It took them until their final Super Week match—and off the back of some devastating early split losses—but NRG Esports has their first win in the LCS Summer Split following a dominating June 16 victory over 100 Thieves.
All eyes were on NRG this week in their return to top-flight League of Legends in North America, but early signs were worrying after a kill-less 25-minute loss at the hands of Evil Geniuses on LCS opening day.
The squad improved and led against Immortals on day two but squandered their lead late into the contest, going down in 42 minutes. A loss to 100 Thieves would mean an 0-3 start to the season but behind Victor “FBI” Huang’s Aphelios, NRG rebounded in stunning fashion.
The win sees NRG claim its first win in the LCS since its departure from the league in 2016.
Related: 2023 LCS Summer Split: Scores, standings, and schedule
While 100T secured the seemingly inevitable Zeri-Yuumi combo, and despite a strong start from Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, a teamfight loss into a Baron take for NRG saw the Thieves behind by 5,000 gold early.
The gap was most certainly wider, however, with the bulk of 100T’s gold sitting with Doublelift, and given losses across the map it would take quite a teamfight win for 100T to recover. All NRG had to do was find the Zeri pick and an opportunity arose in the 27th minute.
An early Stopwatch from 100T jungler Can “Closer” Çelik gave NRG a window to strike and they capitalized, ensuring they kept their distance from Doublelift while systematically dismantling each member of 100T. A combination of heavy ranged damage from FBI’s Aphelios (with assistance from Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun’s Milio) and melee brutality from Niship “Dhokla” Doshi’s K’Sante saw NRG flawlessly take the teamfight.
Doublelift and Busio made an escape up the river but it was to no avail. With the Zeri kill confirmed and the ace locked in, NRG took Baron and eventually the win six minutes later. While jokes were thrown out about a potential choke after their loss to Immortal, their victory was more than secure.
It’s a solid bounce-back for the squad but particularly for FBI, who has been criticized heavily over his past few splits at 100T and EG. His five-kill, 12-assist performance against his former team today may put his critics to bed for the time being, but he and the squad will be put to the test in their first matchup next week against the high-flying Team Liquid.
Related: FBI one of four to exit Evil Geniuses as squad cleans house following disappointing LCS Spring Split
100 Thieves will be licking their wounds with their sole win during week one coming against FlyQuest, who are the only winless LCS squad following NRG’s victory today. Next week will only be tougher for the cellar-dwellers, with matches slated against Cloud9 (3-0) and EG (2-1) to come next.
