NRG evaluating Counter-Strike comeback with "a core in mind"
North American Counter-Strike fans should be celebrating this afternoon on the news from HLTV that NRG is evaluating a comeback to the title after over four years away. It was just before IEM New York 2019 when the organization decided to sell their world-beating squad to Evil Geniuses, who never seemed to be able to replicate the success they had before.
NRG even confirmed the news as they told HLTV that they "have a core in mind", however they cautioned that "no contracts have been signed yet". With the organization confirming they are interested in coming back to Counter-Strike, it could be a welcome sight as so many other organizations are struggling. Just this week Evil Geniuses laid off several employees. While the organization told Dust2.us that the Counter-Strike teams would not be impacted as of now, one can assume they will be under evaluation later.
NRG first entered into North American Counter-Strike in 2016 when they signed the former Method squad of Germans Fatih "gob b" Dayik, Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninić, and Samuel "SileNt" Portillo, Justin "Just9n" Ortiz, and Peter "ptr" Gurney.
The squad would undergo several roster moves throughout the years but truly came into their own in late 2018 through 2019 when they brought in players like Ethan "Ethan" Arnold, Tarik "tarik" Celik, and Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz. Those three, alongside Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte and Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov, would go on to become of the best teams from the region. Coaches from those years included Damian "daps" Steele, who is currently exploring his options outside of Liquid and Chat "ImAPet" Singh, who both were instrumental to the success of that squad.
Evil Geniuses acquired the NRG squad in 2019 for and now the organization is looking to re-enter the Counter-Strike space once more. With the end of franchising, the ecosystem is open for organizations from all financial backgrounds to compete on a more level playing field, each playing for opportunities on the biggest stages in the world.
