After two weeks of VCT Americas, the results for North American teams have been uneven. Evil Geniuses utterly underperformed their low expectations, Cloud9 outperformed them, and the three of NRG, 100 Thieves, and Sentinels alternated between seeming assured one week and unsure the next.
One of the bright spots for NA has been the exceptional play from Sam “s0m” Oh, the last remaining player from the pre-partnership NRG roster who switched over from duelist/flex to full-time controller when the new NRG roster was made. Surrounded by trophy winners via the former OpTic core and former FPX star ardiis, s0m had to step up as part of a team with sky high expectations, and has delivered early on.
After two weeks of VCT Americas, s0m is leading the pack of all players from North American teams in K/D, kills per round, and KAST (kill, assist, survive, trade) percentage, according to VLR. Against all players in VCT Americas, he’s fifth overall in K/D and third in both kills per round and KAST, and he’s second in least amount of total deaths behind teammate FNS (excluding EG’s Demon1 and BcJ, who haven’t played all maps).
So far s0m has continued the trend he established at VCT LOCK//IN, providing reliable support, numbers, and plays at the controller role while occasionally delivering big individual performances. His most recent match versus Sentinels was his best overall game with the new NRG roster so far: 40 kills against only 19 deaths plus an additional 19 assists, and an 89.5 KAST percentage while winning seven of his eight opening duels.
When this NRG roster was formed without Marved joining his former OpTic teammates, s0m stepped into some big shoes at the controller role and has answered the call, becoming one of the top players at the role. NRG and s0m will look to build on this momentum heading into week three when they take on MIBR.