After more than four years, NRG Esports is finally rejoining the Counter-Strike Esports scene!
NRG Esports made a shocking departure from the Counter-Strike scene back in 2019. After beginning their foray into Counter-Strike in 2016, NRG had a rough start in their debut year. But from 2017 through 2019, NRG was a consistently strong-performing organization, with plenty of 1st place finishes at major tournaments, such as Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Shanghai and Beyond The Summit’s cs_summit 3.
Their final season ended with a total victory over Sharks Esports at the Esports Championship Series Season 8 – North America: Series 1. One week later, NRG announced their departure from Counter-Strike, selling Evil Geniuses the remainder of their Counter-Strike roster.
According to NRG Esports co-CEO Andy Miller, the CS:GO model at the time was not practical enough for NRG to continue. He cited the priciness of maintaining a CS:GO team in North America, stating that a top NA team could set back an organization 2 million dollars a year. Even in 2023, that’s a pretty penny for a singular roster, and Esports has always wrestled with profitability issues over the years. So, despite the potential of the NRG CS:GO team, their time in Counter-Strike was over.
But it’s been four years, and much has changed in Counter-Strike. A more robust competitive scene, impressive viewership records, and, of course, the sunsetting of competitive CS:GO after a long career.
2024 will be the year of Counter-Strike 2, and NRG Esports is right on time.
NRG is Back After 4 Years
NRG Esports is officially back in Counter-Strike and energized for the upcoming debut competitive season. NRG isn’t just returning to a new scene, but a new game in Counter-Strike 2. And they’ve brought back an old friend to help them.
Counter-Strike veteran daps, who served as a member of NRG Esports during their first Counter-Strike run, is back as the organization’s in-game leader. Joining him on NRG’s Counter-Strike 2 roster are oSee, Brehze, HexT, and FaNg.
Brehze, like daps, is an OG NRG Esports member who competed on the original CS:GO roster. Since NRG’s departure from Counter-Strike, Brehze stuck it out with Evil Geniuses for several years. HexT is also formerly of Evil Geniuses, having played with them alongside Brehze since 2022. FaNg has spent the past two years with Complexity Gaming, and oSee was a 2-year pro for Team Liquid.
After his release from Evil Geniuses in 2022, daps was orgless for several months before joining Team Liquid as a coach, where he stayed until leaving the organization last week.
NRG Make Their Re-Debut January 2024
NRG Esports has gathered a strong Counter-Strike roster, but they will have their work cut out for them.
There’s tough competition, like FaZe Clan, who won the first big Counter-Strike 2 LAN, IEM Sydney, last month, and Team Vitality, winners of the final CS:GO Major, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023.
Will NRG Esports make a triumphant re-debut in Counter-Strike Esports? We’ll find out at IEM Katowice 2024, beginning January 31, 2024.
