nitr0 to step down from Liquid after IEM Dallas, future unclear

The captain leaves the active roster just weeks after Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis began to take over in-game leadership in the squad.

Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella has announced that he has stepped down from Liquid's active roster, citing a busy travel schedule as the reason. The 27-year-old further shared his future is unclear and said IEM Dallas, set to run on May 29-June 4, would be his last tournament in CS:GO.

"I have been traveling constantly for 8-9 years and it has been amazing, but I am at a different stage in my life now with a growing family," nitr0 said. "While I highly enjoy competing and would love to continue playing competitively, the amount of travel has become too much, so I have decided to step down with IEM Dallas being my last tournament in CS:GO."

Date	Matches
IEM Dallas 2023
29/05/2023	Liquid 22:05 Astralis	Match

"I don't know what the next chapter of my life will hold, but in the near future, I plan to begin streaming & see where it takes me."

The change follows Liquid's up-and-down campaign at the BLAST.tv Paris Major. The team recovered from a 0-2 start in the Challengers Stage and made it all the way to the quarter-finals, where they were ultimately upset by Apeks.

During the tournament, members of the team revealed that YEKINDAR had begun to take over leadership from nitr0 on some maps, as the former IGL had been unable to participate in a portion of their bootcamp leading up to the Paris Major due to the birth of his second child.

Read more

daps: "For this tournament YEKINDAR is IGL and nitr0 is second IGL [on some maps]"

The captain departs the active roster after nearly a year and a half. He rejoined Liquid for a second stint with the organization in early 2022 as part of an overhaul of the roster alongside Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon and Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm.

In the early months the team struggled for results until their fortunes turned with the mid-year arrival of YEKINDAR, with whom they achieved several deep runs, including runners-up finishes at ESL Pro League Season 16 and BLAST Premier World Final and top-four placings at the BLAST Premier Fall Final and IEM Katowice.

Liquid have:

Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski
Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic
Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm
Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis

Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele (coach)

Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella (stepped down)