American esports organization, NRG, has announced the signing of 26-year-old South African player, Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek.
After nearly two years with Wildcard and two Major Championship appearances, Sonic is bringing his experience to the NRG lineup.
Sonic’s addition marks another in a string of roster changes for NRG in the space of roughly two months, as the organization mentioned a “retooled team” in its announcement.
Sonic has replaced nosraC. Image Credit: NRG
The move should give NRG the extra firepower it needs to climb up from its current #36 place in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS).
NRG’s CS2 roster moves: Sonic replaces nosraC
On July 7, NRG benched Josh “oSee” Ohm, and Canadian rifler Jadan “HexT” Postma was acquired by M80. M80 is doing exceptionally well, recently beating the likes of NAVI at BLAST Open London.
NRG then acquired Carson “nosraC” O’Reilly and Zechrie “XotiC” Elshani on July 8. However, nosraC’s stay didn’t last very long, as NRG parted ways with the American rifler to make space for Sonic on the active lineup.
The addition of Sonic brings a higher skill ceiling to the NRG roster. During Sonic’s two years with Wildcard, the South African earned an average rating of 1.11. In 2025, Sonic attended multiple significant tournaments with Wildcard and scored an average rating of 1.07. In his two months with NRG, nosraC competed at Fragadelphia 19 and BLAST Bounty Season 2, earning an average rating of 0.98.
NRG qualified for the ESL Challenger League Season 50 Final. Image Credit: ESL
The announcement comes just a few days after NRG won the ESL Challenger League Season 50 Cup #1 North America with Canadian coach Damian “daps” Steele as a stand-in, thereby qualifying for the North American Finals event.
The current NRG roster comprises of:
- Jeorge “Jeorge” Endicott
- Alexander “br0” Bro
- Zechrie “XotiC” Elshani
- Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek
- Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella (IGL)
- Damian “daps” Steele (Coach)
At the time of writing, XotiC weilds the AWP for NRG, while oSee sits on the bench.
The South African rifler may propel NRG to new heights, and its first test with Sonic comes just one day after the announcement.
NRG will compete at the Fragadelphia Fragville 2025 LAN in Knoxville, US, on LAN from September 5 to 7. While it is a relatively minor LAN competition, opponents do include the likes of Ninjas in Pyjamas and Brazilian side Fluxo.