It didn’t take the former corps of OpTic Gaming long to find a new home.
The biggest news from Roostermania 2022 so far is that Dot Esports reported on the acquisition of Yay and Zelis by Cloud9. With those two added to the roster, Cloud9 officially has a super team for VCT 2023.
Well, it appears that another partnered team from the Americas League is making big moves behind the scenes.
According to a report by Dot Esports, NRG is finalizing a deal to acquire five members of OpTic Gaming’s defunct roster. They will apparently be adding in-game leader Pujan “FNS” Mehta, Victor Wong, Austin “Crashies” Roberts and head coach Chet Singh to the outfit.
Mathematics adds up. Just yesterday, NRG head coach JoshRT announced that he is an unrestricted free agent, his contract with NRG expiring at the end of the year. Core team members Tex, Ethan, EEU and Hazed also announced that they are no restricted free agents.
— nrg s0m (@s0mcs) September 30, 2022
s0m is the last remaining member of NRG’s core, and it seems to be sticking around.
— OpTic Jimzo (@Marved6) September 30, 2022
In a recent tweet, Marved basically confirmed that these acquisition reports are accurate. He posted a meme of six characters, with only one left. Of OpTic Gaming’s former core, Marved is the only one that hasn’t found a new home yet. It’s worth noting that Marved has thrown out the idea of becoming a full-time streamer.
What does this acquisition mean for NRG?
NRG’s 2022 season was somewhat mild, with Cloud9 sending them home for good in a 2-0 sweep in the NA Last-Chance Qualifiers.
OpTic Gaming, on the other hand, were the most consistent team of the year. North America finished two second in the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Challengers, third in the Stage 2 Masters – Copenhagen, and first in the Stage 1 Masters – Reykjavik. And, of course, his second-place finish at Champs 2022. That’s quite a year.
Sure, the acquisition of NRG doesn’t include the most important former members of OpTic Gaming and the best Valorant players in the world, but they’re still getting the majority of OpTic Gaming’s core. Some may have considered NRG to be one of the weakest teams in the Americas League. Pretty sure that’s not the case now.
After the deal is finalised, NRG will have one active spot on the roster. It will be interesting to see who fills it up.
