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NRG Esports is a Los Angeles based esports and content making organization that has been part of VCT's top-tier scene since the early days of the game.
Although NRG played at the highest levels consistently, the previous iterations of their roster failed to make a solid mark in Valorant's esports. So it was a little surprising to the community when their name was announced as part of the list of teams from North America that made it to the partnership model with Riot Games.
What added to this surprise was that teams like OpTic gaming had not been given a partnership slot despite winning a VCT Masters event and finishing very high in other S-tier events.
However, it was only after the OFF//SEASON roster changes in 2022 that fans of both teams and Valorant felt at peace with how the 2023 season was looking for NRG and the erstwhile OpTic squad.
This article will bring you up-to-date with all the changes to the NRG squad in the months following Champions 2022 and how things are looking for the LA-based org in the upcoming season.
NRG Esports are looking sharp and ready for VCT 2023
The NRG squad will play in the Americas League of the international split of VCT 2023. Their current squad consists of the following players and coaching staff:
- Pujan "FNS" Mehta
- Austin "crashies" Roberts
- Victor "Victor" Wong
- Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks
- Sam "s0m" Oh
- Zander "thwifo" Kim
- Chet "Chet" Singh (Head Coach)
- Benjamin "trainer" Bravo (Assisstant Coach)
- German "krueger" Yevseyev (Analyst)
Sam "s0m" Oh is the only player from the previous NRG roster who has been retained for the upcoming season. He has been part of the squad since its initial days in Valorant and has consistently contributed to the team's success. He used to play the duelist/flex role earlier but with the latest additions, he could be seen moving to a more supportive role.
New additions to the NRG squad
The new additions to the NRG squad during the OFF//SEASON make them one of the most stacked squads in the Americas League in 2023. The organization signed three out of five players from OptTic Gaming, a team that had proven its metal as the best NA squad in 2022.
NRG will be led by esports veteran FNS, under whose leadership ENVY and later OpTic gaming saw success in all international VCT events except the Masters 2 in 2021. They played in both the Champions tournaments, finishing second in 2022.
Victor and Crashies are exceptional in the roles they play.
Very few pros can enter frag as well as Victor, and only a select few players are clutch as Crashies. Their addition to the NRG squad is expected take them to new heights.
Ardiis is a master in using the Operator. The Latvian player moved to North America after playing with FunPlus Phoenix for almost a year. He was a key factor in making FPX a force to reckon with in the EMEA VCT circuits.
The ex-T1 player Thwifo is joining the squad as a sixth man, which means he will be practicing with the squad regularly and stepping in if someone from the main squad is unable to make it to an event due to unavoidable reasons.
Chet Singh makes a comeback as coach for NRG
Chet will act as the Head Coach for NRG in their Americas League run in 2023. His first big org as a Valorant coach was NRG back in 2020. He has since coached big names like TSM, Envy, and OpTic Gaming. In some ways, this move is like a homecoming for him.
The Chet-FNS combination has proven to be quite deadly in coming up with and executing a wide range of strategies that led to Envy and OpTic's sustained success over two seasons of VCT.
He will be joined by Trainer and Krueger, both of whom were part of the OpTic Gaming coaching staff, in an attempt to replicate the success they had.
The international split of VCT 2023 will kick off on February 13, 2023, with the LOCK//IN Tournament in Sao Paulo in front of a live audience. This NRG Esports squad will play their first official game on LAN at the event.
The squad is looking quite sharp in terms of composition, so it will be interesting to see how they fare against the other Riot-partnered teams in Sao Paulo.
