NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #3 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold has defeated Made in Thailand Made in Thailand Asia-Pacific Rank #2 Kadoom Kantapong Kingthong Killua Tanate Teerasawad cgrs Patiphan Porsi Laz Kittikawin Jirawatkakan seph1roth Chinnakrit Phoojaroen 2-1 in the first semifinal of the SOOP Valorant League. NRG will next play against either DRX or Gen.G in the grand final, their second grand final this off-season. MiTH has been eliminated from the tournament, going out in the top four after taking wins against Sentinels and Talon Esports.

The match began on Haven, with Verno cleaning up the pistol and anti-eco rounds to open the map. Three separate 4Ks followed, with MiTH getting on the board thanks to cgrs and Laz , while Verno remained on the killfeed to grant his team a tie at 3-3. He continued being key to his team's success, setting up a post-plant that returned NRG to the lead. MiTH's retakes put them up 5-4, but NRG quickly equalized following a timeout. The half remained close, ending with a tied score ahead of the break.

A quick pistol round went MiTH's way, and they were able to win a 3v5 to slow the back-and-forth down and remain in the lead. The North American squad's economy forced them onto a semi-eco and a pair of half-buys, letting MiTH reach match point despite NRG closing the score gap. A tactical pause from MiTH led to a comfortable final round, ending the map 13-10 and marking MiTH's fifth map win against a VCT partnership team in this tournament.

MiTH opened their map pick, Pearl, with a pistol round win. A close bonus round went NRG's way, but Kadoom extended his team's lead with a collateral Operator kill. NRG continued testing A after a timeout, closing the gap and leading to MiTH's own pause after an eco round. Undeterred, Kadoom and Killua helped put MiTH back in the lead, ending the half 7-5.

NRG averted a potential disaster with a pistol win, seemingly more comfortable on the defense. They took the lead in the bonus round, and MiTH's low economy helped NRG set the score 9-7 and force a timeout from their opponents. mada opened the following round to help his team reach double digits, but cgrs countered by stopping a nearly-successful NRG retake. His efforts were not enough, however, as a Verno 3K forced MiTH into an eco-round. NRG reached match point, but was denied twice by their opponents. In the end, Ethan and FiNESSE led a retake to convert a 3v3, ending the map 13-10 and sending the series to a decider.

Heading into the decider, Ascent, NRG was unstoppable. The NA team took the pistol after a retake, and was able to confirm a close bonus round by denying info to MiTH's remaining players. A flawless anti-eco prompted MiTH's first timeout of the decider, which in turn helped the Thai lineup win their first point.

NRG remained confident, however, winning the next three rounds and forcing out MiTH's second pause at 7-1. MiTH was unable to find a gap in the defense until round 11, with cgrs and Kadoom shutting down NRG's retake attempt. NRG recovered quickly once again, as Ethan held an advanced position to catch MiTH's A push off-guard. MiTH kept their hopes up in the second half with a pistol win, but NRG punished an over-eager defense to take the bonus. Another patient attack put NRG at match point, and Ethan helped seal the decider 13-5 with a triple kill.

Ethan was optimistic about his team's performance. “[It was a] slow start, but everyone's playing really well,” he said after the series. “The comms were good. “

“Everyone is getting used to each other,” he added. “We're getting to know what everyone likes to do. We're meshing pretty well.”

He also commented on the grand final matchup. “We're excited to play a Korean team. DRX is a little more flashy, Gen.G is really good.”