Nifty returns to server after 23 months
After almost two years without a single match played, former Envy AWPer, Noah "Nifty" Francis, was spotted on the server in an unlikely location — ESEA Advanced. The 24-year-old AWPer, most known for his time on Renegades, took to the server last night with ESEA Advanced squad PreGaming in their regular season match against Frag Machines.
Nifty's sudden return to the server comes as something of a surprise as the player had largely faded into obscurity following the demise of the ill-fated Envy roster in early 2021. In the past year, Nifty largest contribution to the scene actually came as a broadcast analyst when he joined the desk for BLAST Premier Spring Showdown alongside Danny "mahone" Hsieh and Jacob "Pimp" Winneche.
Despite being relatively radio silent about his future on Twitter, Nifty does still seem interested in having a playing career, posting in early 2022 that he was looking for a team for the PGL Antwerp Major. This advertisement seemingly failed to net Nifty any notable offers, with the player returning to inactivity.
As such, Nifty's liaison with PreGaming comes as quite a surprise, but it has a fairly heartwarming story behind it. PreGaming player louie told Dust2.us that he reached out to Nifty on a whim back in July asking if he would be interested in helping coach them. Despite the unlikely chances, Nifty said he would be interested and has since been helping them as an unofficial coach.
Nifty told louie that part of the reason he decided to help PreGaming was due to his own experiences of high-tier players and coaches being unwilling to assist up and coming players when he was new in the scene. As such, while he's looking for offers to return to playing, Nifty has decided to give back and help a new batch of players in the scene.
Unfortunately for Nifty, his first match in 23 months didn't go quite as planned as while standing in for Nicholas "NICKHALDEN" Koehler last night, PreGaming suffered a 16-19 loss to Frag Machines.
PreGaming currently have a 2-3 record in ESEA Advanced and are looking to improve their record when they take on Resurgence on November 9th at 09:30PM.
You can watch Nifty's first match in two years here, courtesy of the PreGaming Twitch channel.
