ATF fills the shoes of Miracle- in Nigma Galaxy for the upcoming DPC season. The breakout player will play alongside Dota 2 veterans and TI winners.
Popular Western European (WEU) team, Nigma Galaxy finalizes its roster with the addition of breakout prodigy, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf. The Jordanian player joins the TI-winning lineup, filling in the shoes of star player Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi.
Nigma Galaxy's complete Dota 2 roster for DPC 2022/2023 is as follows:
1.Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf
2. Syed "SumaiL" Hassan
3. Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov
4. Maroun "GH" Merhej
5. Kuro "KuroKy" Takhasomi
6. Daniel "ImmortalFaith" Moza (Coach)
The rise of ATF
ATF has been the talk of the town since his emergence in OG, known for his dominant and carry-like offlane gameplay. However, he is also known for his lack of hero versatility and his persistent playstyle - which proved that it could end up strong or counterproductive.
He was only 16 years old when OG acquired him from the Division II team, Creepwave. Alongside other new blood in the team, ATF showed an impressive performance in the WEU DPC season after season. He had a fourth-place finish in Tour 1 and immediately won his first Major at the ESL One Stockholm Major.
The team secured a direct invite to The International 11 easily, having consistently placed high and even won Major points. ATF then secured another victory with OG at the ESL One Malaysia, an event right before TI11. However, the grand event itself saw OG crumbling.
The CEO of OG, JMR Luna, explained how OG couldn't cope at TI11 in an episode of the Monkey Business Podcast. "Obviously [ATF] created the anti-carry meta, which is amazing. However, as the year goes on the meta gets nerfed, and by the time that TI11 comes around, you cannot win with the anti-carry meta," he said.
After the event, ATF and OG decided to part ways for their mutual benefit. "We felt that he was going to be better on other teams and I think he felt that he was going to be better in other teams that were willing to play more of his kind of Dota," said JMR Luna.
Big shoes to fill
Meme by OG
While rumors have been floating around for some time, Nigma Galaxy just confirmed ATF's arrival on the team. ATF (once again) has big shoes to fill. But he did so successfully last time, even outside of his comfort role. With Nigma Galaxy's lineup of high-tier veterans and TI winners around to guide the young player, ATF might just perform brilliantly.
Meanwhile, Miracle- confirmed that he is taking a long break due to health issues. The organization announced Miracle-'s break with the statement, "I'll be back!"
Miracle- also quoted the post, saying he'll continue to support his team from the sidelines. "I have decided that it's time for me to go on a break from competitive play to take care of health issues. You will be seeing more of me behind the scenes supporting and helping the team."
Fans are now eager to see this new iteration of Nigma Galaxy in action. You can see the team play in Division II of WEU in the upcoming DPC season.
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