North American esports stoppers return from Valorant to CS:GO

The North American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive stars who switched to Valorant are starting to come back bit by bit. After Ricky „floppy“ Kemery went back to his old love, it seems that two other big names are also done with the game from Riot Games.

Nicholas 'nitr0′ Cannella is said to be returning to his old team, the Dutch-tinged Team Liquid. A striking move, as nitr0 is currently still captain of 100 Thieves, one of the most successful North American Valorant teams.

Timothy „autimatic“ Ta also seems to be done with Valorant. Although the team he plays for is not particularly good, it is under contract to T1, one of the largest esports organizations in the world. Despite this, the results are disappointing, and he seems open to returning to the game he once became world champion in.

North American exodus destroys community

The turnaround is unusual because the North American Counter-Strike community was destroyed precisely by the original exodus. Many talented American Counter-Strike players decided to switch to Valorant, or to try to secure a contract in Europe to play Counter-Strike there. The result was that there were hardly any players left in the region, let alone good ones.

This was not surprising, as the region has been known to be relatively weak for ages. In all major Counter-Strike tournaments, only once did an American team win, and that was in 2018. The other 15 tournaments were won by South American or European teams.

A return of top players to the region may well be just the boost the dying community needs to come back to life. While it is already established that nitr0 and floppy are back, it remains to be seen whether autimatic will also change tack. Should he do so, a new great period for the region could begin.