NRG defy the odds and crush G2 to secure Worlds 2023 Quarterfinals
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesMany expected G2 to be the best team in the West, with them being touted as the sole hope for Western teams to make a run at Worlds 2023. However, NRG took them down in a decisive 2-0 win that showed that maybe there’s hope for NA after all.
NRG’s run at the LCS Finals was an unexpected one. The team’s first split in the LCS resulted in them winning it all over Cloud9, a team that had beaten them just a short time before that.
That said, their victory has seemed a hollow one when talking in terms of strength internationally. Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Golden Guardians all went out with a whimper, bringing into question just how much better NRG could be if their competition fell so quickly.
However, they’d take all those pre-conceived notions and toss them in the trash with a decisive 2-0 win over G2. It’s be one thing if NRG won 2-1, but it’s another thing entirely considering that G2 wasn’t even close to winning either match.
NRG obliterate G2 in decisive Worlds 2023 win
North American teams have gotten a lot of heat over the past few years based on their international performances, and rightfully so. It’s been a while since any NA team looked like they had a shot at winning Worlds.
The way things ended for the other three NA representatives has earned the region the ire of even those who live there, with many bringing into question how bright the future of the region can be if this is how the best teams perform internationally.
And, while NRG hasn’t exactly had the hardest path to Quarterfinals and it’s not like the beat JDG to qualify, it’s impossible to deny that NRG is here to play and defy expectations.
NRG’s first response to winning was sending some heat right back to G2 after the LEC team thought NRG would be their easiest foe to beat.
However, thanks in large part to Contractz playing incredibly well in both matches and the rest of the team being on the same page as the series MVP jungler, NRG made it look easy.
That said, G2 isn’t out of the running just yet. They’ll have to take down an Eastern team if they want a shot at making it to the Quarterfinals, however, and this loss has made it a lot harder for them to qualify.
With momentum in their favor, who knows how far NRG will go?