After a sub-par 2024, NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #3 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold have broken up one of the most iconic duos of Valorant history by bidding farewell to Victor "Victor" Wong and Head Coach Chet "Chet" Singh while welcoming back Max "Demon1" Mazanov from the bench.
A veteran in the competitive scene with a notable track record, Victor was a part of the original Envy Envy Inactive Marved Jimmy Nguyen Victor Victor Wong crashies Austin Roberts FiNESSE Pujan Mehta yay Jaccob Whiteaker core that attended eight majors over the course of three years. Their most successful year, 2022, net them a first, second, and third place finish at all three international events. Chet, having joined later in the 2021 season, assisted the team throughout their journey, providing additional structure and discipline to take the squad to new heights.
Demon1, on the other hand, was a breakout rookie who took the scene by storm in 2023 after hoisting North America's first-ever Champions trophy in front of a home crowd. He spent time in Tier 3 prior to being picked up by Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #21 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le and made two grand final appearances at both of the majors he attended. Following 2023's Champions, he would go on to sign with NRG ahead of the 2024 season.
NRG hit a roadblock after their 2023 Champions run was cut short by two convincing losses to Chinese underdogs Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #3 B3ar Yang Zhanxiong (杨瞻雄) whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) , prompting Pujan "FiNESSE" Mehta and Sam "s0m" Oh to step down from the roster to pursue streaming while Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks returned to EMEA to rejoin his teammates on Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #20 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky . Through thick and thin, the duo of Austin "crashies" Roberts and Victor was ever-reliant, allowing for a rebuild around the pair for the 2024 season.
After onboarding world champions Ethan "Ethan" Arnold and Demon1, NRG brought back another familiar face – Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen – to reunite with crashies and Victor. With a roster of five ready for the Americas Kickoff, the team looked to qualify for Masters Madrid early on, but were denied a spot after falling to Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid – the eventual international winners – in the qualifying match of playoffs.
Hoping to shake off their loss as a fluke and nothing more, NRG entered Stage 1 with Masters Shanghai in their sights. However, their results were far worse than at Kickoff, as the team failed to even qualify for playoffs, leading to more roster changes that saw the return of FNS and s0m while Demon1 was benched and Marved released.
Despite these changes, Split 2 once again yielded similar results; NRG barely missed out on playoffs, this time being denied an appearance at Champions. In preparation for next season, the organization opted to not renew Victor's contract, while releasing Chet and their analyst duo of Vladimir "vladk0r" Kornev and yeboislays , the former potentially eyeing a return to the Counter Strike scene.
Victor has stated that he is now a free agent for the upcoming season, while Chet announced that he is open to offers in franchising and challengers, as well as CS2.
Currently rebuilding, NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #3 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold are now: