They're at it again. Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi has once again led his Dota 2 team through the gauntlet as they grabbed the top spot at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020. With this win they get a chance to be part of the upcoming DreamLeague Season 13 Leipzig Major.
Long time Dota 2 fans know that before forming Nigma, Kuroky was part of Team Liquid and lifted the Aegis during The International 2017. What made that win even more impressive was that Liquid dropped to the Lower Bracket after the opening matches of the Playoffs. The team not only worked their way to the Grand Finals, but swept Newbee 3-0 to win the championship.
So how did Nigma fare in the Bukovel Minor? In the opening matches of the Group Stage, Fighting PandaS managed to beat Nigma 2-1. However, Nigma then made short work of FURIA Esports in the Elimination Match. In the Decider Match, Nigma again played against the PandaS. Nigma got the upper hand and dropped the PandaS from the tournament. You can read more about the Group Stage here.
In the playoffs, Nigma was matched against Royal Never Give Up. The match went the distance with RNG getting the win over Nigma 2-1. This meant that Nigma was now in the Lower Bracket. The team's first hurdle was against Gambit Esports. Gambit had been showing excellent performances, but couldn't get past Geek Fam in the first round of the Playoffs. While Gambit took the first game, Nigma won the next two. Nigma's next match was versus Geek Fam and despite two long games, Nigma managed to grab the win and set off for a rematch against RNG in the Grand Finals.
Grand Finals
In the first game, Nigma went with Aliwi "w33" Omar on Huskar. This gave them the advantage early in the game. However, they couldn't find an answer to RNG's Du "Monet" Peng, who was on Drow Ranger. With Gao "Setsu" Zhenxiong on Outworld Devourer, RNG was able to get the needed damage output that Nigma couldn't handle.
For the second game, Nigma again started strong, especially with Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi on Phantom Lancer. However, RNG managed to again gain advantage and control the game. To Nigma's credit, they were able to make the most of RNG's mistakes. One of the game's highlights was five tier 5 neutral items getting dropped. One of these was the Stygian Desolator, which helped Nigma as it increased the damage potential of w33, who was on Windranger. The game lasted a whopping 80 minutes, eventually going to Nigma.
The third game wasn't as intense, as it was all Nigma. Despite Setsu being on Storm Spirit, Nigma was able to find a way to neutralize him, particularly with Miracle- on Phantom Lancer and w33 on Drow Ranger.
For the fourth game, Nigma made the decision to pick of RNG rather than go for team fights. Nigma's patience finally paid off as just before the 40-minute mark, Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi on Earthshaker managed to pull of an excellent Echo Slam, which led to Nigma wiping out RNG. Eventually Nigma tried for one final and risky push, and this payed off.
In addition to winning the Bukovel Minor, Miracle- was named the Core MVP with KuroKy awarded the Support MVP.
