Sources: NRG have been selected as a VCT Americas partner team for the 2027-2028 cycle

NRG have been selected as a VCT Americas partner team for the 2027-2028 cycle, sources tell Sheep Esports. The 2025 world champions, a partnered team since the league launched in 2023, will remain in the circuit after a 2026 that ended without a trophy but never took them far from the top.

According to sources, Riot assessed candidates on fan engagement, recent performance, regional results, and long-term commitment. The 2025 world title, together with a year spent in the late stages of almost every major event, gives NRG one of the strongest profiles in the region.

NRG kept most of their championship core for 2026. Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, the first player to win Champions twice, stayed as in-game leader alongside Adam “mada” Pampuch, Logan “skuba” Jenkins and Brock “brawk” Somerhalder, while Georgio “keiko” Sanassy arrived from EMEA to fill the spot left by Sam “s0m” Oh.

The new lineup finished third at Masters Santiago, but was eliminated in the Swiss Stage at Masters London after a 1-2 reverse sweep by FUT Esports. It then reached the Esports World Cup final, where it lost 1-3 to 100 Thieves, and finished third in Stage 2 after beating LOUD 2-1 in the upper semifinals, a result that secured its place at Champions, and losing to the same team in the lower final.

At Champions Shanghai, NRG were among the first teams to lock in a playoff spot and opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over T1. A 2-1 loss to LOUD sent them to the lower bracket, where 100 Thieves ended their title defense with another 2-0 result, leaving NRG in 5th-6th place.

Before that, the 2025 season was a rollercoaster. NRG made four roster changes in a single year, fell short of qualifying for any Masters and finished Stage 2 as runners-up, losing 0-3 to G2 Esports in the grand final but earning a ticket to Paris. At Champions, the dark horse beat Fnatic 3-2 in a thrilling grand final, with brawk named MVP and Ethan becoming the first two-time world champion, after his 2023 title with Evil Geniuses. It was NRG’s first international appearance since Champions 2023. After the title, s0m left the roster.

Before the title, NRG started the partnership era as one of the region’s best teams, finishing as runner-up in the 2023 Americas League and qualifying for Masters Tokyo. The team finished Champions 2023 in 9th-12th place. The following year was far more difficult, with a 3rd-4th place finish at Kickoff followed by 9th-10th in Stage 1 and 8th in Stage 2, and NRG missed Champions 2024.

From 2027, the number of partner teams per region drops from ten to eight. NRG will have a guaranteed spot at Kickoff, held in São Paulo from January 14 to February 7, a base payment and revenue from its in-game capsules, and can skip the early rounds of the Open Qualifiers on the way to the Cups. The first is scheduled for Mexico City (April 29 to May 23) and the second for Rio de Janeiro (August 5 to 29), and both will decide who earns spots at the international events.