NRG sign new fifth member and coach in VALORANT division refresh

After making a shocking roster move after VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Kickoff, NRG has found replacements for their VALORANT roster and coaching staff. The team announced that they have signed Brock "brawk" Somerhalder to the lineup and Michael "Mikes" Hockom as the team’s new head coach. It was a shocking decision that stunned fans of the organization, seeing as Andrew "Verno" Maust was one of the best young up-and-coming superstars in the region.

Sudden reunions

Brawk isn’t a rising prospect, but he has plenty of experience, having played with multiple teams in the past including Moist x Shopify, Ghost Gaming, and, Complexity. Brawk has also played with Adam "mada" Pampuch before on Moist x Shopify Rebellion so they will be having a reunion together and have existing synergy to build off of moving forward.

Mikes, on the other hand, has coached for a couple of big name teams like G2 Esports and 100 Thieves, having been the assistant coach for the Thieves since 2022. He has shifted his role with the organization since then, moving from head coach to assistant coach behind Tony "Zikz" Gray. He helped the team come out on top in VCT 2024 - Americas Stage 1, and he was on staff when the team finished in fourth at VCT 2024 - Masters Shanghai.

Brawk will be replacing Verno on the roster in surprising move, since many fans saw the 18-year-old as one of the brightest rising stars in Americas. NRG had a shaky performance at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Kickoff, which saw them eliminated early at the hands of KRÜ Esports in the lower bracket. The team had just come off of off-season tournament wins at SVL - Main Event and VCT OFF Season - SEN City Classic, and Verno had the highest KDA at both events.

FNS chimes in

In an upcoming episode of Offscript, NRG's podcast, Pujan "FNS" Mehta explained that there were "plenty of reasons" including in-game and out-of-game issues. "The goals in-game a lot of the time just don't feel like the align, there are a lot of underlying issues that obviously fans and spectators don't see," FNS explained. FNS said that he was "completely against changes if they can be avoided, but this one honestly couldn't." He mentioned that there were problems that caused a rift between Verno and the rest of the team, and that when its a "unanimous decision" by the team, it cannot be avoided.

NRG fans will have to wait until March 21 to get a glimpse of this new-look roster when Stage One rolls around for the Americas League. If you want to keep up with NRG and the rest of the region, stay locked in with THESPIKE.GG.