Cover-Credits:
Nigma Galaxy parted ways with position four player Farith "Matthew" Puente following the conclusion of his trial period. In a tweet, the organization stated that the decision had been taken after mutual agreement by both parties. Matthew's three months of service with the team came with tons of challenges as the squad failed to qualify for any of the top-tier tournaments except one. The roster change comes just a few days after the announcement of the details of the much awaited Esports World Cup. Riyadh Masters 2024, the Dota 2 tournament at the world cup, is likely just days away from the start of its qualifiers.
Nigma Galaxy and Matthew part ways
“Our trial period with @MatthewDotaaa has ended and we mutually decided to part ways. Thank you for everything and we wish you the best,” Nigma announced on Twitter.
Shortly after the announcement, Matthew took to Twitter to thank the organization for the opportunity, which had helped him learn a lot, but he was now open to joining teams around the globe.
Nigma's roster is now in need of a position four player to complete the lineup. The current team comprises the following players.
Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi
Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan
Saieful “Fbz” Ilham
TBD
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi
Matthew came on board when things were already tough for Nigma as it had failed to qualify for the first round of tier one tournaments in 2024. He was invited, along with Fbz, with the expectation that recruiting players native to their roles would help with better performance, considering the previous iteration lacked optimal player-role combinations.
Nigma, however, struggled and missed out on qualifying for ESL One Birmingham 2024, PGL Wallachia Season 1, and DreamLeague Season 23, where it did come close against PSG Quest. Due to the relatively easy competition, Elite League was the only tournament it qualified for. In the event, however, the squad could only muster a 20th-22nd finish.
Efforts with different lineups have been made, but nothing has seemingly worked for the squad established by The International 7 (TI7) champions. Whether there are more roster changes planned, Maroun "GH" Merhej will return to the active lineup, or there will be a new position four player entirely, it is all up in the air currently as Nigma prepares for likely the biggest event of the year - the Riyadh Masters 2024, scheduled for July.
