“We must unite and improve: NRG Dhokla determined to evade past LCS playoffs challenges”
The Unpredictable Journey of NRG in the LCS Summer Split
In a nail-biting showdown between NRG and Team Liquid during yesterday’s LCS Summer Split match, there was an unexpected turn of events. Within just 20 minutes, Summit’s Fiora from NRG became incredibly fed, resembling a formidable raid boss that seemed impossible to defeat. However, for NRG to even have a sliver of hope at toppling Liquid and improving their standings slightly, they would need to face this monstrous opponent head-on. And amazingly enough, Dhokla took full responsibility for the challenge.
Through some fortunate overextensions made by their opponents, NRG managed to avoid engaging with Summit directly throughout most of the game. This allowed them to secure a hard-fought victory that left both teammates and fans collectively sighing in relief after an intense back-and-forth battle lasting around 30 minutes. However, amidst the celebration and joyous atmosphere surrounding their triumph, Dhokla couldn’t shake off the feeling that much of this situation could have been avoided altogether.
“For me,” reflected Dhokla as he shared his thoughts, after the win,” it was like experiencing an overwhelming sense of relief washing over my entire body. At the same time though,I couldn’t help but think ‘damn,I messed up so badly that we ended up needing such extraordinary measures.’ It’s almost surreal that we emerged victorious,but I’m truly grateful nonetheless.”
Dhokla serves as one of the few remaining members from the latest CLG roster, which was acquired by NRG back in April. Alongside jungler Contractz and mid laner Palafox, this trio played a crucial role in CLG’s remarkable performance last split, surpassing all expectations and finishing atop the standings with an unprecedented synergy among themselves.
However, more than halfway into the 2023 Summer Split—with LCS Championship qualification hanging in the balance—NRG finds itself with only four wins to their name so far. One of those victories even ended Cloud9’s short-lived undefeated streak, proving that NRG still possesses potential for greatness. While NRG often shines brightly during early stages of games with their flashy plays, they struggle to maintain momentum as they approach mid and late-game scenarios due to a breakdown in communication and coordination between team members.
Dhokla believes that these fluctuating performances stem from unresolved communication issues within the team—particularly when it comes to getting their new bot lane ahead. Although NRG is willing to take risks such as tower dives in order to secure early advantages, Dhokla highlights how disastrous it can be if these attempts fail—a mistake that has plagued them in recent weeks. Thus, he emphasizes the urgent need for addressing this issue sooner rather than later.
“Messing up early bot tower plays can almost single-handedly cost us the entire game,” warns Dhokla passionately.”So we must prioritize resolving this problem immediately.”
Nevertheless,Dhokla remains cautious about looking too far ahead into the future.He firmly believes that before focusing on a playoff run,NRG needs to first address their present challenges.Especially after their premature exit from Spring Playoffs despite an impressive regular season performance,Dhokla stresses on ironing out any existing issues before playoffs commence.He acknowledges that while regular season success may not be remembered,the regret of underperforming during playoffs lingers for a long time.
“I’m not entirely sure about our future right now,” Dhokla concedes, “but we absolutely need to get our act together. When it comes down to playoffs, we’ve seemed to falter in the past.I worry about rectifying these issues as best as possible before playoffs,because ultimately,the regular season becomes irrelevant and regrets are magnified exponentially if we don’t deliver when it matters most.”
As part of their transition from CLG to NRG,the team introduced an entirely new bot lane consisting of FBI and IgNar—two seasoned LCS players with multiple…