After a brief search for an experienced professional to lead his competitive Apex Legends team, Nicholas “NICKMERCS” Kolcheff, the popular streamer and co-owner of FaZe Clan, has settled on Eric “Snip3down” Wrona.
Though Snip3down just left TSM’s competitive Apex team to play in the booming Halo Infinite scene, he’ll now pull double duty and play both games professionally.
Snip3down had been on a short list of candidates since the beginning of the team’s search for a third player, according to NICKMERCS. “The issue with Snip3 was that we were trying to make sure he has time to play,” NICKMERCS said, explaining the rationale behind the decision in a recent stream. “The [competitive] schedules don’t conflict at all.”
Snip3down is a decorated esports veteran, widely considered to be one of the greatest Halo players of all time. In December 2021, Snip3down tearfully bid farewell to the professional Apex scene to return to his roots and compete in Halo Infinite. “This was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life, knowing what I was leaving behind,” he said, reflecting on his choice in a farewell video from TSM. “You never know what’s going to happen, but you’ve got to sometime take risks in your life, and I’m doing that, and I’m excited to see where it leads me.”
He and his teammates were subsequently recruited by FaZe Clan and came in third place at the HCS Raleigh LAN tournament in December.
While his Halo career is going extremely well so far, he hasn’t lost a step in Apex. Snip3down was invited to a $50,000 tournament this month and handily won, teaming with another Halo pro.
Though Snip3down is now signed to FaZe, while he played Apex, he was probably best known for his time as a member of the dominant TSM roster. It’s likely that he’ll find himself competing against his former teammates in the coming months, who are fresh off a big win of their own with a victory in the $250,000 NA ALGS playoff series.
While there was apparently a lot of interest from other players in Apex eager to jump at the opportunity to play on a squad with the popular streamer, Snip3down’s achievements and contract status made him a clear choice for NICKMERCS and his relatively inexperienced squad. “We had some great people hit us up,” Nick said. “Snip3down, his accolades, his achievements, the things he’s done, it’s hard to say no to that. Plus, he’s on FaZe.”
