Shortly after relegating from division one of the Western European Dota Circuit, Nigma Galaxy was invited to DreamLeague Season 19. Heading into the tournament, Nigma moved Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf to the inactive roster and brought back Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi, but the roster change was short-lived.
Despite re-igniting the fire buried deep inside Nigma fans’ hearts with epic plays, the superstar core player announced he’d be returning to the bench after Nigma failed to make it out of the group stage in DreamLeague Season 19.
Nigma Galaxy confirmed the surprise Dota 2 roster shuffle on Twitter on April 12 alongside a ‘thank you’ message after the veteran’s short return to play.
As the news dropped, ATF was a guest on Gorgc’s stream, where he was asked whether he had any information about whether he’d be back from the bench.
“I don’t f**king know,” ATF said, casting a shadow of mystery on Nigma’s now-empty fifth seat. When Nigma announced Miracle would be returning to his break, fans assumed ATF would return to the main roster, but it looks like Nigma might bide their time on that decision.
Nigma is currently in a rough spot as a recruiting team since they’ll need to battle through the second division to advance to division one. This means their options for a core player will be made up of players who aren’t aiming to make it to The International 2023 since the team’s chances of doing so are extremely slim.
While all was said and done, Dota 2 fans were glad to see Miracle performing close to his standards again after a long break.
Now, the wait for Nigma’s next player announcement begins.
