The grand finals of VALORANT Champions Paris ended sensationally, with NRG defeating Fnatic and lifting the beautiful gilded trophy. While the all-American roster rose to the top through impeccable teamwork, Brock “brawk” Somerhalder—one of their three rookies—played a crucial role in their achievement, and was rightfully named the tournament’s MVP.
On Oct. 5, VALORANT fans took to Reddit to celebrate brawk’s achievement in his first year of the tier one league and, of course, his godly skills with the Odin. Despite being an initiator main in a support role, the 25-year old finished with an overall tournament ACS of 224, and is the third highest rated player of VCT Champions 2025, according to vlr.gg. Even in the finals series against Fnatic, he recorded the highest ACS (244) of all the participating players.
A professional VALORANT player since 2020, brawk began his career with Team Serenity and went through a bunch of tier three and two teams before joining NRG, his first tier one gig, in early 2025. In fact, he was hired as part of a roster reshuffle to replace Verno (now in MIBR) after NRG’s disappointing exit from the VCT Americas Kickoff in February 2025.
While NRG continued to struggle throughout VCT Stage one and went through further roster changes later, the team popped off in Stage two, defeating most of their rivals to slide past the cutoff of VALORANT Champions. And now, after an undefeated Cinderella run from groups to playoffs, they’re the world champions—and brawk’s contribution throughout the tournament, especially in the grand finals, can’t be overstated.
As fans on Reddit pointed out, brawk managed to “ragebait” everyone despite being the most humble player on stage, all thanks to his prowess with the Odin, one of VALORANT’s most controversial weapons. “Didn’t stand up, didn’t shout. Crouched, aimed, killed, left,” one popular comment reads.
It’s baffling how a well-thought roster shuffle can elevate a team’s potential, transforming them from one of the weakest teams to global champions. NRG’s performance in VCT Champions 2025 has proved that VALORANT is all about finding the right mix of players who can stick together, even when the odds aren’t in their favor.
Published: Oct 6, 2025 05:20 am