from February 16-19.

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The franchise took to its Twitter page to announce his departure, describing him as one of the important people in the franchise’s CS:GO history. Entropiq also thanked him for his contributions to the team and wished him the very best life has to offer.

“Today marks the end of our journey together with
@hoochR,” Entropiq announced.

“Dmitriy has been one of the most of the important people in our CS:GO history, a person who will forever remain our friend. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors.”

The departure of the Russian coach marks the end of a partnership that began in May 2021 with the signing of EPG Family.

Under hooch’s coaching, the team, led by Aleksei “NickelBack” Trofimov, reached a high of No. 9 in the world rankings. The team had a number of notable accomplishments such as finishing as the runner-up in ESEA Premier Season 39 Europe, Funspark ULTI 2021, winning Pinnacle Fall Series 2 and CCT North Europe Series 1, and impressing with a 9-11th place showing at PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The team and coach had a successful start, but the results fell off soon after.

In October 2022, Entropiq decided to place the entire roster on the transfer list. The team struggled to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp and the IEM Rio Major and faced difficulties in fulfilling business goals associated with the Russian roster following the war in Ukraine. These factors were cited as the primary reasons for the decision to let go of the team.

Owing to the decision to move all players to the inactive roster, five members of the team, including its analyst, became free agents just one month later, while hooch and Igor “Forester” Bezotecheskiy remained contracted through the end of 2022. Now, hooch has become a free agent, while Forester remains tied to the Czech franchise.

The departure of hooch from Entropiq is a significant development for the franchise and the CS:GO scene. As one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the scene, hooch has a proven track record of success, and his absence will be felt by the team. With hooch now a free agent, it is uncertain where he will end up next, but there have been rumors that he may be connected to Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov’s rumored new project.

It is still not clear who the possible replacement would be for the 35-year old as Entropiq is yet to announce one. With the season kickoff fast approaching, the franchise will look to fill that position and recruit skillful players in a bit to complete its roster.

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