Liquid in talks with Grim; nitr0 to step down - Report
The North American giants have set their sights on the 19-year-old Triumph rifler, who has averaged a 1.34 rating in the past three months.
Liquid have expressed interest in signing Michael "Grim" Wince to replace veteran Nick "nitr0" Cannella, according to a report from DBLTAP. The report alleges that after internal team discussions pivoted towards finding his replacement, nitr0 stepped down from the roster.
Grim has been by far the most promising prospect that is not on a top team in 2020, averaging a 1.31 rating since the start of the year. The most successful period of his career came in recent months as a part of Triumph as he impressed with strong showings against the likes of MIBR, Evil Geniuses, and 100 Thieves in BLAST Premier Showdown and cs_summit 6.
nitr0 is the longest tenured member of Liquid, having been a part of the team's Counter-Strike roster since 2015. He led the team to a win in the second season of the Intel Grand Slam, securing the $1,000,000 prize pool in a record 63 days with victories at IEM Sydney, DreamHack Masters Dallas, ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, and ESL One Cologne in 2019. More recently, Liquid have struggled to post the same calibre of results, ending the season with a third-placed finish in cs_summit 6 to re-enter the top 10 in the world rankings before the player break.
In a comment to Rush B Media, Liquid confirmed that Grim will be a starting member of the team's roster in their upcoming DreamHack Open Summer appearance, set to run from Aug 8-16.
With their new member, Liquid's roster for DreamHack Open Summer is:
Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
Keith "NAF" Markovic
Jake "Stewie2K" Yip
Michael "Grim" Wince
Eric "adreN" Hoag (coach)