Dota 2: Kuroky’s difficult way to the Leipzig Major

For the German record athlete, the start into the new Dota 2 season is a real bumper ride.

There is not only ridiculed for the name of his new organization, and now the vice world champions even missed the direct qualification for the Leipzig Major.

New season, new game?

After an exhausting season 2019/2020, which ended with a second-place at The International 2019, the newly crowned Vice World Champion decided to take a break. They weren’t the only top team to take a break for the first major of the new Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season. Team Secret, PSG.LGD and even World Champion OG also took a rest at the start.

Since the World Championship, however, there have been groundbreaking changes in the Dota 2 world. So not only new challengers like TnC took their chance, but there was also the biggest balance patch since 7.00 a.m., and since then there is chaos in the meta.

Nevertheless, most fans were confident that Nigma would be at the top again with the start of the Leipzig Major qualification. In the open qualifying round, it went well, without too big problems you could play your way into the main round. The teams there, however, were anything but impressed and Nigma conceded his first defeats, especially a particularly painful 0-2 bankruptcy against the new team Liquid around Max “qojqva” Bröcker.

Nigma must win the Minor

In the decisive play-off phase, Nigma finally suffered two defeats (first against Secret, then against Alliance around Adrian “Fata” Trinks) and missed the direct qualification. For Kuro Salehi “KuroKy” Takhasomi and his team, this means booking tickets to Bukovel.

In Ukraine, the Minor is about the last ticket to Leipzig. Eight teams from all over the world fight for their chance for the second major of the season and for Nigma the Minor will be anything but a walk. Royal Never Give Up from China, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fighting Pandas from North America will be Nigma’s main competitors, but also Gambit and Team Spirit from Eastern Europe should not be underestimated.

So there is still a long and rocky way to go before the home game for the best German Esportler. Especially the example of PSG.LGD should serve the superstars of Nigma as a warning. The third-placed of the world championship with Xu “fy” Lin Sen at the top failed to crack in the open qualification round and will only be able to watch in Leipzig.