NRG turned heads in North American LoL by qualifying to Worlds 2023 in their first split back in the LCS.
NRG’s unlikely return
Noone, and I mean absolutely noone, expected this newly formed squad to make it to the year’s biggest League of Legends event on their very first split back. NRG as an org was briefly participating in the NA LCS back in 2015-2016. After disappointing placements, the team disbanded, and their slot was re-sold.
Fast forward to April 2023, NRG purchased Counter Logic Gaming’s LCS slot and made their debut at LCS Summer. The roster consisted of:
- Dhokla (Top)
- Contractz (Jungle)
- Palafox (Mid)
- FBI (Bot)
- IgNar (Supp)
- Apollo (Sub/Bot)
The team started slow, finishing Summer season at 5th place with a 9-9 score. Not impressive, but it was enough to put NRG on the upper bracket in the LCS Championship (playoffs equivalent to other regions). Here is where they shone; the ‘newcomers’ convincingly upset Team Liquid and Golden Guardians respectively, both with a 3-1 score.
These results were enough to guarantee them top 3 in the Championship, and along with that a spot at Worlds 2023 under new format. This was made possible because Worlds 2023 will have a much smaller Play-ins, thus more teams were invited from Regionals.
Still, credit where credit’s due, NRG took down 2 big names full of veterans on their first Split together. They totally earned their spot, and who knows, maybe they’ll end up winning the entire Championship. There are still more games to go.
On that note, Cloud9 has also qualified to Worlds using the same route.