NRG delivered one of the wildest matches at VALORANT Champions 2025, reflecting on their Abyss comeback in the post-match conference.
NRG brought full power to their opening match against one of the favorites for the Champions 2025 title. After falling behind 2-10 on Abyss against EDG, the NA team mounted an outstanding comeback to win the first map. Then, they secured a victory on the second map as well.
In the post-match press conference, the players and head coach reflected on their performance and the factors that contributed to their first tournament win.
NRG at the VALORANT Champions 2025
Both Ethan "Ethan" Arnold and Sam "s0m" Oh returned to the Champions stage after a two-year absence. Ethan was playing in EG, while s0m was in NRG. Reflecting on their previous experience in Los Angeles, NRG s0m said the team feels “prepared going into every match”. He added that “all the preparation and practice helped build strong momentum heading into Champions 2025.”
If NRG wins Champions 2025, Ethan could become the first player ever to win the tournament twice. His first title came back in 2023 with Evil Geniuses. On this list, there are seven more players.
The iconic Abyss comeback
It’s impossible to talk about NRG’s first match without mentioning their iconic comeback on Abyss. Brock "brawk" Somerhalder revealed that he had a conversation on stage with Logan "skuba" Jenkins about spacing and peeking together, though the discussion extended to the whole team.
According to brawk, “we were talking, but we weren’t listening to each other or how we wanted to play out the rounds,” which contributed to the 2-10 score. At mid-half, the team reset, refocused, and discussed grinding the rounds, committing to full buys each round to mount their comeback. When no one believed, they turned the score, took the game to overtime, and won by 17-15.
Head Coach Malkolm "bonkar" Rench described EDG as a “hard team to prepare against,” noting that they don’t have the “obvious tendencies” common in the NA scene. Despite that, the team felt confident in their strategy and execution. “A win is a win,” he concluded.
Regarding his Harbor pick at Champions 2025, NRG’s Sam "s0m" Oh shared that he feels very comfortable on the agent, even if it isn’t considered the strongest controller in the meta. “Harbor gives you a lot of creativity,” he explained. “Especially mid-round, when you get the second wall back, it’s great. I love playing like a rat and creating little corners for myself in the walls.”
Even with Icebox, an S-tier map for NRG, leaving the pool, the team believes they are more than ready for Abyss and its unique gameplay. “We try to remember how FNS called on the map and why we did certain things, set plays, ult rounds, retakes, all of those,” explained coach bonkar. “In VCT Americas, we didn’t have much time to prepare for the first matches due to the schedule, but I think we did a good job.”
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