The 2025 RLCS season will go down as the year NRG reminded everyone why they are one of the greatest organizations in Rocket League history. After years of inconsistency and questions about whether their era was over, NRG stormed through the 2025 World Championship in Lyon, France, and lifted the trophy with a dominant 4–1 win over Team Falcons in front of a packed LDLC Arena crowd.
For new fans, it was a perfect entry point into Rocket League esports. For long-time followers, it felt like a full-circle moment. North America reclaimed the World Championship for the first time since 2019, ending a multi-year drought and proving that veteran orgs can still adapt and thrive in a global field of hungry up-and-comers.
In this article, we will walk through how NRG rebuilt themselves into champions, what made their 2025 run special, and why their resurgence matters so much as you get ready for fantasy drafts and storylines going into the 2026 season.
To appreciate the comeback, you have to understand the dip. NRG were not a mid table team, but they were no longer automatic contenders either. After winning Worlds in 2019, the landscape changed. Europe surged, new regions joined the circuit, and teams like Karmine Corp, Team Vitality, and later Team Falcons pushed the level higher with stacked rosters and aggressive playstyles.
During those years, NRG felt like a legacy brand stuck in transition. They still had star power and name recognition, yet their Major and Worlds results rarely matched expectations. Early exits became a familiar sting, and analysts started to talk about NRG in the past tense. Fans still filled chat with “NRG” spam, but belief had shifted toward newer superteams.
Think of it like a traditional sports dynasty that keeps making the playoffs but cannot get past the divisional round. Respect remains, but fear factor fades. Heading into 2025, that was the question hanging over NRG. Were they still a giant, or just a big name?
The resurgence did not happen by accident. NRG rebuilt around a core that blended raw mechanics, experience, and clutch mentality. The trio of BeastMode, Daniel, and Atomic under Coach Satthew became the engine of their 2025 run and finally translated their ceiling into consistent, polished results.
What changed compared to previous years?
In fantasy terms, NRG went from “high variance, risky stack” to a team you could confidently anchor lineups around, especially late in the season when their form peaked.
The World Championship in Lyon was the real test. The event featured 20 of the best teams on the planet, representing every major RLCS region, all chasing a share of the $1.2 million prize pool and the right to call themselves world champions.
NRG handled the group stage with authority, then survived tense playoff moments that would have broken earlier iterations of this roster. Their quarterfinal against DRX went the distance, but instead of collapsing under pressure, they closed the series and carried that momentum forward.
In the Grand Final, they faced Team Falcons, the MENA juggernaut who had already won the Raleigh Major and become the first MENA team to reach a Worlds final. Falcons came in as one of the hottest teams in the world, but NRG’s mix of structure and firepower proved too much. NRG took the series 4–1, claimed their second World Championship, and ended North America’s long title drought on the biggest stage in Rocket League.
That final did more than decide a trophy. It reframed the global narrative. MENA had proven it belonged at the top table, and North America was no longer living on old stories. Both regions left Lyon looking dangerous heading into 2026.
By winning Worlds in 2025, NRG delivered North America its first RLCS World Championship since 2019. For NA fans, this was cathartic. For fantasy players, it was a reminder not to write off experienced orgs just because newer brands are trending.
It also shifted regional perception. Heading into 2026, NA teams regain some benefit of the doubt in power rankings and fantasy projections.
Individually, these players were already respected. Together, 2025 turned them into a championship core. This is the kind of trio that fantasy managers will look at as a benchmark. If a roster cannot match NRG’s combination of synergy and clutch factor, you are taking on more risk by stacking them.
The big takeaway for fantasy in 2026 is simple. When a roster has already proven it can win at Worlds, its floor is usually higher than that of untested “superteams” built in the offseason.
The 2025 season introduced the official 1v1 circuit alongside the existing 3v3 format and expanded the World Championship field to 20 teams. That kind of format overhaul is usually where newer, more flexible orgs thrive.
Instead, NRG proved that legacy brands can adjust too. They handled the expanded ecosystem, navigated a harder global field, and still found a way to reach the top. For 2026, that matters when you evaluate long running organizations compared to new orgs buying rosters overnight.
NRG’s story is incomplete without Team Falcons. Falcons won the Raleigh Major and then reached the Worlds Grand Final, becoming the first MENA team to play for the RLCS World Championship. They did not just show up. They forced NRG to be great in Lyon.
For fantasy players, this is huge. The days of ignoring non NA and EU players in your mental “top tier” list are over. If you are not tracking MENA, you will miss value and misread the competitive landscape going into 2026.
At the start of 2025, picking NRG players for a fantasy roster felt like a high upside gamble. By the end of Worlds, that gamble looked more like a safe investment.
Heading into 2026, NRG will likely be one of the first teams people look at when building fantasy lineups, especially in formats that reward deep tournament runs.
As impressive as the 2025 run was, it is fair to ask some hard questions before you automatically lock NRG into the “always draft” tier for 2026.
The smart fantasy approach is to give NRG a lot of respect, but not blind trust. Use their 2025 performance as a strong signal rather than a guarantee, then watch early 2026 regionals and Majors closely to confirm that the form has carried over.
NRG’s World Championship win means that 2026 starts with a clear narrative pillar. The defending champions are a veteran org with a proven trio, a popular brand, and a global target on their backs.
For fans, that sets up beautiful storylines:
For fantasy players, it all translates into one clear idea: 2025 gave you a blueprint. Teams that combine veteran resilience with high end mechanics and proven LAN success are worth paying attention to. NRG just happen to be the clearest example of that heading into 2026.
Whether you are a brand new viewer or a Rocket League diehard, keep NRG’s 2025 story in mind as the new season kicks off. Dynasties might stumble, but as Lyon proved, the right roster with the right adjustments can always come back swinging.