He does not rule out a return to competitive play
NRG have announced the departure of Sam "s0m" Oh from their VALORANT roster. The 21-year-old player will transition to streaming and creating content but he does not rule out a competitive return just yet.
S0m has been a part of NRG since 2020 when he joined the org soon after their VALORANT entry. He has been a member of the org and recently competed for NRG at VCT Champs in Los Angeles.
I think for me personally I saw this coming. But it was also kind of my decision to kind of just step away. With a lot of stuff going on - this next year, I took a step back and decided that I am just going to stream for now. And if there comes an opportunity or I see an opportunity where I can take or I can make one, then yes, I will come back to competing. But during this OFF//SEASON I will be streaming.
A successful year for NRG and s0m
NRG esports has had a mixed year in 2023 starting off with VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paolo. The team finished a respectable 5-8th place losing to the eventual champions LOUD. In the Americas League that followed, NRG was one of the standout teams finishing 3rd in the group stage behind LOUD and Cloud9. In the playoffs, they lost to NRG, but quickly bounced back, making a lower-bracket run all the way through to the Grand Finals. NRG’s performance earned them the appreciation of the VALORANT community. However, once again, they lost to LOUD in the Grand finals. Heads held high, they were ready for their next challenge in Japan.
VCT Masters Tokyo was the team’s best performance this year with a 4th place finish and very close to the finish line. In the Tokyo playoffs, NRG lost to Paper Rex. S0m was one of the standout players of the tournament with a 209.3 ACS across 351 rounds throughout the event. With a 1.16 KDA and 135.8 Damage per round, s0m’s performance was instrumental in NRG’s top-four finish.
NRG finished 9-12th at VCT Champs losing twice to Bilibili Gaming in the group stage. The team walked away with $30,000 for their performance at the biggest VALORANT esports event of 2023.
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S0m moves to content creation
A former Counter-Strike professional player (for Gen.G esports), S0m transitioned to VALORANT soon after launch. The player has been a standout performer in North America, often catapulting NRG to the top echelons of the League. His Tokyo Masters performance brought out some really aggressive and enthusiastic gameplay by the youngster.
Thank you all. Really did appreciate it throughout the whole year. A lot of you guys have been supporting me since when I was just a streamer. [...] I really do appreciate it. I don’t know what the future holds for me.
For now, he returns to streaming and creating content. However, he has kept open the option of returning to competitive play if he gets an opportunity that suits his skills and aptitude.
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