(Photo: ELEAGUE)

VPEsports had the chance to talk with Nick “nitr0” Cannella as his team prepares for the upcoming IEM Katowice Major. The 4-year Team Liquid player and now in-game leader spoke of the recent roster change, the drain of battling Astralis, the life of a married professional gamer and more.

Team Liquid recently saw the departure of Wilton “zews” Prado and Epitácio “TACO” de Melo from the lineup. The coach and player would join MIBR while MIBR’s Jake “stewie2k” Yip would transition into the Liquid roster. In place of zews, Eric “adreN” Hoag would return to the organization, this time as coach of the squad.

You can read the full interview below:

VPE: With the recent changes to the roster and now some time under your belt practicing with stewie and adreN, can you share your thoughts on the positives gained from the swap? What does the team gain with the new additions?

nitr0: I think the addition of adreN and Stewie is going to be really great for us. Having adreN will help bring a different style of in game leading to me: a more methodical approach. When EliGE and I were upcoming players in the North American scene, adreN molded us into the players we are today. He passed on his previous knowledge of counter-strike that he gained over playing all the different versions and helped develop us as players. Stewie is an amazing player, he is actually more than what I expected. The way he approaches the game from being on two completely different styled teams helps figure out the kinks in our gameplay. He is still fitting into our system, but at the same time we are taking what he says and reinventing our gameplay as a unit.

VPE: On the flip side, what do you think the team lost or will suffer from with the departure of taco?

nitr0: I think we lost a very great person in Taco. Taco brought a lot to the team in terms of his ability to single-handedly anchor a site, or having ideas on how to end certain rounds. With him being Brazilian, we all had our cultural differences, but aside from a few hiccups in our run with him, it was an amazing time having played alongside him. He was a great person in and out of game, and I have nothing but good words to speak of him.

VPE: When it is all said and done, in your own mind do you think Team Liquid will be better or worse?

nitr0: All in all, I think Team Liquid will be better because we’ve been on an uphill trend in 2018 and we will keep building on what we have already created. We have encountered so many adversities, and I truly think it has built us up in character and in the game itself. This game is all about how you approach your problems, and I think with the help of zews, we’ve finally created a system that works out for everyone involved.

VPE: I’m curious, what was it like when zews and taco approached the team wanting to leave? I suspect it must have been somewhat like being blindsided. What did you think then versus how do you think now in regards to the situation?

nitr0: Without getting into too much detail, we found out they really wanted to leave once it was too late to give our opinions, so we just started looking at our options right then and there. It was definitely an emotional conversation, but at the end of the day it is still a business. However, we completely understood why they wanted to leave once they explained themselves and we wished them the best of luck!

VPE: Astralis has been the Liquid kryptonite for quite some time now. What has the morale in the team been like when it comes to that? It has to get frustrating when the same opponent seems to escape your time and time again.

nitr0: It is extremely heartbreaking to keep losing to the same opponent multiple times, sometimes at the same tournament. We fixed our mistakes from previous matchups, and then when we would play them, they would exploit gaps in our gameplay and it kept on happening throughout the whole year. Them being as good as they are on nuke really hindered our confidence going into a best of three against them. With us having to permanently ban train, it left nuke open and they would pick it every time, and win every time. At the ESL Pro League Finals, we finally prepared for train and it paid off, at least for the first map in the best of five.

VPE: With all the roster moves taking place in North America as compLexity, Cloud9, Ghost, and others make moves – who do you see coming out as the second and third best teams in North America behind you guys?

nitr0: I personally don’t really like ranking teams because I feel like any team can beat any team in North America. Domestic matchups are usually a bit different because these teams are constantly practicing against each other. I think C9 and NRG will still be the second and third best teams for now.

VPE: Moving on to you in particular, you’ve gone through a lot of changes during your time on Liquid. Entry, in-game leader, AWP – what has that been like? Do you always welcome it with open arms or has it sometimes felt more like a sacrifice and something you’d wished you could have avoided?

nitr0: I get asked this a lot, and I will always answer the same way: I will do whatever it takes to win. I don’t care if I have good stats, if I am the star player, if I have to awp.. I will do whatever it takes, or my team thinks I should be doing. Right now, my team thinks I will have the most impact as the in-game leader/awper, so that’s what I am doing. When we had stanislaw on the team, I actually vouched to take on the in-game leader role because I felt like he was a really good lurker, and the mid gaming felt off because he wanted to lurk. Ever since then I have been the in-game leader.

VPE: You have a bit of a different life compared to many professional gamers and CS:GO players. Given the age of a lot of players and the lifestyle lived, relationships are hard to come by it seems. As a married man, how do you handle the workload, travel, expectations, and live life as a husband? How does your wife handle it?

nitr0: I have been with my wife since I was 13 years old, and I am 23 now, so she completely understands me as a person. I was a sophomore in college when I first started playing CSGO semi-seriously, and I will never forget when Brax (swag) messaged me to attend DreamHack Winter 2014 with them. I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. It was a very difficult conversation with my wife because I had never traveled before besides to Dallas for an ESEA LAN in counter-strike 1.6, so I was very uneducated with that part of life. Going abroad was very nerve-wracking and I’ll never forget how happy I was when I first saw my teammates in the airport in Sweden. But it is very difficult to balance the relationship and travel 65%+ of the year, but we make it work. Nonetheless, she fully supports me and sometimes goes to tournaments.

VPE: Lastly, how have things changed for you over your career? I know this is a loaded question and I’d love to get way more in-depth about it with you at a later time. In general though, what are the big things you’ve noticed that have changed for you as a player and person since you became a professional Counter-Strike competitor?

nitr0: The number one thing I have noticed is the player treatment. These tournament providers, such as ESL and ECS, do an excellent job at keeping players happy and it is truly life changing when going to these tournaments, especially abroad. I have noticed there’s more of a grind from younger players with the addition of FPL and Rank S in the past couple of years, which is truly awesome to see. I love when younger players come to me and ask questions because it means they’re willing to learn. It makes me feel great, like a role model and I love that feeling.