The life and times of Miracle – Part 2

Miracle ti winner — Miracle- won every big Dota 2 event. (Image credit: TheGameHous)

If for some reason you missed out on Part 1 of our tale in the life and times of Amir “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi, you should know that it was mostly focused on his personal life and early career. In this second part, we will switch our focus towards his personal achievements and trophies he won so far in his Dota 2 career.

Personal and team achievements

Many professional Dota 2 athletes reach their peak by the time they are 25+ years old. This was not the case with Amir. He dominated everyone at the very young age of 19.

Due to his incredible mechanical skill, Miracle- did not have to adapt to a professional level of Dota 2 because the ranked matches he played were quite competitive.

Amir has been involved in the professional Dota 2 circuit ever since 2015. It all started with Balkan Bears. Despite this being his first ever professional team, Miracle- did not stick there for long. It is important to mention that he had never even played an official game with this team.

Time with Monkey Business and OG

Amir’s career started once Johan "N0tail" Sundstein came calling. Firstly, he joined Monkey Business where he played alongside some of the Dota 2 veterans. This lasted for 3 months before OG decided to sign the entire roster.

READ MORE: The story of OG – Part 1

Truth be told, everyone expected a lot from OG as they were by far the most technically skilled Dota 2 team at the time. The first Dota 2 Major was on the horizon and Miracle- rose to the occasion.

The Dota 2 Frankfurt Major was filled with surprises. However, Amir stood out with his plays on Shadow Fiend. No one had a response to his plays. Eventually, teams decided to ban this hero after being 1v5’ed by the fiend that was Miracle-.

Following OG's Frankfurt Major win, the team won various other events. The ones that stand out are DreamHack Master League Season 5 and ESL Frankfurt 2016. On top of that, Miracle- and co. won another Major title, the Manila Major.

After a series of good results, it was time for OG to prove their worth against the best Dota 2 teams world has to offer. Judging by the bookmakers, OG were the biggest favorites to go all the way and lift the Aegis at the International.

However, the first problems appeared in the playoffs. The group stage went smoothly for OG and it seemed like they would continue their run. However, MVP Phoenix and TNC Predator had other plans as they sent OG packing.

Miracle- joins Team Liquid

After exiting The International 2016 early, Amir decided it was time for a change. Team Liquid were very interested in his services and he signed a long-term contract with them.

Truth be told, it was a shaky start for Liquid as they failed to qualify for the Dota 2 Boston Major. After a small roster change, however, they found their rhythm and they looked really good.

Victories at StarSeries Season 3, EPICENTER, StarLadder i-League Invitational #2 and DreamLeague Season 7 ranked Liquid very high on the list of best Dota 2 teams.

The International 2017 was ever so close and once again, Miracle-’s team was considered as the biggest favorite to go all the way and win TI 7. After a commanding performance throughout the entire group stage, Team Liquid grabbed a spot in the upper bracket.

However, they did not show up in their first playoffs match and they were sent to the lower bracket after a narrow defeat to Invictus Gaming. Victories of Secret, Team Empire, Virtus.pro, LGD Gaming and LGD Forever Young booked them a spot in the grand final of TI7.

This time around, they did not make a single mistake as they stomped Newbee with a 3-0 scoreline.

Looking for new challenges with Nigma

After a three-year spell with Team Liquid, Miracle- had won everything he could have dreamed about. This is why his teammates and Amir himself left Team Liquid to form their own Dota 2 team called Nigma.

“While parting with friends is always a sadness, I am genuinely happy our players and the new adventure they are about to take. It isn’t every day that world class players take the leap to become team owners,” - Team Liquid Owner

So far, these are all the events Miracle- has won with Nigma. Keep in mind that the amount of Dota 2 events played is short because of the COVID-19 situation.