A few days ago, Boom Esports Valorant team surprisingly announced that they had decided to release Thomas “Cud” Alfiantino from his contract. The Indonesian Valorant wonderkid only lasted six months, from January to June 2023.
Boom Esports Valorant fans who have been following Cud’s competitive career for a long time clearly were taken aback by their decision. They saw Cud’s departure from the squad as a risky move, given that his talent would draw the attention of Boom’s rival teams in SEA. Boom Esports Valorant head coach Ji “Meow” Dong-jun stated in this regard that he did not keep Cud due to his effect on his tactics.
Speaking to Ulti Asia, Meow commended Cud’s talent as one of wonderkids in Indonesian Valorant scene. However, he emphasized that he did not prioritize Cud just because of the hype around him. He explained that Cud was not suitable for his tactics in Boom Esports.
“I mean, he has the potential indeed. However, I don’t consider age to be a deciding factor. I always rate a player based on their performance. And from what I’ve seen, Cud doesn’t appear to fit our tactics. He’s still too young, in my opinion, so he made plenty of choices that frequently affected our decision. He still has a lot to learn.”
Cud’s performance certainly has not been up to par to this date. Despite the fact that he was signed to slowly replace Rizkie “Berserx” Adla Kusuma, who received a lot of criticism during his first month with Boom, Cud showed no significant improvement and failed to live up their expectations. On the other side, Berserk, who will turn 19 next month, has improved this season and has been praised by pundits and Meow.
“Berserx is a youngster as well. But I believe he has a remarkable attitude since he significantly improved both mentally and mechanically in the last six months,” he said.
Meow mentioned that he had thought about bringing Cud to the Ascension tournament in Thailand this week, so that the wonderkid may learn something from his competitors. However, the management ultimately had the last word, and according to him, their strategy won’t change this time around with or without a stand-in.
