Beating XG and BOOM is alright, but Tundra and PARIVISION? And convincingly on a BO3 format? Nigma is back!
It’s been a weird year for Nigma Galaxy, but there’s a glimpse of light after their direct jump to the Clavision Masters 2025: Snow-Ruyi upper bracket semis. The team ended the group stage with a 0-4 record, but this feat is bigger than it appears.
Nigma’s group could be seen as the group of death. They were paired against some of the strongest and most consistent teams of the season:
- Tundra Esports: Champions of the last two BLAST Slams, with a year full of top 3–4 finishes.
- PARIVISION: Arguably one of the favorites for this year’s The International. PARI has found considerable success since signing Alan "Satanic" Gallyamov.
- Xtreme Gaming: Home of the legendary Wang "Ame" Chunyu. XG are China’s flagbearers, having dominated the Asian Champions League and TI2025 qualifiers.
- BOOM Esports: The sole SEA team at the tournament. They snatched Talon’s TI slot this year, leaving names like 23savage, Mikoto, and Kuku out.
Still, it’s too soon to call Nigma Galaxy the strongest team at the Clavision Masters 2025: Snow-Ruyi. They must now advance through the double-elimination upper bracket.
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Nigma Galaxy’s road to the Clavision Masters 2025 playoffs
The team, coached by Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi, first faced BOOM Esports. One could argue the SEA squad underestimated Nigma, letting them run their signature Morphling. Ghost closed Game 1 with a 10-0-8 score, a mistake BOOM tried to fix in Game 2. But it was SumaiL’s Puck who shone next, bouncing back after a rough SF performance.
On day two, Nigma Galaxy had a tougher time beating XG. Many thought shutting down Ame would do the trick, but the Chinese squad excelled elsewhere: Xm’s offlane. Nigma adjusted by picking an unusual Lone Druid — a hero no other team had played so far, and one that’s largely forgotten. Ghost’s knowledge of the region may have helped here, exposing XG’s unpreparedness.
By day three, it was do or die. Nigma had to beat two of the world’s top teams: PARIVISION and Tundra. Against PARI, Nigma looked shaky in Game 1, but after a 60+ minute comeback in Game 2, they crushed Satanic’s squad in Game 3, a 38-6 stomp that lasted just 23 minutes, the fastest game of the tournament so far.
And, surprisingly, Tundra wasn’t even a match. Both games ended in under 30 minutes. From a draft perspective, Tundra’s approach seemed like an underestimation: they let Nigma pick all their comfort heroes. It was a hard-to-analyze series where Morphling and Puck proved to be Nigma’s strongest weapons.
Can Nigma beat Tundra again in the playoffs?
We checked three of our top-rated betting sites for Dota 2, and all of them still favor Tundra by a short margin.
Betting site Nigma winner odds Tundra winner odds | x2.13 x1.65 | x2.20 x1.65 | x2.15 x1.62 |
Meanwhile, on Reddit, fans are riding the hype train. Nobody’s entirely sure if Nigma can do it again in the playoffs, but everyone seems thrilled with the group stage run. For context, Tundra beat BB Team 2-1 to reach the upper bracket semifinals — another squad stacked with EEU talent.
Are you following Clavision Masters 2025: Snow-Ruyi or rooting for Nigma Galaxy? Either way, stay tuned with our live coverage or explore more Dota 2 news here!
