Nigma Galaxy Has Been Relegated to DPC Division 2

Having lost its sixth consecutive series in the Western Europe (WEU) Dota Pro Circuit 2021-22 Tour 2: Division 1, Nigma Galaxy will drop to Division 2 in the coming season. The sixth series of the event saw the team substitute Adrian "Fata" Trinks for Igor "iLTW" Filatov who was stated to be on a break, but it did not change Nigma's fortunes as the team went on to lose 0-2 to Team Liquid.

Team Liquid was simply a level ahead of Nigma in both games even though Amer "Miracle" Al-Barkawi's Rapier on Medusa gave Nigma a glimpse of hope in the second one. This win for Team Liquid case, is its fourth in a row and increases its likelihood of securing a Major slot significantly.

Nigma Galaxy vs Team Liquid: Match Recap and Highlights

Recap

Game 1 saw Liquid draft Necrophos for MATUMBAMAN as its final pick, a hero which was very effective against Nigma’s cores of Pangolier, Tiny, and Tidehunter. Liquid outclassed Nigma in laning, resulting in a solid start. MATUMBAMAN became a rock at the front and helped his team control the majority of the map. Nigma tried to fight back several times but was never able to deal sustained damage to win the teamfights. MATUMBAMAN had a perfect score of 23-0-9 as Liquid won overwhelmingly in 42 minutes.

In game 2, Liquid killed Nigma's only initiation - MinD_ContRoL - four times in the first 14 minutes of laning. Leaving Nigma in a disadvantaged position, Miracle's Medusa had to carry the game for them. Although he farmed every corner of the map possible, even buying a Rapier, it wasn't enough to 1v5 Liquid as Nigma lost the game in 46 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

The season so far has been forgettable for Nigma. In light of the players' reputations and standards, losing six consecutive series will be quite a disappointment. A harder pill to swallow will be the fact that it will no longer play in Division 1 in the next season, meaning that it cannot qualify for the third Major of the season. As a result, Nigma will have to qualify either through the regional qualifiers or the last chance qualifiers to play at The International 10.

With the current roster, the team has had a few decent performances in the past year, but it has largely failed to impress. Whether Nigma will undergo changes in the future remains to be seen.

Liquid, meanwhile, has shut down its critics with four straight wins after a slow start to the season. Consequently, the team now has a 4-2 record and has tiebreakers for one of the four Major slots in the region guaranteed. This team has produced exceptional drafts and plays in these past four series, in particular Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen who has been styling on some of his signature heroes like Necrophos and Lone Druid.

Nigma will face Team Secret in its final series on 16th April, while Liquid will face Gladiators on 20th April.