NRG overcame a shaky start to the series in their 2-0 elimination match-up against ZETA Divison.
ZETA Division became the fourth team to bid farewell to VCT Champions 2023 after they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of NRG. The VCT Americas League second seed will live to fight another day as they prepare for their rematch against Bilibili Gaming in the deciding match-up to determine who will qualify to the playoffs.
Heading into the series, many would have expected NRG to go through rather smoothly but ZETA ensured that they would go out on their own terms. And they would go on to do just that in their map pick of Bind. Being on the defensive end, ZETA would take a 7-5 lead into halftime with some great plays from Yuma "dep" Hashimoto with an unorthodox Neon pick.
However, NRG would not back down as Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks would be able to mitigate the bleeding with some clutch plays on his Chamber. And despite ZETA winning the pistol and subsequent round after, NRG still managed to stage a comeback and take the next five rounds in a row to put themselves up 10-9.
ZETA would steal the next two rounds to retake the lead at 11-10 before NRG brought things even once more after some great Operator play from ardiis once again. The Japanese squad would not be outdone as Koji "Laz" Ushida responded with an ace to bring ZETA to match-point. Unfortunately, they could not close out the first game as NRG responded almost immediately to send it to overtime.
NRG would go on to win the first round in OT, knowing that one more could seal game one but ZETA ensured that they could last at least two more rounds. And that was how long more it went as NRG turned on the afterburners to secure the next two rounds and take map one. And with Haven being the second map through NRG's pick, they displayed just how dominant they are with it.
After securing the pistol round, NRG went on to take three more rounds in a row to build an early lead against ZETA. But in round five, ZETA looked like they found a way back through dep once more as he got himself his second ace of the series. Sadly, that was the only round ZETA would end up winning as NRG did not let dep's flawless ace affect them.
The hometown favourites went on to win every round after ZETA's first to end the series at 13-1, the lowest scoreline at VCT Champions 2023 to date. With that win, NRG will now go on to have its rematch against Bilibili Gaming in the deciding match-up for the playoffs.
