NRG exit RMR NA CQ after 2-0 start
NRG and their fans will ask themselves how it ended like this. The squad was in perfect position to advance after Day 1 victories over Akimbo and Elevate, but it was that best-of-threes against Nouns and Legacy that saw the squad tumble.
The North American Closed Qualifier for the upcoming 2024 Perfect World Shanghai Major Americas RMR is a brutal process. Only four teams advance out of a sixteen-team Swiss qualifier.
For NRG, the squad has been red-hot since adding Nick "nitr0" Cannella. Dust2.us picked them as favorites to make it through the qualifier alongside teams like Wildcard and Nouns. Their failure this evening represents another setback for the organization, which has found it much harder to penetrate the top-level international Counter-Strike than its previous iterations.
NRG were pushed to the brink twice in the match against Legacy. The former 2024 Copenhagen Major attendees showed their resilience on Dust2 as they overcame a 5-7 first half CT-side as they powered through to a 13-11 map victory, stealing away the Americans pick. NRG hoped to even things up on Ancient, but they wouldn't find it so easy. The Brazilians overran them on their T-side and effectively shut them down while playing defense to secure a 13-8 win and 2-0 series victory.