Recently, Nigma Galaxy have announced on their social pages that the team will have to play in the upcoming ESL One Malaysia 2022 with a stand-in. It is reported that the team’s carry Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barqawi will miss the tournament due to health issues.
While it hasn’t been officially reported exactly what kind of health problems the team is facing, there’s a possibility of COVID-19, considering there’s currently a new outburst of the virus in the world.
#ESLOne Malaysia update:
Unfortunately, @NigmaMiracle will not be joining the team in Genting due to health issues and we'll be playing with a standin.
The rest of the team is due to land later today.#StarsAlign #NGXdota pic.twitter.com/uwzTa6fWdr
— Nigma Galaxy (@NigmaGalaxy) August 21, 2022
Sad news for Nigma fans
This is undoubtedly sad news for Nigma fans, who were looking forward to seeing the star player live. Miracle- is one of the strongest players in the history of Dota 2 with a record of 76 wins throughout his seven-year professional career, so it’s no wonder why fans will miss him at this event.
Moreover, the squad has been rarely pleasing their fans with high-profile wins lately, so this is quite a blow to the expectations some fans might have had. At the last tournament that Nigma attended — Riyadh Masters 2022 — the European team reached only the quarterfinals, losing there to future champions PSG.LGD with a score of 2-1. Another disappointment was the team’s decline to DPC WEU Division II after finishing last in the DPC 2021/2022 Tour 2: Division I with only one victory.
However, the team dominated the following Tour 3 Div II also thanks to the performance of the newly added Syed “SumaiL” Hassan, and is set to compete again in the first division of the next DPC season.
#ESLOne Malaysia Update:
Dreamocel will be standing in for us during the tournament. #StarsAlign #NGXdota pic.twitter.com/794Bp5W6ik
— Nigma Galaxy (@NigmaGalaxy) August 22, 2022
Nigma Galaxy lineup for ESL One Malaysia 2022:
- Syed “SumaiL” Hassan
- Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov
- Maroun “GH” Merhej
- Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi
- Randy “Dreamocel” Sapoetra (stand-in)
ESL One Malaysia 2022, the last big tournament before the season-concluding The International 2022, will be held from August 23 to 28 at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands. At the tournament, the top 12 Dota 2 teams from around the world will fight for a prize fund of $400,000.
Although the news about Miracle- not participating in the event might be upsetting for fans, it’s important to save the health of the team’s carry, as Nigma Galaxy still hasn’t qualified for TI11 and they need to be fully prepared to get their desired slot for the event at the WEU Qualifier, set to take place from September 13-18.