100 Thieves sign former CSGO pro Nitr0 to bolster Valorant roster

Nick ‘nitr0′ Cannella has found his home in Valorant two weeks after leaving the CS:GO scene, as the the talented IGL will be joining the 100 Thieves’ Valorant team to bolster up the squad.

Nitr0 was the rock of Team Liquid’s CS:GO roster. The jack-of-all-trades had a five-year stint with the organization, filling every role whenever the team needed him to.

He decided to leave the CS:GO server for one last time in late July, dropping himself from Liquid’s main roster, with young gun Michael ‘grim’ Wince has since come up to replace him.

Now, it’s been officially announced that nitr0 will be taking his talents to 100 Thieves, this time in Valorant, Riot Game’s hit new multiplayer FPS.

With his future up in the air after leaving Liquid, nitr0 turned to Valorant, which has emerged as a direct competitor to CS:GO, and caught the eye of the Counter-Strike veteran. Numerous teams were reportedly interested in picking him up, but he seems to have found his match with 100 Thieves.

100T were the definite front-runners to pick up Liquid’s former IGL before the news broke. The two parties were in “deep discussion” over his signing, with nitr0 rumored to be in line for an estimated salary of $250,000 to $300,000.

• Read more: Valorant pro TenZ suggest perfect nerf for Operator

It couldn’t come at a better time for 100 Thieves, either. The team has struggled with their PUBG-based core plus Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin, falling to 13-16th in the most recent Ignition Series event, the FaZe Clan Invitational.

100 Thieves owner Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag also mentioned earlier in the week before the signing was announced that the organization was looking to transform their competitive lineups across all games, including Valorant.

There would arguably be no better duo to kick-start that process than nitr0 and Hiko. The two go way back ⁠— from an age gone by in CS:GO, playing together on Team Liquid from late 2015 to early 2017, until Hiko eventually departed for Rogue.

• Read more: Valorant Rostermania: all teams and players

Now that the arrival of nitr0 is a done deal, it will be very interesting to watch and see if it’s enough to change 100 Thieves fortunes in the Ignition series and make them into the Valorant powerhouse fans are hoping for.