Nigma Galaxy; The fallen stars

Nigma failed to qualify for two events back-to-back in the last week. The once mighty stars seem to have fallen, but why?

The year is 2017 and we are playing in patches 7.05 and 7.06. Earthshaker and Puck are heavily favored, and your pubs are just as toxic as ever. 

Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan is now a ‘legal adult’ of eighteen years old. In 2015 he was the youngest champion in the history of The International, earning the highest paycheck ever awarded to a Dota 2 player, $1.3 million until that point. The “King” as he became known was named as one of the 30 most influential teens of 2016 by Time.com. 

Last year, Amer 'Miracle' Barqawi became the first player in Dota 2 history to achieve a matchmaking rating of over 9000. 

Team Liquid, featuring Kuro 'KuroKy-' Salehi Takhasomi and company, The International 2017's run won the hearts of fans worldwide. It is the first time in the history of The International that a team came back from the second round of the lower bracket and won the whole thing. Before this, all the teams that had won had been a part of the upper bracket finals. This is also the first time a team has won with a clean sweep, in a TI grand final, but a Valve grand final. 

• Read The International 2017 (TI7) throwback meta analysis

 A lineup boasting the bulk of the Liquid players AND Sumail would undoubtedly be a dream, something that is crafted in TI compendium fantasy leagues. Especially if you are a player or fan of the MENA region which is non-existent. 

But now, it is the year 2024. Seven years later. And in esports, especially Dota 2, seven years is an eternity. 

It isn't a dream. Miracle-, Sumail and Kuroky ARE all competing on the same team, representing MENA in its own regional qualifiers for some of the biggest leagues and LAN events of the year. A region whose path was paved in part by the former Team Liquid TI championship players when they started their organization Nigma —the name's origin comes from the Arabic language and means Star— in 2019. A region that is drawing attention and investment from all over the world. 

• Read Around the world; Dota 2 in MENA region

But there is no joy in reporting on this dream team.

Over the last week Nigma Galaxy failed to claim spots for BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 and DreamLeague Season 22 —both being played for in their small regional qualifiers. 

In fact, the last time the core group of players that formed Nigma and Sumail went to TI was years ago. Since forming Nigma in late 2019, Kuroky and Miracle have failed to step foot on The International stage again. Sumail has missed the last two years in a row. 

These big stars with their flashy plays and great mechanical skills, with an in-game leader known as one of the best captains and drafters of all time, have been falling short. 

So what has happened, what is going wrong for Nigma Galaxy?

• It has been a while since Miracle has played the mid-role. In the last few iterations of Nigma Galaxy, Miracle has been playing the safe lane carry. But even when he has played from the mid lane, more often than not, Miracle has been the position 1 hero. Plus, it seems that Nigma likes to swap and switch roles around for players to force things to fit instead of tapping into their skills and experience in roles. The case in point is Daniel "Ghost" Chan who arrives at Nigma Galaxy as the offlane player after being in the carry role for Royal Never Give Up in 2022 and for Xtreme Gaming in 2023. 

• Could it be that their attention has been pulled into more business-like matters as Nigma Galaxy is a player-run organization? Things like ensuring sponsorship deliverable tasks are met, and involvement in the day-to-day decision-making with regards to the brand and organization. 

• As previously stated, it HAS been seven years since 2017. And after all, these players are no longer spring chickens (for esports that is). They have been competing for approximately a decade or more before taking up some of the other priorities in life that seem to come with age. Although Sumail is just 24 and Miracle 26, Kuroky is 31. Should they just retire, making way for younger talent with faster reflexes and fresh energy?
   
• Read Old man doto; an age-old debate

• Team Liquid's strong presence not only gave them the honor of being the second team to receive a direct invite to TI8, but their total earnings were the highest in Dota 2, reaching a staggering $15,547,847.10 by then. Poised as one of the top contenders, the team went into TI8 roaring and guns blazing. At the end, when the dust settled, they fell short with a commendable fourth-place finish. in the moments before the last Major of the 2018-2019 DPC season, the famed European team has decided to part ways with longtime core player Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen. Matu went to TI 2021 and 2022 seizing third place at both events before retiring. Since his departure, the team was never really the same, changing players to fill his position often and looking to just patch up what was missing.  So perhaps the Finnish player and his lucky shorts were more of the key to their success than many thought and Kuro was NOT right?

With the Dota Pro Circuit discontinued by Valve, the new competitive season might be a return to the Wild West days before the DPCs with it being anybody's guess on how The International 2024 invites will be awarded. But there is still plenty of time for this team to pull off a Cinderella story or pull out the redemption Arc before the invitations are sent in the mail.  

What do you think is the issue and how would you address it? Perhaps someone influential will be reading this and the comments and take the suggestions to heart. You could be the hero we've been waiting for. 

Nigma Galaxy roster

 Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi
Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan
Daniel Chan “Ghost” Kok Hong
Roman “rmN-” Paley
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi