Andrew "Verno" Maust is set to move up to the top flight. According to Sheep Esports sources, after two years with Oxygen Esports in NA Challengers, the 18-year-old has reached a verbal agreement to join NRG for the upcoming season of VCT Americas, VALORANT's regional elite. Verno is thus taking the same path as his Head Coach, Malkolm "bonkar" Rench, who is also expected to join NRG next season, as previously reported by Sheep Esports.

Mainly known as an Initiator - although he sometimes plays Controller or even Duelist or Sentinel - Verno is coming off a disappointing end to the season with Oxygen. In early 2024, the club had built a roster that seemed to be among the favourites to qualify for the Ascension tournament in the North American region. OXG won the Ludwig x Tarik Invitational 2 in January and later the Mid-Season Cup. Oxygen also finished top of the VCL NA Split 2, before disaster struck in the playoffs. Verno and his team-mates were beaten by M80 in the Upper Bracket and then, to everyone's surprise, eliminated by TSM in the Lower Bracket.

A new momentum

The defeat marked the end of the season for Verno, who was not given the opportunity to play in the Ascension tournament. The American therefore found another way to join the VCT Americas by attracting the interest of NRG. The club clearly needs a new momentum, because after a rather successful 2023 (2nd in the VCT Americas, 4th in Masters Tokyo and participated in Champions), the 2024 season was disastrous.

NRG finished 9th in Stage 1 despite the arrival of Max "Demon1" Mazanov, who had just been crowned world champion with Evil Geniuses. The 2023 Champions MVP was placed on the bench after that, but results did not improve. NRG finished 8th in Stage 2, missing out on all the international events this year.