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Following his announcement last week that he wanted to return to competitive Counter-Strike, Nick “nitr0” Cannella has signed with NRG and will take on the in-game leader role for the North American organisation.
Every team needs a Captain 🇺🇸
Welcome @nitr0 to NRG CS2! pic.twitter.com/mejFK4ne9x
— NRG (@NRGgg) July 4, 2024
nitr0 was the in-game leader for Team Liquid from 2015-2020 and led the young roster to several tournament wins, culminating with the Season 2 Intel Grand Slam, netting Liquid a massive US$1 million bonus.
Nicknamed “Captain America” by many North American Counter-Strike fans, nitr0 left Liquid in August of 2020 to compete in VALORANT esports, after the title was released two months earlier.
The 28-year-old signed with 100 Thieves and played for the North American-owned organisation until December 2021, before returning to Team Liquid’s Counter-Strike squad in January 2022.
However, his second spell with Liquid wasn’t as fruitful as the first, and nitr0 found himself benched by June of the following year, leading him to a VALORANT return in January of this year as he signed with M80.
M80 struggled to crack into the top tier of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), and after six months on the roster, nitr0 announced his retirement from the title in June.
With his VALORANT days firmly behind him, nitr0 will now return to Counter-Strike, where he will take on a new challenge and attempt to lead a struggling NRG outfit back into the top tier of competitive CS2.
He will reconnect with his former Team Liquid teammates, Damian “daps” Steele and Josh “oSee” Ohm, which should help integrate nitr0 into the team quickly.
NRG will be gearing up for their ESL Challenger League Season 48 campaign, which will kick off on July 15, and they will be the sixth-highest-ranked team in the event.
NRG Counter-Strike 2 roster
- Timothy “autimatic” Ta
- Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte
- Josh “oSee” Ohm
- Jadan “HexT” Postma
- Nick “nitr0” Cannella
- Coach: Damian “daps” Steele
