Tarik joins NRG after major disappointment

NRG Esports is recruiting one of the biggest names in North American Counter-Strike.

Following a subpar performance at the IEM Katowice Major, NRG has been looking to shake up its roster. According to a report from Steven Cropley and Kevin Hitt of VPesports, that change is going to come in the form of former major champion Tarik “tarik” Celik.

NRG impressed early in the major, running through the Challengers Stage with a perfect 3-0 record and sweeping 2-0 the only opponent to truly challenge them, Tyloo.

But the team faltered greatly entering the Legends Stage, staggering to an 0-3 record. This included a particularly brutal 0-2 loss to compLexity in which both maps went into overtime. NRG also lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas 14-16 and AVANGAR 13-16, though the close nature of the losses did little to stymie disappointment in the team’s final result.

NRG had been seen as a dark horse entering the major, having recently climbed to one of the top spots in most rankings and with a first-place finish at the Americas minor.

According to the report, tarik will replace Jason “FugLy” Medina on the team’s roster.

In January, tarik announced that he would be stepping down from MiBR’s starting roster after spending just six months with the Brazilian squad. Despite solid results, MiBR didn’t live up to the organization’sy high expectations with tarik and former Cloud9 teammate Jake “Stewie2k” Yip on the roster, and opted to head back to the team’s all-Brazilian roots.

Before his blockbuster move to MiBR, tarik was a star for Cloud9, where he became part of the first ever North American team to win a CS:GO major when Cloud9 defeated FaZe Clan at ELEAGUE Major Boston.

With NRG, tarik returns to a North American roster, with Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov as the only European-born player.

Former teammate Stewie2K has seen great success since returning to his domestic roots with Team Liquid. Tarik will hope for similar results with NRG Esports.