The EG roster’s run from NRG to the number one rank in CSGO

Evil Geniuses has achieved the pinnacle of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition, securing the world number one ranking following three consecutive months of elite-level performances. Their ascension involved overtaking both Team Liquid and Astralis, claiming the top position through decisive victories at ESL One New York and StarSeries & i-League Season 8.

Beginning with their campaign at the StarLadder Berlin Major, EG has demonstrated exponential improvement across every tournament appearance. The frequency of comeback scenarios has significantly decreased while narrow victories have transformed into dominant performances. Team cohesion has reached new heights as players have developed seamless coordination and strategic execution.

The critical turning point emerged during ESL One New York where they secured a 3-1 best-of-five series win against Astralis. Following this breakthrough, they captured their ECS Season 8 group stage without conceding a single map, then proceeded to overwhelm a resurgent Fnatic squad 2-0 at StarSeries & i-League Season 8.

Few industry observers anticipated Evil Geniuses’ rapid trajectory over the recent quarter. Team Liquid had captured the Intel Grand Slam with its $1 million prize in a record-shattering 63-day period. Meanwhile, Astralis appeared to be recovering from their mid-year performance decline. Virtually no analysts considered EG the world’s premier team merely four weeks earlier.

Despite these contextual factors, Evil Geniuses advanced from third to first in the global rankings. They currently represent the elite standard in professional CSGO. What remains underappreciated is that EG’s evolution into their current championship form originated nearly ten months prior as NRG Esports’ Counter-Strike division.

NRG’s Strategy set the stage for today’s EG

The opening months of 2019 represented a period of significant volatility within CSGO esports. Team Liquid established unprecedented dominance through strategic roster changes including Jacky “Stewie2k” Yip and coach Eric “adreN” Hoag replacing Epitácio “TACO” de Melo and former coach Wilton “zews” Prado. Media attention focused intensely on how Liquid had finally surpassed Astralis, largely ignoring NRG Esports’ development.

While TL demolished opponents en route to the Intel Grand Slam achievement, NRG maintained consistent top-five placements across virtually all tournaments they contested. Specifically, across the 14 competitions NRG participated in before EG’s August acquisition, the organization failed to reach top-five status on only two occasions.

NRG experienced competitive defeats during this phase, but strategically lost against superior opponents. They fell to elite teams including FaZe Clan at BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles, and Team Liquid during cs_summit IV. The team rarely failed to overcome opponents they were expected to defeat. Consistently beating teams you’re favored against while losing to demonstrably stronger opposition indicates a fundamentally sound competitive foundation. During early 2019, NRG represented a solid but not yet elite roster. Because of TL’s rapid ascent, NRG’s championship potential remained largely unrecognized by both analysts and the broader fan community.

NRG recruits tarik and stanislaw

During the early summer period, the squad operated under the leadership of Damian “daps” Steele, an experienced CSGO professional with extensive in-game leadership experience. Despite possessing what appeared to be a championship-caliber lineup on paper, NRG continued to lack tournament victories. The addition of Tarik “tarik” Celek following his unsuccessful MIBR tenure failed to generate the transformative impact necessary to elevate NRG to elite status. Despite being the statistically superior player with a Major championship pedigree, tarik operated in a secondary role to a team captain and in-game leader possessing significantly less competitive experience.

While maintaining respectable competitive results, the organization remained trophy-less. From management’s perspective, the absence of championship hardware in NRG’s trophy collection signaled the necessity for roster modifications.

This precipitated what industry experts now recognize as perhaps the most strategically brilliant organizational decision since Astralis acquired Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Emil “Magisk” Reif.

In late June, NRG announced daps would be succeeded by Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz as primary in-game leader. Several critics questioned the decision and dismissed stanislaw based on his previous unsuccessful leadership tenures with Team Liquid, OpTic Gaming, and Complexity.

However, organizational leadership recognized that reuniting former OpTic Gaming teammates tarik and stanislaw represented a masterstroke of roster construction. NRG implemented a strategic system mirroring the approach stanislaw and tarik previously utilized to secure ELEAGUE championship success for the Green Wall organization. The roster configuration featured two established veterans, three emerging young talents, and a flexible tactical framework where experienced players shared leadership responsibilities. Younger team members observed, absorbed knowledge, and developed through this mentorship structure. This represented the foundational approach through which NRG would achieve competitive success.

This roster decision demonstrated organizational genius, though its full impact wouldn’t become apparent until the Americas Minor Championship. This tournament functioned as the qualification pathway for Valve’s second CSGO Major of the competitive year, where organizations consistently field their strongest competitive form. NRG would receive their opportunity for competitive recognition.

NRG finds success at the Americas Minor Championship

Stanislaw’s inaugural competition with the organization occurred during the initial Americas Minor closed qualifier in early June. NRG dominated their qualification bracket while defeating Mythic and Team Singularity. They comfortably secured qualification for the Americas Minor Championship proper.

It became increasingly evident that NRG players were embracing the concept that they could transcend mediocrity.

