Natsuba: Many players in Southeast Asia have buyout fees exceeding $100,000

BOOM CEO Natsuba discussed the team's formation process and signing Pakazs.

"Regarding Southeast Asia Team Formation"

Building a new team post-TI12 was a long, tedious process. During the off-season, we had numerous potential candidates. Initially, our plan was to establish a team in Southeast Asia, even renting two houses in Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia) as a base. However, we struggled to find reliable players. When we talked to players, we discovered exaggerated buyout fees, often exceeding $100,000 USD.

The team formation was quite crazy; we verbally agreed on a lineup, but they changed their minds overnight. We reached agreements on certain aspects, only for everything to change entirely within a day. So, we spent about five train rides this week.

"Regarding Signing Pakazs"

We heard that Pakazs was a free agent available for signing, and since the major qualification wasn't out of reach for them, we decided to have discussions. Players signed contracts before the start of ESL ONE Kuala Lumpur, but as you know, they didn't meet expectations.

After the 25th-anniversary expo, we gave them another chance, even renting a base in Poland. However, the team's performance wasn't satisfactory, prompting us to make roster adjustments.

"About BOOM's Current Lineup"

The team is set up now and we held a media day in the players' countries, but there isn't a definite time for the official announcement yet. One of the players is having some performance issues, so it might take a bit longer.