Cover-Credits:
The dreaded news which everyone was waiting for has finally been announced, Team Liquid has officially removed Nick “nitr0” Cannella from their active roster. The North American organization has not officially announced his replacement yet but as per the rumours, Michael “Grim” Wince who currently plays for Triumph will be taking his place on the roster.
Team Liquid Announce Nitr0’s Departure
Nitr0 was the last remaining player of Team Liquid’s inaugural CS:GO lineup, with his departure the team does not have any of the founding members left on their lineup. The 24-year-old had joined the organization more than five years ago in January 2015, since then he has been a part of various rosters taking on multiple roles through this journey.
He started off as a rifler during his early days, taking his time to find his position within Liquid as he went on to become their in-game leader, following this he switched to the role of a primary AWPer temporarily, moulding his playstyle as per the requirement of his team.
Among his many achievements with the organization here are some of the most notable ones,
- Nitr0 along with the Liquid lineup became the first-ever North American team to reach the grand finals of a CS:GO Major, ESL One: Cologne 2016.
- Nitr0 led Team Liquid to achieve the fastest ever Intel Grand Slam last year. He achieved the feat within a span of just 63-days by winning these four tournaments; IEM Sydney 2019, DH Dallas 2019, ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals, and ESL One: Cologne 2019.
Team Liquid wrote a few words of gratitude for nitr0 describing him as being someone who was never out for personal glory, for whom the team always came first.
“Nitr0 helped us build our legacy in CS:GO. We will never forget what you helped us achieve, Nick. We are so very much looking forward to seeing what you will accomplish next and are forever grateful to have been a part of your journey for so long. Team Liquid would not have been the same without you.”
Team Liquid despite having achieved a lot in 2019, winning multiple tournaments and even dethroning Astralis to claim the top spot on the HLTV world rankings, underwent a massive drop. They tried to recreate the magic once again but slowly the lineup became inconsistent and since the start of 2020 they have failed to achieve anything significant apart from winning the ESL Pro League Season 11: North America.
It is definitely a bold move by Team Liquid who were reaching a point of stagnation and wanted a positive change within their roster. Let’s see if the move pays off for the North American roster or not who will be taking a massive hit on the RMR: Rio Major 2020 - North American leaderboard cause of the shuffle.
