NRG qualify for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown

Walco's charges have earned a trip to Europe after a win over M80 in the North American Masters.

oSee led the charge with a 1.35 tournament rating

NRG qualified for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown on Sunday after beating M80 to the Ace North American Masters title. This will be the first time that the team will get to compete in Europe after numerous failed qualification efforts since NRG returned to Counter-Strike in November 2023.

Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm was the key to the team's victory in the tournament with an average rating of 1.35, finishing second only to Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa in the event's rating leaderboard.

NRG got off on the wrong foot in the tournament, losing to Wildcard 13-8, but still managed to finish second in the group after beating FLUFFY AIMERS and taking revenge on Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz's side. In the playoffs, they squeezed past Party Astronauts in a keenly contested series before defeating M80 in the final.

Date	Matches
Ace North American Masters Fall 2024 - BLAST Premier Qualifier
06/06/2024	NRG Finished 8:13 Wildcard	Match
06/06/2024	NRG Finished 13:3 FLUFFY AIMERS	Match
06/06/2024	Wildcard Finished 10:13 NRG	Match
08/06/2024	Party Astronauts Finished 1:2 NRG	Match
09/06/2024	NRG Finished 2:1 M80	Match

The Showdown qualification is a much-needed boost for NRG, who are lingering in 67th place in the world rankings. The team made two roster changes after the Americas RMR, signing Colby "⁠Walco⁠" Walsh and Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta. The former took over as IGL from Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele, who transitioned to a coaching role.

On X, autimatic said that the team had not been able to work on its mistakes due to the packed schedule. "We're going to be using the player break to reassess and work on our game," he wrote. "Thank you for the support."

NRG are the third team to qualify for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, joining AMKAL and Zero Tenacity. The tournament will take place between August 21-25 and offer two spots at the Fall Final in Copenhagen.