TI14 Qualifiers: Nigma Galaxy survive WEU regionals

Nigma Galaxy (NGX) and their legion of fans can all breathe a collective sigh of relief now, because the team has officially survived the gauntlet known as the Western European TI14 qualifiers. After getting sent to the lower bracket by eventual first placers Na’Vi Junior very early on in the tournament, NGX rallied with the power of friendship and nostalgia to win four straight best-of-three matches while constantly under the threat of elimination.

The teams they defeated on their way to the lower bracket final include the Artem “lorenof” Melnyk-led Virtus.pro, 4Pirates, and the red-hot Yellow Submarine. Waiting for them in the match that allowed them to punch their ticket to Hamburg in September was OG, which if I’m going to be honest kind of worried me as someone that was there to see OG go through the WEU qualifiers in 2018 and proceed to win The International thereafter.

Edge of Their Seats

In fact, OG had actually tied up the series in the second game, after Indji “Shad” Lub and Daniel “Stormstormer” Schoetzau popped off as Doom and Monkey King, respectively. The two picks worked really well against the Drow Ranger and Puck core of NGX in this game, shutting them both down pretty much as direct counters to those heroes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAROUN, WE'RE FINALLY GOING TO TI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/zuOIKyFwMU

— Nigma Galaxy (@NigmaGalaxy) June 17, 2025

But in the end, even Nigma Galaxy, with all their faults and inconsistencies this season, found a way to close the series out in the third game. They turned to a lethal combination between Daniel “Ghost” Chan’s Sven and Syed “SumaiL” Hassan’s Arc Warden, with the latter directly improving the former’s game with the attack speed bonus from Magnetic Field (W). And although OG had the better of NGX in the laning phase, Ghost’s farming pace helped ensure that it didn’t matter.

Their damage output and better execution through the mid game made the difference. It also helped plenty that OG insisted on making Stormstormer play Void Spirit — a mistake similar to when they tried making Shad play the same hero from the carry position. Void Spirit may have had a nearly 60 percent win rate throughout the regional qualifiers, but when your team just doesn’t have someone that can really unlock the hero’s potential, it’s not a good idea to just force yourselves to pick it over and over.

The Drought is Over

So, with the better draft in tow, NGX sealed the deal in three games, and finally broke themselves out of a five-year curse wherein they were unable to make it to The International. Not counting 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it forced Valve to postpone TI10, they haven’t been to the world championship tournament ever since founding the organization back in late 2019.

For Kuro Salehi “KuroKy” Takhasomi, this is certainly what he has been working towards for more than half a decade now. It’s been nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak for Nigma Galaxy in every International regional qualifier since qualifiers came back in 2021, and basically everything that they tried in the years before 2025 never really stuck in that regard.

It took 5 years to make @NigmaKuroKy smile😄 pic.twitter.com/xh3HxQ47GV

— Nigma Galaxy (@NigmaGalaxy) June 17, 2025

Between frequent roster changes and seemingly being unable to figure out how to play in the modern era, KuroKy has had to deal with plenty of disappointment throughout the entirety of NGX’s existence. And although technically the organization has earned a pretty good amount in prize money finishing in the top 6 or top 8 of some tournaments before, I’m sure the TI7 champion and his teammates have their sights set on greater things.

Fortunately, the hard part is done. They’ve qualified for TI14, and given their results this year, I’d say they’re a solid dark horse at the tournament even though it’s still almost three months away. Lest we forget, this roster actually placed joint third/fourth at BLAST Slam 2, though the rest of their campaigns thereafter weren’t that great. They placed seventh at DreamLeague Season 26 with a stand-in, which was quite impressive — so they’ll have that to hang their hats on heading into TI14.

What isn’t so fortunate, though, is the fact that they lost to Virtus.pro in the Esports World Cup MESWA qualifiers in four games. Getting there could have been an additional boost to their confidence for TI14, but at least now they’re done with the TI qualifiers themselves.

Aside from KuroKy, who is technically acting as the team’s coach and drafter instead of as an active player, SumaiL and Maroun “GH” Merhej will enjoy coming back to The International after being away for so, so long. And speaking of GH, qualifying for TI on his birthday must feel extra sweet.

Performing well at the tournament will be another story and task altogether, but the experience and guidance available to this roster will certainly come in handy.