NRG secures Showdown qualification
NRG have officially qualified for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown after defeating M80 in the ACE North America Masters qualifier. NRG will finally get the chance to compete in Europe since returning to Counter-Strike this year when they travel later this August for the competition.
The competition ends following a whirlwind of action, including the conclusion of ESL Challenger League Season 47 playoffs and the Thunderpick World Championship North American Closed Qualifier #2.
NRG were not expected to come away with the qualification win having stumbled several times in online qualifiers so far this year. With M80, Legacy, and other top squads focusing on Thunderpick and ECL playoffs, this was the perfect opportunity for the team to make their way through.
Damian "daps" Steele's squad stumbled out of the gate after losing to Wildcard to open up group play, but they recovered when they dismantled FLUFFY AIMERS and then beat Wildcard later that evening on the same map they lost earlier.
Party Astronauts stood in NRG's way to open up the playoffs and were favored to continue their dominant form against the salaried organization. Justin "FaNg" Coakley has been relishing in defeating his former organization as they eliminated them from both the ECL Playoffs and Thunderpick World Championship qualifiers earlier that week. NRG were able to secure victory, even when it meant secure two closely played maps that went into overtime.
Finally, M80 awaited NRG in the Grand Final where the red-hot German-American squad once again were favored in the matchup. NRG's Josh "oSee" Ohm was able to take control of the game as he helped his squad secure a 2-1 series win in a back-and-forth best-of-three.
NRG will head to Europe later this August to play in the Showdown.
NRGM80| NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
39 - 29 | +10 | 75.6 | 69.8% | 1.17 |
 Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
40 - 34 | +6 | 85.2 | 69.8% | 1.16 |
| Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
34 - 32 | +2 | 71.8 | 75.5% | 1.02 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
33 - 34 | -1 | 67.8 | 69.8% | 0.97 |
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
32 - 33 | -1 | 61.5 | 73.6% | 0.92 |
| M80 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elias 's1n' Stein |
41 - 36 | +5 | 88.3 | 64.2% | 1.11 |
| Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich |
36 - 33 | +3 | 66.4 | 71.7% | 1.07 |
 Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa |
40 - 40 | +0 | 88.1 | 60.4% | 1.05 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
24 - 36 | -12 | 59.0 | 66.0% | 0.78 |
| Ethan 'reck' Serrano |
20 - 33 | -13 | 42.9 | 67.9% | 0.68 |
