Rumors swirl that NRG plans to sign Tarik to replace Fugly

Unconfirmed rumors are pointing towards Team NRG signing Tarik “Tarik” Celek as a replacement for Jacob “Fugly” Medina, according to VPesports.com. The news comes just days after NRG failed to make it out of the group stage of the IEM Katowice Major, going 0-3 in the New Legends stage.

Celek has been a free agent since his previous team, Made in Brazil, benched him and traded his American compatriot Jake “stewie2k” Yip to Team Liquid. After the move, rumors swirled surrounding Tarik’s landing spot, with Team compLexity dominating the watercooler talk, but Tarik ultimately decided to wait it out until the post-Major roster swaps.

NRG Underperforms

NRG, once thought of as an NA team that could challenge Team Liquid for regional dominance, performed poorly during the New Legends stage. The team lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas (13-16), AVANGAR (13-16), and Complexity (0-2). Their losses stopped what some thought could be a top-eight finish in Poland. NRG’s losses in the New Legend’s stage were surprising after the team cruised through the group stage 3-0.

Tarik Should be an upgrade

Although Fugly was by no means the reason NRG failed to make it to top eight at Katowice, Tarik is a clear upgrade in that position. Tarik is a major winning IGL, rifler, and awper. He is a jack-of-all-trades player that should be able to come in and immediately make an impact for a team who has struggled with consistency this year. That said, some call NRG mini-Astralis for a reason, often running practiced executes and strong defaults. During his time as IGL during Cloud9’s Major win, Tarik seemed to prefer a looser style. He also seemed to struggle when placed in a more rigid structure in MiBR.

ESTNN has reached out to NRG for comment but did not hear back by our print deadline. This story is still developing and will be updated when more information is available.

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