NRG crashies on strong finish to VCT Americas League
- NRG end their VCT Americas League campaign with a 6-3 record in the regular season.
- NRG crashies talk about the team’s early struggles in the VCT Americas League season.
- Why is NRG good again in the VCT Americas League?
- What is next for NRG moving forward into the VCT Americas League playoffs?
It’s been a long grueling stretch of nonstop preparation and mental warfare between the 10 VCT Americas League teams in their bid for a spot at VCT Masters Tokyo. Throughout the VCT Americas League,
For NRG’s Austin “crashies” Roberts, the VCT Americas League experience has been “grueling”. From long days of intense practice to little moments to take rest, the past few months have been a battle for crashies and the rest of the NRG players because of how shaky the results had been for the team.
“It’s been a pretty grueling month. We haven’t had many off days and I can’t even recall how many we have had this month because we have just been super focused,” crashies said.
For the first weeks of the VCT Americas League, nobody could understand what was happening with NRG. After a strong VCT 2023: LOCK//IN tournament, the expectation was placed on NRG to be one of the teams guaranteed a spot not only in the VCT Americas League playoffs but at VCT Masters Tokyo.
Instead, NRG struggled as they stood at a 1-3 record at the halfway point uncertain if the top six would even be a possibility.
A simple approach to winning again
Image via Riot Games.
One of the biggest things that crashies viewed as a reason behind the team’s struggles was because of the team’s want to try new things.
“We were trying so many different stuff after LOCK//IN to unlock a new level of gameplay that could help us get better,” crashies said. “Unfortunately, we just lost a lot of really close games that hurt us pretty bad.”
The real wake-up call for the need to simplify their approach in the game was following the events of their narrow 1-2 loss to Cloud9. Crashies remembered feeling like that series was in their grasp but ultimately dropped the series because they wanted to experiment and try new things. That was when NRG’s trajectory in the VCT Americas League shifted as they shifted the approach to be more simplistic than dynamic.
“We just went to practice what we knew worked and the preparation for each week was very easy,” crashies said “Everyone just felt really comfortable and the team chemistry was flowing again and it just all felt natural.”
That simplified approach to their games has shown heavily throughout the second half of the VCT Americas League regular season. Since their 1-3 start, NRG went on a five-game winning streak to end their regular season campaign. They now enter the VCT Americas League postseason ready to make a run to Tokyo.
“We may have lost a few games in the beginning, but hopefully you stuck with us,” crashies said. “We are hoping to make you proud in playoffs and go to Tokyo.”
With “chemistry” and “team morale” at an all-time high, NRG will move forward into the VCT Americas postseason as the third-seeded team during the regular season. They will match up against whoever becomes the sixth seed in the VCT Americas League postseason.
The VCT Americas League playoffs will run from Tuesday to Sunday. The top six teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket to determine which three Americas League teams will go to VCT Masters Tokyo and qualify for VCT Champions Los Angeles.
You can watch the live streams through the VALORANT Americas Twitch and YouTube channels.
