NRG eyeing strong finish to rocky VCT Americas League run
- NRG improve to 4-3 in VCT Americas League after match win against Furia Esports.
- How much pressure do NRG feel in VCT Americas League?
- When is the NRG vs LOUD VALORANT match?
- How to watch VCT Americas League?
NRG began their VCT Americas League campaign expecting to be towards the top of the VCT Americas League. And that was an expectation that many VALORANT fans were expecting out of the former OpTic core that won VCT Masters Reykjavik 2022. Instead, the team struggled to close out many maps in their control to win.
There was no denying the amount of pressure that NRG has endured throughout the VCT Americas League. However, for NRG Controller play Samuel “s0m” Oh, it’s about how you deal with that pressure
“It’s been pretty stressful,” FiNESSE truthfully stated on the VCT Americas League broadcast desk.
How Are NRG Dealing With VCT Americas League Stress?
It’s been a challenging period for NRG throughout the VCT Americas League. 2023 has seen teams compete in a different format than previous VALORANT seasons. Instead of the usual comforts of being at home during these LAN qualification matches, this year has been a month-long grind
“There’s obviously a little bit of pressure, but it’s about how you handle it, and I think we handled it pretty well,” s0m said during the Furia postgame interview. “We played pretty well and up to our standards, and if we keep it up, playoffs is in sight.”
The VCT Americas League has been a turbulent adventure for NRG. However, things finally are peeking at the right moments for NRG as they finish week 7 of the VCT Americas League with a 4-3 record tied for third. One of the most significant credits for this bounce back has been the team’s ability to “stay together” through this challenging period.
“I think the team has done a pretty good job of staying together and understanding that we need to fix our mistakes,” FiNESSE said. “(We) go into the server making sure we are correcting the right things and not overcomplicating things.”
NRG Moving Forward In VCT Americas League
NRG is in a prime position to make the VCT Americas League playoffs after today’s win against Furia. With only two matches left, the only truly scary scenario for NRG is if they lose both of their remaining two matches. For FiNESSE, the only thing on his mind is guaranteeing their spot in VCT Americas League playoffs by winning all their matches.
“We just have to win,” FiNESSE bluntly stated. “I think we have to win both matches, in my opinion so that there is no chance we don’t qualify.”
Next week, NRG will be tasked with their biggest challenge as they take on the undefeated LOUD in week 8 of the VCT Americas League. The last time both teams played each other was at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN, where LOUD won in thrilling 2-1 fashion. Now, both teams enter that series with much pride on the line.
“It’s an exciting rematch,” s0m said. “Last time we played them was at Brazil. It was a close match, and now we are looking for revenge.”
When is the NRG vs LOUD VALORANT match?
The NRG vs LOUD VALORANT match will occur on May 14 at 3pm PT as NRG looks to hand LOUD their first loss of the VCT Americas League. While FiNESSE revealed that it would be a tough series, it is one that he and NRG are ready for.
“It’s going to be tough. It always is with them, but there is no sense of intimidation because we have played them for so long,” FiNESSE said. “Both teams respect each other, and I think it will be a good game.”
You can watch the live streams through the VALORANT Americas Twitch and YouTube channels.
Sage got his start in esports as a volunteer writer in 2016 for esports organization, Dignitas. Since then, he has continued to work on his craft as a journalist and reporter for a number of established esports publications, such as esports.gg, Unikrn, Akshon Esports, Howla, The Player’s Lobby, Nerd Street Gamers, and most recently Dot Esports. Now, as a member of Esports Illustrated’s content team, Sage’s primary duties are centered around creating groundbreaking written and video content about the esports industry that impacts the community in a meaningful way. Sage graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Informatics. There, he was a member of the Rutgers Esports Executive Board, both as the head of the fighting game community and a videographer/photographer for the Content team.