Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
It should be no real surprise, given the team’s status as the defending world champions, but NRG looked nothing short of dominant in its 2-0 win over Nongshim RedForce to kick off its Champions Shanghai campaign.
There was a lot behind the victory, like NRG picking NS’s weaker Lotus, shutting down the dynamic duo of Dambi and Francis, and solving its own Split.
After struggling to find its identity on Split to start the year, NRG moved to make the map its permanent ban. As a result, Friday’s clash with Nongshim became the first time NRG played on Split since April, during Americas Stage 1.
“We tried a bunch of things,” head coach bonkar said of the process behind fixing his team’s Split. “At the start of the year, we were playing the Deadlock comp, if you all remember. Right now, it’s just comfort picks for everyone. keiko was pushing really, really hard for it, to be honest. That’s how we landed [on the comp]. Comfort picks for everyone.”
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NRG was 2-6 on the map this year, but leaned heavily on that comfort to defeat a Nongshim team that defeated them in the Upper Final of Masters Santiago. In embracing comfort, NRG settled on a zero-Sentinel comp, with an Omen-Viper Controller pairing while keiko’s Raze paired with mada‘s Neon and brawk was on Fade.
bonkar, one of the more involved head coaches when it comes to utilizing timeouts, opened up on a timeout that he took during the match, one that took place with what appeared to be just one second left on the match clock on broadcast.
“I felt like we had the rounds, we were communicating, but we were not reacting fast enough,” he said. “We were playing with almost input delay all the time, with the communication and the decision-making.”
He went on to explain that the timeout, which was taken as Nongshim were clawing back from a 9-3 deficit, was mainly about getting his players on the same page.
He said: “If someone says something in your team for you to do, then you do it, you don’t stall it with three, four, five, six seconds.”
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Of course, a lot is on the line in this event for NRG. The team is chasing its second-straight Champions title, which would be a first for any team in VCT history, but there’s another player chasing history, too.
In-game leader Ethan is the only player to have ever lifted two Champions titles, once with NRG last year and once with Evil Geniuses in 2023. When asked if he’s thought about what the impact of a third title would mean for his legacy, Ethan managed expectations.
“It’s pretty early in the tournament so it’s hard to say, but it’s always a thought,” he said. “My expectation going into any event is to win, it doesn’t matter the event. That’s always my expectation for my teammates as well.”
mada chimed in when asked about expectations heading into the event, given that NRG’s run to the top of the Valorant world came when they were not favorites.
“After we made a roster change, at least in my head, the year reset,” mada said. “We built back from square one only with the advantage that us four had a lot of experience, including bonkar.”
In response to a question from reporter Pedro Romero, Ethan added that he’s gunning for his third, but that he’s chasing it rather than waiting for it.
As for what a third Champions trophy would do for Ethan’s legacy? We’ll have to wait and see.
“I like to keep it one step at a time, and you can ask again maybe when we get to the Grand Final,” he said.
NRG’s next opponent in the team’s quest for a second and Ethan’s third Champions title will be EMEA’s top seed, Karmine Corp, who are fresh off a dominant 2-0 win over Xi Lai Gaming. The match will take place on September 29 at 5 a.m. PST/8 a.m. EST, or 8 p.m. local time.