“Honestly, regarding upcoming matchups, I’m relatively indifferent about opponent selection because I’m confident we will win the Major regardless of competition,” tarik explained during his HLTV interview.

NRG continued to experience periodic competitive challenges. Despite achieving third place at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, they suffered several defeats against established elite teams. The squad dropped four consecutive matches across two separate tournaments. The mitigating circumstance involves two losses occurring at ESL One Cologne against Team Liquid and an ascending Team Vitality roster.

NRG subsequently fell against FaZe Clan and TL during BLAST Los Angeles. Given BLAST’s exclusive best-of-one match format, these particular defeats warrant contextual consideration.

Following their BLAST LA performance, NRG comprehensively dominated every opponent at the Americas Minor Championship. They didn’t concede a single map throughout the entire competition.

The August competitive break commenced almost immediately following NRG’s Minor Championship victory. Discussion refocused on whether TL could capture a Major championship trophy. Public attention shifted away from NRG’s accomplishments.

StarLadder Berlin was NRG’s proving grounds

Minimal excitement surrounded NRG when the New Challengers stage commenced. Conversation concentrated around teams that hadn’t yet competed. Observers questioned whether TL would maintain competitive form or if Astralis would stage a performance recovery. Following NRG’s opening New Challengers stage match, virtually no observers focused attention on their performance.

NRG suffered a devastating overtime defeat during their opening match against DreamEaters. Public engagement with the North American organization diminished further. Such competitive setbacks can potentially destroy team morale. However, this loss functioned as a critical wake-up call for NRG. Only when spectators witnessed NRG’s subsequent performances did narrative perspectives shift.

NRG defeated Tyloo during their second Challenger stage match. They subsequently secured their second consecutive victory against Syman Gaming. Achieving the competitive hat trick, NRG eliminated AVANGAR 2-0. Their fourth straight victory involved a tense encounter against Renegades, where CerQ delivered crucial performance under pressure.

With four dominant victories established, public and analyst attention returned to their campaign.

Industry analysts began discussing NRG as a legitimate dark horse championship contender. During match intermissions, observers appeared impressed by NRG’s strategic combination of tactical diversity and aggressive tempo variation.

The competitive landscape transformed for NRG when they confronted Team Liquid during the New Legends stage. NRG systematically deconstructed the IEM Grand Slam champion Team Liquid to secure their fifth consecutive match victory. The community expressed astonishment. Debate centered on whether NRG had demonstrated superiority over Liquid or if Liquid had underperformed.

Stanislaw and Tarik’s veteran leadership provided NRG’s emerging talent sufficient creative freedom to develop individually. Complementing this autonomy, experienced players established just enough structural framework to provide less experienced competitors adequate routine for nerve stabilization. Through this approach, Cerq, Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte and Ethan “Ethan” Arnold executed sound strategic decisions alongside their exceptional mechanical skill demonstrations.

Cerq, similar to teammates Brehze and Ethan, followed established leadership direction. There exists little doubt that reciprocal learning occurred between veteran and emerging players.

NRG would secure two additional consecutive victories. They defeated both Natus Vincere and the formidable Astralis 2-0. Although Astralis would achieve competitive redemption against NRG during the semifinal stage, NRG had already demonstrated their championship capabilities to the global competitive community.

Evil Geniuses return to CSGO with NRG roster

Merely days preceding ESL One New York, industry rumors indicated that Evil Geniuses, among the pioneering organizations in Counter-Strike esports history, was actively negotiating to purchase NRG’s CSGO roster completely.

The acquisition became official when tarik, stanislaw, Brehze, Ethan, and Cerq competed at ESL One New York wearing EG uniforms, representing the brand’s inaugural return to Counter-Strike competition since 2012.

The tournament appropriately evolved into an Evil Geniuses showcase. Tarik and his teammates finished first in a group that also included Astralis and FaZe Clan. They proceeded to defeat Astralis 3-1 in a best-of-five series where EG demonstrated clear competitive superiority. EG captured the championship trophy on domestic territory.

EG continues to dominate

Although EG experienced competitive difficulties at DreamHack Malmӧ, they responded with a straightforward group victory during ESL Pro League Season 10. That success guaranteed their qualification for the ESL Pro League Finals in Odense. They subsequently secured the top position in their ECS series competition, which will ultimately direct them toward Arlington, Texas for the ECS Finals.

Most recently, EG captured the StarSeries i-League Season 10 championship during late October, defeating Fnatic and achieving their final ascent to HLTV’s premier global ranking position.

Evil Geniuses’ competitive ascent doesn’t represent accidental success or fortunate circumstances. It demonstrates master-level application of psychological principles, team development strategies, and competitive mindset cultivation. This approach has enabled them to surpass both Team Liquid and Astralis, two of the most dominant teams in CSGO competitive history.

While uncertainty remains regarding EG’s duration at the competitive summit, the indicators existed from the initial development phase. The primary distinction involves limited observer attention during the team’s development phase operating within the competitive shadows of CSGO’s previous elite organizations.

No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » The EG roster’s run from NRG to the number one rank in CSGO How NRG's strategic roster moves evolved into Evil Geniuses' world championship CSGO team