Nigma Throws Game 5 of the Grand Finals and Fails to Qualify for the Starladder Minor

That has got to be soul-shattering for Nigma. They lost the 5th Game of the Starladder Dota 2 Minor S3: European Qualifier - Grand Finals as a result of a massive throw and will now be sitting out the 3rd Minor/Major of this season as a result.

Having skipped the first set of Majors/Minors, Nigma is in danger of not receiving an invite to The International 10 unless there is some drastic improvement.

The Misplays and the Throw

After a tense 4 games, with Alliance and Nigma winning 2 matches each, the stage was set for a clash of the titans with a spot in the Minor as the prize. The team winning this match would inarguably become the favourites for this Minor and would likely book a place in the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Major. So the stakes were clearly high.

Following a back and forth early-mid game, Nigma took control of the game in the later stages and managed to claim mega-creeps against Alliance.Nikobaby’s Divine Rapier Medusa. They were firmly in the driver’s seat to claim a place in the Minor.

Then the Throw happened. For some reason, Miracle and Mind_Control decided to charge into the 5 players of Alliance (Miracle without Buyback and BKB Cooldown) and died to the Divine Rapier Medusa.

Nikobaby bought another Divine Rapier and charged into the enemy base, capitalizing on Miracle’s mistake to take the throne.

Perhaps fatigue was an issue for Nigma. They've played 7 consecutive Dota 2 games against some of the best in the world, and that made them lose focus for a little bit.

Nigma’s pain was Alliance’s gain, as they now go into the Starladder S3 Dota 2 Minor as the favourites to claim the title and a spot in the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Major.

Miracle and co. will be kicking themselves for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, especially considering the fact that this was their 8th Dota 2 game of the day.