NRG win the Knights Carnage Cup in style

NRG have put on a dominant performance to take the fourth edition of the Knights Carnage Cup. The team had victory all but secured at the half way point, but continued to show up across all 12 games to take the top prize handily.

The victory was the conclusion to an event that saw 20 teams battle across 2 days for a $10,000 prize pool—Six games were played each day, with the games split between Storm Point and Worlds Edge.

This is by far the best NRG performance since the arrival of Gilderson from Team Liquid. The 18-year-old controller player is providing NRG with a new performance outlet and they shined all weekend with a new approach to the game.

The addition of a true fragger has enabled NRG to move away from Gibraltar and towards a more aggressive edge playstyle which is clearly paying dividends. Yet, with an IGL as assured as Sweet, NRG avoid the trap of taking one too many fights on edge—they were able to make the end games incredibly consistently. However, they did get a fair share of fortunate zones. But, this isn't necessarily a benefit when they want to play in such an aggressive way.

While this event was taken over two days, NRG were essentially the winners at the half way mark. They had a commanding 38-point lead after a truly inspirational run of games on Storm Point.

Across Saturday's three Storm Point games NRG laid down a huge 36 kills, picking up a second place and two consecutive victories. In total, just these three games earned them 69 points. They could've finished 7th from these games alone ignoring the nine other games they played.

This shows the new ceiling that NRG have found with Gilderson. Even when playing for zone and rotating fast NRG could put down big totals. But simply, if you can find consistency on edge you can rack up huge games. Furia showed this at the ALGS Championship.

Speaking briefly to esports.gg after the match, Sweet was candid about what has taken NRG to the next level.

"Aim Assist. NRG needed Aim Assist."

Frankly, it's hard to argue with this assessment. The current aggressive Seer led meta is perfect for controller players.

Elsewhere, it took a tiebreaker to separate SSG and Team Liquid. Both teams secured 108 points. But, Team Liquid snuck 2nd place away from SpaceStation thanks to having the highest scoring individual game.

Team Liquid nearly lost second place thanks to former teammate Gilderson. NRG folded Team Liquid over as they tried to end their tournament on a win - however they just lost out to SSG who did just enough to force the tiebreaker.

Fuse was brought to the party this weekend by Liquid, and they made effective use of him - they like NRG have adjusted to a more aggressive edge style. Using Fuse and Maggie is about as aggressive as Apex Legends can get.

SSG have refused to adopt Seer. Instead of moving towards an aggressive edge playstyle NRG and others, they have continued to play for zone. Using Newcastle and Wattson on Worlds Edge, SSG regularly made end games and put down consistent placement points.

They aren't running up huge kill totals frequently, but are instead placing within the top 3 in half the games.

Dropped in particular is an excellent zone player—his ability to generate free kills with a Charge Rifle or a 30-30 repeater added countless point's onto the SSG total. The talented Gibraltar player is adapting to Newcastle well, and even broke out some Bangalore on Storm Point. This is SSG's best result for some time, and they'll hope that they've cracked a legend composition that suits them.

Full standings on Liquipedia.

Once again Valkyrie was a near 100% pick rate, despite her Season 14 changes. There was much speculation about how her pick rate would change - she was a near 100% pick at the ALGS LAN in Raleigh. However, it seems even significant nerf's won't move her out of the meta. She was incredibly popular across both maps, and seems set to stay as a core legend moving forward. This trend has been repeated in other regions as well.

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