Western European Dota 2 stalwarts Nigma Galaxy announced on Saturday (7 April) that they have moved Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf to their inactive roster as Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi makes a temporary return to the team as a stand-in for DreamLeague Season 19.
This roster change comes after another disappointing showing for Nigma Galaxy in the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.
After missing out on the Lima Major during the Winter Tour, Nigma Galaxy were relegated to Division II in the recently-concluded Spring Tour regional league for Western Europe.
The team finished with a 2-5 record alongside Entity and Monaspa, though Entity were able to remain in Division I after beating both Monaspa and Nigma Galaxy in tiebreakers that resulted in the latter two’s relegation.
Nigma Galaxy said ATF will remain on their inactive roster “for the time being” and did not state whether the move was made to facilitate the player’s departure from the team.
ATF was one of the biggest rising stars of the 2021-2022 DPC season as the offlaner for OG’s new young squad, helping the team win the ESL One Stockholm Major and finish in the Top 8 at The International 11 (TI11) last October.
ATF then left OG during the offseason last November before joining Nigma Galaxy to replace Miracle, who took a break from competitive play due to health issues.
With Miracle temporarily returning to Nigma Galaxy for DreamLeague Season 19, they will be looking to bounce back from what has been a disappointing DPC season. While the event is outside of the DPC, it does feature 16 of the best teams in the circuit fighting for a US$1 million prize pool.
Nigma Galaxy was notably absent from the initial list of participating teams in DreamLeague Season 19 and only joined to replace Chinese team PSG.LGD, who could not attend due to visa issues. DreamLeague Season 19 will take place from 9 to 23 April.
Nigma Galaxy roster:
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Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi (stand-in)
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Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan
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Ivan “MinD_ControL” Ivanov
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Maroun “GH” Merhej
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Kuro “Kuroky” Salehi Takhasomi
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Park “March” Tae-won (coach)
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Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf (inactive)
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