“You live for these moments” — mada on NRG advancing to playoffs after thrilling set of comebacks against DRX

NRG continuously impressed the crowd at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions as they took down DRX in an absurd three-map series. Pulling off comeback after comeback seems to be NRG’s new thing — and with their second win of the group stage, they’re now the second team to advance to playoffs. A player on NRG known for his insane mental resilience is Adam "mada" Pampuch, who THESPIKE.GG had the opportunity to talk to after their win against DRX.

NRG Advance to Playoffs After Stressful Run

“Words can’t describe the feeling. We’ve had some stressful games, but it’s been very, very fun. You live for these moments.”

That’s what mada had to say after making it out of the group stage without dropping a series. The road, however, has been anything but easy. To secure both of their wins, NRG were tested to the extreme by having to pull off several clutch comebacks.

It all began with the match against EDward Gaming. As the two teams entered the battleground of Abyss, EDG looked unstoppable, taking a dominant 11-2 lead. Then NRG shocked VCT viewers everywhere, clawing back round after round. They took down EDG 2-0 and carried that confidence and comeback energy into their next matchup against DRX.

If the crowd thought the EDG match was wild, NRG’s series against DRX blew it out of the water. After getting absolutely crushed on Haven and things looking dire on Corrode, NRG once again found momentum out of nowhere. As the series progressed, NRG pulled off two remarkable comebacks to send DRX down to the decider match.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions

DRX

1

X

2

NRG

Group C - Winners Match, Best of 3 - September 17, 2025 - 4:10PM

13

Haven

4

11

Corrode

13

11

Lotus

13

DRX

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Flashback

1.31

275

66/47/9

+19

1.40

75.2%

182.2

29%

60%

15

10

HYUNMIN

1.12

231

54/45/11

+9

1.20

76.1%

142.9

37%

69%

9

4

BeYN

1.06

205

49/43/16

+6

1.14

69.4%

133.0

41%

25%

2

6

free1ng

0.76

154

35/41/12

-6

0.85

73.3%

105.5

30%

50%

7

7

MaKo

0.72

116

26/40/28

-14

0.65

74.7%

75.6

19%

20%

1

4

NRG

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

mada

1.14

240

55/54/17

+1

1.02

67.1%

156.6

22%

42%

13

18

s0m

1.05

188

41/47/36

-6

0.87

78.3%

115.4

24%

64%

7

4

skuba

1.02

185

43/43/23

0

1.00

71.8%

113.4

33%

50%

2

2

brawk

1.00

207

47/42/18

+5

1.12

73.5%

143.6

15%

67%

4

2

Ethan

0.73

145

30/44/27

-14

0.68

72.7%

90.8

21%

38%

5

8

Mental resilience

Trusting each other and never giving up has become the NRG way. According to mada, the key to their success is the team’s mental strength combined with elite in-game calling from Ethan "Ethan" Arnold.

“Our mental strength in these crucial moments, I think, is a lot better than other teams. And I think it's the fact that we're all able to buy into Ethan's calls and Ethan's leadership towards the end of these very close games. We all put 100% faith in him.”

Another player that mada holds in high regard is Sam "s0m" Oh. When the team is down some rounds, s0m is the hype man who injects new energy into the squad. He gets his teammates locked in, builds confidence in key moments, and creates the momentum that often leads to game-changing plays. Mada describes it as a fire that lights up in their eyes as the crowd roars after a crazy play.

“I think Sam does an exceptional job at keeping the energy very balanced and very focused in the game when it matters most — when people start maybe getting a little bit nervous or losing sight of the goal. It's always Sam who brings us back into the game. I have to give it to him.”

Proud of his own mental game

Mada takes a lot of pride in his own mental resilience, especially as the team’s Duelist. His role is to frag, but if things aren’t going his way early, he doesn’t panic. By keeping a cool head, mada often regains his confidence mid-game and ends up as one of the top fraggers.

“I don't think there's any player that's even close to me in terms of mental strength. I mean, I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but I feel like when things are not going my way at all, it does not matter to me. Genuinely. As long as we're winning, as long as we're still meshing and having a good time as a team, then that's all that matters.”

Pressure as a duelist

As a Duelist, mada has a lot of pressure to perform. Surprisingly, though, he feels less pressure in Paris than he does at home on the North American stage.

“Weirdly enough. I don't know why, but it has felt like less pressure for me. I know that sounds so unbelievable, but I swear I'm telling the truth.”

International events are where players build their names, and where analysts love to compare one star to another. But for mada, outside opinions don’t really matter. He’s confident in himself and in his team. The only player he personally compares himself to is G2 Esports’ Alexander "jawgemo" Mor.

“I would say the only person I would compare myself to is maybe jawgemo because we play a very similar style in our gameplay. So he's kind of the only person I would see eye to eye with. But for the most part, I don't care what other people compare me to because I hold myself to my standards and my standard is just me and jawgemo.”

Locked in for playoffs

The path ahead is filled with even tougher matches against the best teams in the world. Being on the global stage means meeting top-tier opponents in their peak form. The team in mada’s sights? Fnatic. They’ve earned his respect — which makes them a target.

“I think Chronicle is the GOAT right now. Of course there's some discussion, but to me and I think to most pro players, they recognize them [Fnatic] as the GOAT. So beating them on our way to win champs would be ideal.”

As NRG progresses deeper into the tournament, their hunger for the Paris trophy only grows. Ethan wants to cement his legacy as the first player to win two championships, while Brock "brawk" Somerhalder, Logan "skuba" Jenkins, and mada are ready to step out of the shadows.

To follow all the teams heading into playoffs, stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to bring you the freshest game coverage and esports news.

Featured image credit: Jianhua Chen/Riot Games.