NRG on RMR invite: "We’re going to make the most of it"
It hasn't been the easiest road for NRG as they have re-entered the Counter-Strike scene. Despite the players individually performing well, the team synergy has cost them crucial spots to international tournaments.
While the team did grind their way through a special invite to ESL Relegation in order to make the North American ESL Challenger League, the squad have struggled in several online qualifiers since the beginning of the year.
NRG finished the IEM Chengdu and BLAST Premier Spring Showdown qualifiers with disappointing placements, with one of their more heartbreaking losses coming just this week against Party Astronauts for a spot at ESL Challenger Melbourne.
The most devastating qualification failure so far in 2024 was their placing at the PGL Copenhagen Major Americas RMR North American Closed Qualifier, where the team struggled against Complexity, Nouns, and especially Rocket as they were eliminated 2-3.
However, with Rocket pulling out of the Americas RMR after multiple cheating scandals, NRG are now headed down to Monterrey, Mexico next week as they hope to make the Major.
"We are very excited and thankful for the opportunity to compete at the RMR," said NRG's General Manager Jaime Cohenca. "Falling to Rocket in the qualifier was definitely a low point for this new project, but getting a second chance to go to Monterrey is a huge boon and we’re going to make the most of it."
The team might have initially moved on from the qualification failure and were focused on the other tournaments ahead of them until they saw a glimmer of hope with Damian "EMIYA" Boulware's sudden FACEIT ban on Monday morning. Jadan "HexT" Postma responded to EMIYA's ban when he posted "NRG to RMR??????? (Please)" hours after the news broke.
Following the ban, Rocket players also admitted to using their coach and eventually withdrew from the event, paving the way for NRG.
"We're going to make the best of the short notice. I don't think a bootcamp is feasible in the timeframe we have unfortunately, but we're going to keep practicing remotely as we have been as well as try to qualify for IEM Dallas," explained Cohenca. "Hopefully we can get some good experience in tonight playing vs. Wildcard and potentially Liquid. A BO3 vs. Liquid would be some solid practice for us going into the RMR."
NRG have just under ten days to get ready for their first LAN as an organization since the 2019 StarLadder Major Berlin where they would finish fourth overall. The Canadian squad will need to be on top of their game as they will play Imperial in their opening matchup.
