NRG stunned League of Legends esports fans everywhere after completing a Cinderella run in the 2023 LCS Championship and lifting the trophy on Aug. 20. While doing so, they also broke a streak that went all the way back to 2016.
NRG are the first LCS team to win the domestic trophy with two native solo laners since CLG in the 2015 Summer Split. Since then, the winning team included at least one solo laner born outside of North America.
CLG lifted the LCS trophy for the first time in 2015 with a full North American roster. ZionSpartan (Darshan) and Pobelter were their solo laners, with Doublelift and Aphromoo occupying the bot lane and Xmithie roaming the jungle. They repeated their championship run in the following split but with huhi as their mid laner.
With NRG taking CLG’s place in the LCS following its buyout in 2023, it almost feels poetic for the team to bring NA back to the top. Despite an American core, though, NRG have some non-native players in their bot lane. FBI is Australian while IgNar is from South Korea.
This is also the first time since 2018 that LCS’s first seed at Worlds will have a native mid laner. Back then, it was Team Liquid’s Pobelter. NRG will represent the region at Worlds 2023 alongside Cloud9 and Team Liquid, and possibly Golden Guardians if they win the Worlds Qualifying Series on Oct. 9.
Related: All teams qualified for 2023 LoL World Championship
