NA legend Nitr0 returns to CS with NRG.
Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella and CS are the ultimate will-they-or-won't-they in esports. The legendary in-game leader (IGL) is making his second return to competitive CS, just in time for Independence Day. Can Nitr0 lead NRG to the top?
NA's Captain America returns to CS with NRG
Nitr0 has now had as many returns to CS as NRG has had rebrands. North America's (NA) most successful IGL first hung up his mouse in 2020. For context, that was when Liquid and EG (formerly NRG) dominated the NA scene, even during the online era. After plying his trade for 100 Thieves in VALORANT, Liquid came calling back. Nitr0 once again joined his former organization, this time with Joshua "oSee" Ohm and Richard "shox" Papillon.
That stint saw him lead the team to two grand finals and a number of playoffs that ran across three seasons of play. Eventually, however, the team was starting to lose some confidence, and nitr0 decided to step down for a more NA-centric lifestyle with his family.
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Nitr0 replaces Walco in NRG
NRG is best remembered in CS for their roster featuring Ethan "Ethan" Arnold back in 2019. That roster carried the organization's banner all the way to a top 4 finish at the Starladder Berlin 2019 Major, before being bought out by Evil Geniuses. That era of NRG was brought up in Nitr0's announcement video with the team routinely getting destroyed by the AWPer's 2019 dominance.
More recently, the team once again trusted Damian "daps" Steele to lead its entry into CS2. The roster featured solid pieces, but wasn't able to get the best results with the first iteration. Eventually, daps understood his strengths and moved into a coaching role, bringing in Colby "Walco" Walsh to IGL. Timothy "autimatic" Ta was another smart move, bringing in some much-needed experience to the team.
Now with seven Major spots being available to NA, the team has decided to ramp up in preparation for the Shanghai Major. Nitr0 joins NRG as the IGL, replacing Walco, and will hope to take the NRG name back to the top of NA. Complexity should be their biggest rival, but with Liquid's upcoming roster, NRG could make a strong case for itself.
Can North America's captain lead this team to success? Or will VALORANT become alluring once again for nitr0? Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS2 news and updates.
