NRG, one of the very first organizations to show interest in Apex Legends, returned to the North American competitive league today after leaving the scene completely for over half a year, picking up one of the hottest free agent rosters leading up to the Split Two regular season.
The official NRG X (formerly Twitter) account announced the new roster on May 30, made up of Brandon “oh Nocturnal” Singer, Ryan “Reptar” Boyd, and Brandon “FunFPS” Groombridge, alongside coach Haris “hodsic” Hodzic. Nocturnal, Fun, and hodsic were all part of the recently dropped XSET roster which failed to make the Split One Playoffs. Additionally, analyst Sovereign joins as the newest member of the organization.
Although XSET slumped in the recent Split One results, the team’s core is a well-respected duo in North America, with notable accolades including Nocturnal and Fun’s 2023 Split Two NA Pro League title, and their streak of five consecutive LAN event qualifications beginning in 2022.
NRG’s last roster found success throughout the 2023 season, placing second in the Split One Playoffs, 11th in the Split Two Playoffs, and 15th in the Championship, but the organization would ultimately part ways with their entire Apex Legends division on Sept. 23, 2023, releasing the competitive team and all content creators.
NRG Jaime, chief gaming officer for the org, further elaborated on NRG’s decision to leave Apex, bringing up a lack of support between participating Pro League teams and EA, a consistent problem that caused multiple orgs across all global leagues to exit the competitive scene.
Respawn and EA would finally listen to the orgs’ plea for support with the announcement of Year Four partnered teams, bringing a financial stipend for all partners alongside media training, expanded team booths, and the ability to host official community licensed tournaments, a decision which satisfied multiple organizations that previously left Apex in the past to return, such as Cloud9 and Spacestation Gaming.
Additionally, the upcoming Esports World Cup has also incentivized orgs to pick up current free agents or rosters, boasting a two million dollar prize pool for Apex, the same amount featured in all past Championships. Ex-SET, as the now-NRG roster called themselves, participated in the NA qualifiers for the event on May 25, taking first place and securing a spot at the LAN event before being acquired by NRG five days later.
The new NRG roster will make their Split Two debut on June 1 where they will face off against Group B with the new POI draft system rule set. NRG will also appear in the Riyadh LAN at the Esports World Cup, taking place from July 31 to August 4.
