Nigma Galaxy and OG lost the first match in WEU Qualifier for TI12

For a lot of Dota 2 fans, the first day of the Western European Qualifier for The International 12 was a sad one. Both Nigma Galaxy and OG, two of the tournament’s favorites, lost their initial upper-bracket matches and were sent to the lower bracket.

Because of the seeding, at least one of them is now guaranteed to miss The International 2023. Given how poorly they played, both of them are likely to fail.

Nigma Galaxy vs. Entity: 1-2

Nigma started well against Entity and won the first game using a combination of Gyrocopter, Enigma, and Keeper of the Light. The entire lineup worked really well and by the 20-minute mark, the game was practically won.

In games 2 and 3, the situation got complicated. Entity picked heroes that tend to have a strong laning phase and defeated Nigma’s unidimensional drafts using superior tactics. Game 2, for instance, was a battle between physical damage plus magical damage and purely physical damage.

In game three, the one-hour fight should have lasted far less. Entity had a gold lead of 15.000 at the 37-minute mark. But Nigma fought hard and prevented them from destroying the final barracks for more than 20 minutes.

Once again, Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi used heroes like Terrorblade and Beastmaster, who rely almost exclusively on physical damage.

There are no easy roads to @dota2ti.

We’ll be back tomorrow at 13:00 CEST to face @theAllianceGG.

GG @entitydota. pic.twitter.com/4bcJqacd23

— Nigma Galaxy (@NigmaGalaxy) August 27, 2023

OG vs. Team Secret: 0-2

In the first game of this match, both teams had the same idea: pick a carry that kills quickly and is hard to kill after the 30-minute mark. OG went for Terrorblade, while Secret went for Phantom Assassin.

In the first part of the game, OG dominated Secret and had a 5000 gold lead. But as soon as Phantom Assassin bought a Black King Bar and a Desolator, the battle became really challenging for OG. However, the team led by Sebastien “Ceb” Debs still managed to destroy most of Secret’s barracks before losing the game.

In game 2, OG were clearly demoralized after the defeat they suffered in game 1. Concentration was poor, errors multiplied around mid game and the game was lost.

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov tricked OG by picking a Gyrocopter and then using it for himself, as position 5 support! This was a great cheese strategy that gave him an easy win.

OG will need to rethink their approach to the new patch if they want to qualify for TI12.

Header: OG