Nigma Galaxy Begins Elite League With Impressive Win Against Aurora

In its debut international event of the 2024 competitive season, having faced setbacks in multiple qualifiers, Nigma Galaxy showcased an unexpectedly impressive performance to register a 2-1 victory over Aurora. It was Nigma who started on a high note in all three games, pushing Aurora into a defensive position. Aurora won the second game after Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon's Faceless Void sparked a comeback for his team, but Nigma dominated the opponents on all fronts in the first and third games to win in just 22 and 27 minutes respectively.

Nigma Galaxy vs Aurora at Elite League 2024: Match recap and highlights

Recap

In game 1, Nigma chose two strong laning supports, Disruptor and Crystal Maiden, which helped the team win the sidelanes. SumaiL also played well in the midlane on his signature Leshrac. Aurora started to lag due to its picks which were designed for the late game with limited early damage and few stuns. Nigma was aggressive throughout and maintained its momentum, winning in 22 minutes with 27 kills to the opponents' five.

Game 2 saw both teams get their hands on comfort heroes, but Nigma once again outperformed Aurora in the lanes to take an early lead. 30 minutes into the game, there were many kills on Aurora's cores, and Nigma appeared to be in control with an 18k advantage. However, the team was unable to contest the second Roshan with the Aegis going to 23savage's Faceless Void. Approaching the game cautiously from there, Aurora steadily recovered, and with Refresher Faceless Void in the late game, Nigma was unable to teamfight and lost in 50 minutes.

Game 3 saw Nigma select a more well rounded lineup that included Chen, a hero that has been banned in virtually every professional game in recent months. Aurora's roster lacked early teamfighting capability, and when Nigma pushed, it attempted to retaliate but suffered losses. With a more focused strategy this round, Nigma forced the opponents to call GG in just 27 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

As a result of its past results, as well as Aurora being a team that has proven itself on an international level, Nigma was not expected to win this series.

At the same time. the last qualifier it competed in MENA (Middle-East & North Africa) saw the team get defeated but it also took PSG Quest to five games, having lost the qualifiers much more easily previously. Hence, some form and momentum are being built by the team.

In the post-match interview, captain Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasom stated that the team does not have any expectations going into the event and is focused on winning one game at a time.

“We are taking game by game, to be honest. Obviously, everybody wants to win. We are also here to win and we work really hard but for now, just game by game and get a feel of the other teams. We have played only MENA qualifiers this season so we haven’t really played international teams, official games too much. So, we are happy we get to play.”

Nigma's next series in Elite League's swiss stage will be against Talon Esports, while Aurora's next game will be against Virtus.pro on 1st April 2024.