Too easy for NRG at Worlds 2023.
In another el classico between NA and EU that involved NRG and G2 Esports, it was the LCS Summer Split champions that took the all important victory to earn a spot in the Knockout Stage of Worlds 2023. It also makes NRG the only LCS team to qualify for the main stage with both Team Liquid and Cloud9 already eliminated from the competition. G2 will still have one more best-of-three series to get through to determine if they will meet NRG in the next phase.
This was NRG's third match against Western opposition and the second LEC team they eliminated with MAD Lions being the first. While G2 are a different level of competition, NRG made it look effortless in the first game as they kept the 11-time LEC regional champions at bay for the majority of the game.
- Check the results:
vs
G2 EsportsG2 was left to just three kills the entire game with Rasmus “Caps” Winther being at the end of it all. But on the blue side, NRG had total control from start to finish and didn't allow G2 any time or space to get back into the game. The number one seed from the LCS found its form early on and never looked back, which culminated in a clean team wipe for NRG with Niship “Dhokla” Doshi doing a lot of the work on K'Sante.
He was one of three NRG players who ended the first game with perfect KDAs alongside Juan “Contractz” Garcia, who had the most kills of the team with eight on Vi. Dong-Geun “IgNar” Lee was another with his Tahm Kench, who got a team-high 15 assists to go with a sole kill. While the first game ended up as a rout for NRG, G2 came back fighting in the second match but they still stood no chance.
NRG was able to keep G2 at arm's length for most of the second match as well, which goes to show just how well they managed to out-draft the best of the LEC. G2 managed just seven kills in game two, which wile more than the first, was not a significant enough improvement. While they did get two rift heralds to aid in turret pushing, it did not go far as NRG was always able to fend them off. And it was Contractz once again who ended up being one of the main damage dealers and initiators with his plays on Jarvan IV.
However, it was Cristian “Palafox” Palafox that became one of the team's go-to specialists in team fights as his Taliyah was able to get involved in multiple skirmishes, which would eventually go NRG's way. Victor “FBI” Huang's Sivir was also a thorn in G2's side as he ended the series in style with a quadra kill.
That win will now put NRG in a good position for the Knockout Stage while G2 will have to play one more best-of-three series to determine their fates at Worlds 2023. And who better for G2 to face up against than Bilibili Gaming, the second LPL team they will be facing in the Swiss Stage.
