Natus Vincere and BOOM Esports join Team Nemesis as the first three teams to be eliminated from the tournament.

Two more Dota 2 teams have fallen in the battle for this year's Aegis of Champions. Natus Vincere (NAVI) and BOOM Esports have been knocked out of The International (TI) 2025 after losing to Nigma Galaxy and Wildcard, respectively, in the Group Stage's Round 5 elimination matches on Saturday (6 September).

NAVI and BOOM Esports join Team Nemesis, who were knocked out in Day 4 after failing to secure a single match victory in four attempts, as the three teams to get eliminated from TI 2025 in the Group Stage. With BOOM and Nemesis eliminated, Southeast Asia is also the first region to fall in this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament.

NAVI found themselves in the Round 4 elimination match despite a solid start in the tournament. In the opening day of the Group Stage, they were defeated by Team Tidebound in Round 1 but bounced back in Round 2 with a sweep over HEROIC. However, NAVI then suffered back-to-back losses to BetBoom Team and Tundra Esports in day two, forcing them to fight for their tournament lives in the final round of the Group Stage.

Meanwhile, BOOM fared even worse as they lost their first three matches against defending champions Team Liquid, BetBoom, and HEROIC to get pit in the Group Stage's first elimination match against Nemesis. BOOM knocked out their fellow Southeast Asian team to avoid becoming the first team to get eliminated, but needed to win one more match in Round 5 to stay in the tournament.

NAVI fall after getting reverse-swept by Nigma Galaxy

NAVI's opponent in their Round 5 elimination match was Nigma Galaxy, a team they notably defeated in TI 2025's Western European regional qualifier. While Nigma Galaxy have looked promising in the Group Stage, having upset BetBoom and taken Liquid to three games in the first two rounds, NAVI were still favoured in this matchup due to their previous encounter.

Game one went as many expected, with NAVI weathering Nigma Galaxy's mid game push to take the series opener in 52 minutes behind Taras “gotthejuice” Linnikov's carry Templar Assassin and Artem “Niku” Bachkur's mid Monkey King. Gotthejuice paced his team's 21-17 kill lead with nine kills and eight assists on two deaths while Niku had eight kills and 11 assists against four deaths.

Nigma Galaxy were quick to strike back in game two, stomping NAVI in 35 minutes behind Daniel Chan “Ghost” Kok Hong's Lone Druid and Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan's Invoker. Having already proven the strength of their Lone Druid pick against BetBoom, Nigma Galaxy demolished NAVI in both teamfights and sieges behind Ghost's unstoppable Spirit Bear that was also being empowered by Alacrity from SumaiL's Invoker. Nigma Galaxy forced the series to a deciding game three with a 29-10 kill lead fueled by SumaiL's 10 kills and 11 assists on just one death.

Nigma Galaxy carried their momentum from game two into game three, where they once again stomped NAVI, this time in just 30 minutes of action. Ghost led the way for his team with a perfect nine-kill, five-assist performance to knock NAVI out of TI 2025 in dominant fashion.

BOOM throw away chance to stay in TI 2025 versus Wildcard

The second elimination match in Round 5 saw another reverse sweep, as Wildcard emerged victorious over BOOM thanks in large part to crucial mistakes from the latter in the closing moments of the series.

BOOM started the series strong by stomping Wildcard to the tune of a lopsided 23-4 kill lead in a 28-minute game one. Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong on Templar Assassin and Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios on Void Spirit led the way by notching eight kills apiece and a combined 17 assists, with JaCkky suffering just one death.

Game two then saw Wildcard strike back with a one-sided win of their own, though BOOM did manage to draw things out to 58 minutes before calling GG. Luke “YamSun” Wang on Sven spearheaded Wildcard's comeback in the series with 20 kills and 18 assists on five deaths out of his team's final 46-15 kill score. Francis “RCY” Fundemera on Storm Spirit also added 12 kills and 25 assists on two deaths.

The series decider then looked to be another dominant showing from Wildcard, as their ‘global’ draft headlined by RCY's Void Spirit, Victor “Fayde” Zuev's Dawnbreaker, and Paul “Speeed” Bocchicchio's position 5 Zeus repeatedly scored kills all across the map to shut down BOOM. Wildcard notably racked up 14 kills before BOOM could score their first takedown over 18 minutes in. 

However, a phenomenal showing from Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong on Doom allowed BOOM to slowly claw their way back into the game. The Southeast Asian squad finally got into a winning position at the 58-minute mark, when Jabz managed to steal the Aegis of the Immortal from right under Wildcard's noses. Unfortunately, the rest of BOOM squandered the opportunity handed to them by Jabz in an ill-fated push on Wildcard's top lane barracks just a minute later.

With Yamsun's Troll Warlord still dead, but with buyback, from the previous teamfight, JaCkky on Sven and Armel on Timbersaw dived into Wildcard's Tier 3 tower in a questionable attempt at picking off Speeed. They were then caught unawares by Danilo “Bignum-” Shehovstov's Disruptor, whose Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded Static Storm quickly turned the tables. BOOM, seemingly tilted by that unforced error, barely put up a fight as Wildcard promptly knocked them out.  

Having survived the Group Stage at the expense of NAVI and BOOM, Nigma Galaxy and Wildcard now advance to TI 2025's Elimination Stage for the chance to be among the eight teams qualified for the Playoffs. Nigma Galaxy will take on Aurora Gaming while Wildcard will face PARIVISION.

For more information on the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year, check out GosuGamers' guide to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament and TI 2025 tournament tracker.

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