Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Nicholas ‘Nitr0’ Cannella has been removed from Team Liquid’s roster. After five years of playing for the esports team, Nitr0 is stepping aside as TL replaces him with newcomer Michael ‘Grim’ Wince.
Grim comes from playing for Triumph, and it has been confirmed by Rush B Media that he has been bought by the esports giant Team Liquid (via DBLTAP). The 19-year-old has an impressive rating at 1.31 spread over 134 maps for the year and could certainly improve TL’s standings when he plays for them at Dreamhack.
TL has been struggling with its performance on the CS:GO scene recently, so changes to the team were inevitable. Some, however will be surprised to hear that it is Nitr0 that is being cut from the roster as he is considered a veteran of the team and game, after joining TL back in 2015. He has not commented except a short tweet saying: “Until next time, friends”.
In a short statement to Rush B Media, Team Liquid says “We can confirm that Michael “Grim” Wince will be starting for Team Liquid at Dreamhack next weekend. We’re not ready to share more at the moment, but we will have more to share with the community soon.”
Until next time, friends.
— Nick Cannella (@nitr0) July 29, 2020
Steve Arhancet, co-CEO of Team Liquid, also put out a small video on Twitter vaguely talking about the situation – promising more details and explanations will come in time, just not yet: “Yes we will be making changes to the roster and with roster changes, you know, they’re never easy. They impact the lives of the players and they should be done with a lot of thoughtfulness and consideration and ultimately to hopefully improve the performance of the team.
We know the news today in cs has taken people by surprise, and we don't want to leave anyone in the dark – but, we just need a little more time to make sure we do what's right by our players and the community pic.twitter.com/b2ANuVPON3
— Steve Arhancet (@LiQuiD112) July 29, 2020
“Our commitment to winning is pretty much unwavering and that’s important to us. That being said it’s also really important to us to provide information to all of our fans and the community and the fans of the players about what those changes are and why we’re making those changes. But unfortunately, we won’t be able to do that right now – we are working on it and it will come and it will come soon but it is important also to communicate immediately.”
So what’s next for Nitr0? No one really knows yet, and he’s probably asking himself the same question. He may move over to the Valorant scene like other CS:GO players, or perhaps another pro team will swoop in to pick up the player.
