Boa viable in Gold tier?

No, the Boa does not work in Gold/Top MM.

In the medium bots, only the Galahad, Carnage, and Doc work in Gold/Top.

Some caveats though, the Thunder-Orkan Boa is not a bad place holder if have not purchased a Lancelot yet. Additionally, the Thunder-Orkan Boa is usable as a first round bot for handling the first round beacon runners --- or as a general bot that you drop in if you are uncertain what reds are in play (its a decent throwaway bot that won't get trashed immediately and that will get some damage against almost everything it encounters).

In the end, you'll find the heavy real bot you want, but until then, the Boa is the bot that will take its place.

I agree with ern... If piloted like a Boa Boss, it is still very much a threat at any tier, with either Ork or Taran.

You have to play it 180 degrees differently than in Silver tier, though. No more "Come get some!" standing out in the open taunting folks... Instead, "Come to me, I have a place all picked out for ya..." and ambush, stick and move, evasive tactics have to be employed. It is NOT easy to do, but if it is all you have while saving for that Lance or if you just WANT to run all medium bots, it is a solid choice. I am not saying that it is a landing zone for your Thunder bot search... you do want to get something better... but it will definitely do as a placeholder, heck even a little better than a placeholder in some games.

I remember one recently; my 8/9/9 Boa Thunder Ork took out two Rhinos and a Natty Thunder and 3/4th of a Griff... all were at least bot level 10 with weapons running from 9-12. The game was not the norm, but it wasn't terribly surprising, either. Circling a Rhino is not hard if they are shielded up, and if you come up behind someone and your Thunder and Ork is full, not much will survive long enough to take you out after turning around. The Griff pilot was good, and had a full DB and Jump charged.  I hurt him though, and he landed in a spot that took him out of the contest for center for another reload and jump CD cycle.

True... but if you are running level 9-12 weapons, you should encounter other bots with those, most likely. And that is basically synonymous with the old Gold.

OK, so not weapons from 9-12, 8-12.  One number off... and I am very similarly running a lot of mediums, 7-9, and I see the majority of the time, 9-12, but yes, occasionally they go as low as 6 on level 12 bots... but my point still stands, and notice my use of words like "should" and "most likely."

The majority of bots will be similar, and rereading his post, he is prolly 6/8 - ish, since he mentioned HS and LG.  So, he should see enough similar levels, just guessing that his rating is average or better, to make it a normal thing to face comparable opponents with 12/12s thrown in for secret sauce... especially since the little weekend server reset.