NRG’s nitr0: Win in Barcelona would help Major hopes

NRG travelled to Barcelona to compete at StarLadder StarSeries Fall as they chase Valve points. The team enters the event ranked ninth in the Americas VRS and opens against MOUZ on Sept. 17. The tournament is one of the few LAN events left before the Singapore Major qualification window closes.

Captain Nick “nitr0” Cannella said during media day that the team needs match wins to build LAN bonus and momentum. “We just need to get any dubs we can because we don’t have much LAN bonus right now, and any win here would be huge for us,” he said.

NRG have spent an extended period practicing in North America since adding Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli. Cannella said the extra practice time helped the squad correct errors and expand their strategy book, but noted North American scrims do not test them the same way as international LAN matches. He pointed to a recent match against Team Liquid as an example where stronger opposition punished tactical and execution mistakes more sharply.

The current roster includes hallzerk and the return of Jeorge “Jeorge” Endicott. Cannella described hallzerk’s integration as smooth, citing his previous North American experience and similar game approach with Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski. On Jeorge, Cannella said the player has worked harder since being benched, taking on pistol-round duties and additional preparation tasks to boost confidence and contribution.

Cannella assessed MOUZ as a strong opponent that has made changes since their last meeting. He recalled a prior encounter in China where NRG managed to take a map under different circumstances and said the matchup is tactically familiar. NRG plan to focus on executing their best game and limiting mistakes.

On pressure from the VRS standings, Cannella acknowledged some stress but pointed to upcoming tier-two events such as iBUYPOWER Masters FLM and FRAG University as further opportunities to gain points. He said the team will approach StarLadder match by match and aim to show their best form on LAN.

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