Nitr0 is coming back to VALORANT just months after ending CS:GO career

Famed North American esports star Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella is reportedly returning to the VALORANT sphere by joining popular second-tier squad M80.

The move, which was first reported by VALORANT journalist Max Katz on Twitter today, marks the first new player signing for the M80 roster after a successful debut season in tier two VALORANT, despite just losing their ticket to franchising to The Guard.

Nitr0 originally played for 100 Thieves VALORANT before walking away from the Riot Games shooter in 2021. He returned to Counter-Strike that same year and played several more seasons before hanging up the CS:GO keyboard last May. Since then, he’s been relatively inactive in the professional esports space—until now.

Nitr0 has an extensive history in esports, most notably for his success for Team Liquid in CS:GO from 2016 to 2019. With TL he garnered plenty of success, especially in 2019 when the squad won five major titles, including the Intel Extreme Masters XIV in Chicago.

After starting 2020 with several rocky performances he announced his retirement from CS:GO and his move to VALORANT, joining 100 Thieves.

During his 100T tenure nitr0 primarily played smokes but flexed when needed. One of the best examples of his flexibility was when he ran Jett against one of the world’s best duelists, cNed, at Masters Berlin in 2021. Down 12-7 on the final map, he started a comeback by getting rid of cNed’s Operator only to use it right back at him.

That proved to be one of his final highlight reel moments as he soon retired from VALORANT and returned to both Liquid and his original esport of CS:GO.

Nitr0 earned the nickname Captain America through his esports achievements, which continued after he returned to TL when they ran second place at the BLAST Premier World Final at the tail end of the 2022 CS:GO season.

Following an early exit from IEM Dallas in 2023, the NA star announced he would stream and think about his future.

With this recent report, it seems he’s returning to an esport for the second time in his career. M80 proved their worth, and a majority of their team is sticking around to help accommodate Captain America into their squad, with the aim of potentially reaching the top of tier two VALORANT and winning it all this time.