SUPER WEEK SPLIT

We’re in the thick of the regular season in the VCT Americas League, and NRG has just a few matches remaining before the top-6 cutoff for the Playoffs takes place. Looking to maintain their spot at the top of the Alpha Group, NRG walked away from Super Week with an even 1-1 record, pushing their overall standing to 3-1 on the season. 

The Super Week Sunday opener against Leviatan for NRG proved to be the most difficult series the team has had all year, with the team falling 0-2 after a pair of challenging maps on Sunset and Bind that went the way of LEV by a 4-13 scoreline in both games. Going only 1 for 4 in pistol rounds in the series proved to be very monumental in failing to capture momentum early, falling down into a deep hole before halftime in each game, and not having enough time to dig themselves out. 

Determined to right their wrongs against MIBR just 48 hours later, NRG returned to Riot Arena on Tuesday reinvigorated and re-energized to have a statement sweep against another formidable Brazilian side. Back on his trusted Raze, Victor was the clear series MVP for NRG, racking up 40 kills in the series including 26 on Map 1 Split en-route to a 13-9 victory. On Breeze, it was the duelist play of Ethan on Yoru that topped the lobby with 19 kills, with each player on NRG sporting a positive KD/R. 

On tap is another Sunday featured showdown match up at 5 PM PT when NRG are set to take on the last season’s champions EG, in a do-or-die match for the evil org’s playoff hopes. Should be a banger!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES … YES!!!

Nothing in the RLCS comes easy, and that was certainly the case for NRG Rocket League’s journey to clinch a spot into their fourth-consecutive regional appearance in 2024. 

The team of GarrettG, Mist and Aqua sat solidly in the top-32, needing a series win to send them to Friday’s Swiss Stage on the upper side of the open qualifier bracket. But as fate would have it, another matchup against Spacestation was what stood in the way. A series of close matches saw NRG lose three-straight games by just a single goal, falling down 1-3 in the series and sending the trio to the elimination bracket. 

Another bad luck bracket draw saw NRG pitted against the very demanding Dignitas, who had to play through multiple lower bracket matchups in a surprise upset. After falling down 2-0 in the series to DIG, NRG found themselves not only needing to sweep 3 straight games, but also quickly down 2-0 in Game 3. It looked like we needed a miracle to keep our tourney hopes alive. Well, don’t let anyone tell you miracles are not possible when Captain America leads your squad! With the magical touch from GarrettG, NRG was able to claw back and push the series to a deciding Game 5. It was the heroics again from the Captain, complemented by the newcomer Aqua, that sealed the deal early into overtime, securing the golden goal and the last tickets to the regional. 

With this thrilling victory, GarrettG keeps his flawless regional appearance streak intact, going 41/41 in regional appearances since his RLCS career began back in 2016. For the team, they have made every Swiss Stage this season, one of only seven teams in NA who can claim the same. The consistency in reaching this stage has been there, and now it’s up to NRG to continue the push into the late stages of the qualifiers for the RLCS Circuit Points needed to qualify for RLCS Major 2 in London. 

Join us on NRG Mission Control: Presented by Panda Express this Friday at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET as we take on Moist Esports to open play in the fourth NA regional of the season! Tune in on the NRG Twitch Channel, or the NRG Rocket League YouTube account, as our hosts Jamesbot and Azfura take you through all the action in what is sure to be another exciting weekend of RL!