NRG opens Masters London with 2-0 win over XLG

Two weeks after the final match of Stage 1, Masters London has finally begun with twelve teams hunting for a coveted international trophy. NRG NRG North America Rank #2 keiko Georgio Sanassy brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold and Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #2 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) were the first to take to the stage, with the North American representatives winning the series 2-0 after coming back from an 11-5 deficit on Lotus.

keiko was the star of the day on his home soil, dropping a 60/29/8 KDA in just two maps and averaging an unbelievable 1.85 rating, 370 ACS, and 230 ADR overall.

The series kicked off on NRG's map pick of Pearl. Following the Neon nerf in patch 12.09, both teams pivoted compositions from their last Stage 1 showings. NRG maintained their double-drone identity and simply moved mada from Neon to Waylay and keiko from Killjoy to Vyse, while XLG swapped over from double-Initiator to a more meta double-Duelist with NoMan on Jett and Rarga on Phoenix.

Despite losing the second round eco, NRG got off to a 4-1 start on their attack, finding easy purchase onto the bombsites in the face of XLG's passive site holds. XLG had more success after a timeout off the back of greater aggression and some individual heroics, but NRG still led 7-5 at halftime.

The second half was NRG domination. The world champions looked firmly in control on the defensive side, conceding only a single round to win 13-6 and leaving XLG in the dust. keiko topped the server with 26 kills and 352 ACS.

The second was XLG's pick of Lotus, where they deployed their patented triple-Sentinel composition featuring Cypher, Deadlock, and Sage. At first, NRG seemed lost on how to break through the opposing setups; XLG went undefeated in the first six rounds with only six deaths across the entire team. A few successful A hits, however, carved a path forward for NRG as they narrowed the gap to 7-5.

XLG pulled ahead again in the second half, winning the pistol and the ensuing bonus to lead 11-5. Down but never out, NRG steadily clawed their way back in. keiko, already topfragging at the time with 20 kills, found another 14 in the next eight rounds as NRG converted multiple A retakes and B shutdowns to run it back all the way to 13-11. The British Controller ended the map head and shoulders above the rest with 34 kills, 388 ACS, 244 ADR, and a 1.97 rating.

With this result, NRG draws first blood and moves on to the 1-0 pool of teams in the Swiss stage. XLG, down to the 0-1 pool, is now one loss away from elimination.