Ahead of day two of the RLCS8 World Championships, NRG looks strong. They sat down to answer some of the press’s questions before they faced titleholders Renault Vitality in the upper final. And even though they’ve already qualified for day three of the tournament, the matchup will decide how easy they’ll have it on their way to the grand final.

NRG: A perfect mix of fun and serious

Pittsburgh Knights player Slater “Retals” Thomas already promised to climb onto his desk if they sweep NRG in the grand final, but Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver isn’t fussed by the statement: “I mean, where is he now? He’s in the lower bracket, so that statement is quite questionable.”

The pressure of being the favorites also does not affect the players. “(Pressure) is normal,” Garrett “GarrettG” Gordon said. “Personally, I like pressure ‘cause I play the game so much; it’s kind of boring when it’s not a high-pressure situation. For me, it helps. It makes it more interesting.” However, that doesn’t mean that NRG are letting their guard down. Where they initially kept a close eye on Reciprocity (who lost their first game on day one and are in the lower bracket), they now also turned their attention to Dignitas and SpaceStation Gaming. “(Reciprocity) will still probably make day three, but Dignitas and SpaceStation are looking the best.”

Coach Emiliano “Sizz” Benny is confident in his players. “They’re so used to being at LANs. You look at other teams when they scrim — they’re usually a lot more serious. We play way better when we’re loosening up; the players are laughing in comms. Yesterday Jstn missed a shot and he just started screaming ‘no’ for like ten seconds on stage. Jstn knows he messed up — he moves on and they laughed about it. That environment is what we really want for the team.” Justin “Jstn” Morales added that he’s been practicing (and scoring) double flip resets but couldn’t promise we’ll see it this weekend.

You can catch all of NRG’s action this weekend on Twitch, where they will try to claim their first-ever RLCS World Championship title. Many would say this is their best shot, particularly with three-time world champion Turbopolsa on the team.