The penultimate day of the second group stage of DreamLeague Season 26 just concluded, with two popular teams now eliminated from the playoff picture entirely.
Team Liquid and Nigma Galaxy, two squads that came out of the first group stage with different expectations, are both now out of contention for the playoffs and the title itself.
Team Liquid — GG, Go Next
This was certainly not the goal for a roster as successful and talented as that of Team Liquid, but not having Michael “miCKe” Vu with them for this tournament visibly hurt their chances at making the playoffs. Hell, surviving the first group stage alone was already a huge ask for them at DreamLeague Season 26, especially after losing their best player and having to take on a substitute at the last minute in the form of Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey.
It’s honestly amazing to me that they even won a series in group stage 2, given how poorly they were drafting and executing said poor drafts. Continuing to pick Luna for V-Tune over and over despite going 0-7 with the hero just wasn’t it. I get going for a comfort pick as much as the next guy, but when it just isn’t working out, maybe it’s time to just give up on the idea before it’s too late.
V-Tune being here in miCKe’s place and him trying to make Luna work weren’t the only reasons Liquid struggled so hard at DreamLeague relative to their success this season, though. Michał “Nisha” Jankowski didn’t exactly have his best outing here either, and his usual impact was sorely missing from Liquid’s play.
Unfortunately, this means that their placement on my power rankings prior to the start of the tournament was way, way off — but in my defense, I wrote that article before Liquid announced that miCKe wouldn’t be joining them. Had I known this beforehand, I probably would have placed them in eighth, at best.
It’s not the end of the world that they go out here without getting to play in the bracket stage, though. As I said, they had to work with a stand-in, and their best player and shotcaller wasn’t in attendance. Liquid will likely come back stronger for PGL Wallachia Season 5, especially when miCKe comes back.
Nigma Galaxy — Same Old, Same Old
It’s like clockwork for Nigma Galaxy at this point: give their passionate fans some hope with an unexpected run in the group stage of any tournament they participate in, then gradually come back down to earth when the stakes are higher and they have to face actually good and consistent teams.
I’ll cut them some slack, same as Liquid, of course. They’ve likewise had to play with a stand-in for this tournament, that being Daniyal “yamich” Lazebnyy in place of Omar “OmaR” Moughrabi — but considering that yamich is a straight upgrade over OmaR, maybe I’m not so willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after all. In fact, yamich was about half the reason they even placed so well in the first group stage, so on second thought, they don’t really have as big an excuse as Liquid.
Unfortunately we get eliminated from DreamLeague Season 26.
GG @parivisiongg pic.twitter.com/lPwUkCXiKu
— Nigma Galaxy (@NigmaGalaxy) May 28, 2025
And so, after four separate best-of-three matches in a row in group stage 2, they find themselves with another disappointing result. Fortunately for them, they’ve still got something to play for tomorrow: an Esports World Cup (EWC) spot. If, and this is a big if, they beat Aurora Gaming on the final day of group stage 2, they’ll earn enough ESL Pro Tour (EPT) points to make it into the EWC tournament.
Of course, this is much easier said than done. Aurora have been on the rise as of late, with the roster hitting their stride over the last two major tournaments. Although they’re still somewhat prone to making hasty decisions in clutch situations, such as when they tried to just end the game against Gaimin Gladiators in their match last Sunday, this squad is steadily becoming more and more dangerous as we get closer to The International.
Nigma guaranteeing themselves a spot at EWC would be a nice consolation prize, but it’s going to take an effort and a half for them to get past Aurora. If it’s any comfort to NGX, at least Aurora are only 8-8 in maps this group stage, so maybe there’s a chance for them if they really lock in. NGX tend to outplay themselves a lot, but if they can focus their energy and concentration on just getting to EWC, perhaps something good might still happen for them at DreamLeague.
