Nigma Galaxy Parts Ways With iLTW

With Tour 3 of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) kicking off in a few weeks, Nigma Galaxy has parted ways with carry player Igor "iLTW" Filatov. The organization posted a tweet thanking the player for his contributions and wished him good luck. Nigma Galaxy's roster change follows a period of successively poor results in the DPC 2021-22, in which it did not finish among the top four teams in either Tour 1 or Tour 2. Tour 2 particularly had been rather lackluster for Nigma, and it shockingly finished in last place and as a consequence, was relegated to Division 2. In the final games of Tour 2, two stand-ins - initially Adrian "Fata" Trinks, and later coach Roman "rmN-" Paley, had already hinted at iLTW's departure from Nigma Galaxy.

iLTW is no longer a part of Nigma Galaxy’s Dota 2 roster

“Today we part ways with @iLTW1. Thank you for everything Igor and good luck,” Nigma Galaxy noted on Twitter.

Nigma Galaxy’s Dota 2 roster now comprises the following four players.

1. TBD

2. Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi

3. Ivan Borislavov "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov

4. Maroun "GH" Merhej

5. Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi

• Roman "rmN-" Paley (coach)

The addition of iLTW as Aliwi "w33" Omar's replacement in April 2021 initially seemed like the right move for Nigma Galaxy, who had been struggling for months before this roster change. The team finished third in the regional league and 5th-6th at the WePlay AniMajor with iLTW. However, these initial results were not significant because Nigma did not qualify either by points or by qualifiers for The International 10 (TI10).

In November 2021, the new DPC 2021-22 got underway, and the team's performance plummeted further. It finished sixth in Tour 1 and eighth in Tour 2. Nigma made a slight comeback during the time between Tour 1 and Tour 2 during its performance at Gamers Galaxy, where it finished third.

The last year has largely been a struggle for Nigma. The team seems one-dimensional in its playstyle, with the focus on playing the 4-protect-1 strategy around Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi, which hasn't proved to be very effective in the long run. Additionally, Nigma appears to struggle in online events, given the fact that in the two LAN events it attended since iLTW joined, the WePlay AniMajor and the Gamers Galaxy event, it put forth impressive performances.

The Nigma roster will now require a carry player if Miracle- plays in the midlane going forward. Unless Miracle- decides to play as the carry again, we can expect a new midlaner to join the squad. Additionally, it remains to be seen where iLTW will head for Tour 3.

Due to the fact that Nigma does not have enough Dota 2 points to directly qualify for The International 2022, and it is entering Tour 3 from Division 2, it can only qualify for the biggest Dota 2 event through the regional qualifier or the last chance qualifier that shall take place later this year. Tour 3 is expected to begin in the first week of June.