nitr0 on the addition of Sonic: "We needed a player who understood the game at the highest level"

Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore caught up with Nick "nitr0" Cannella after his NRG side defeated GameHunters 2-0 in the quarterfinals at Fragvill 2025.

nitr0 commented on the addition of Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek from Wildcard, the removal of Carson "nosraC" O'Reilly, and his memories of playing against Marcelo "coldzera" David.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube, with the entirety of it transcribed just underneath that. All questions and answers have been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Good win over the Brazilians, how do you feel coming out of that series against GameHunters?

We feel good overall. We know that every match we play right now really counts towards the VRS system. The last prediction I saw is that we are around 80% for the Major. That's the main goal, that's why most teams are here. It was a really important win; losing that would have hurt our run going into the Major. A very good win for us.

Obviously, we're gonna have some sloppy rounds here and there because we have limited practice with Sonic so far. But, overall, Sonic has probably been the easiest player that we've picked up in terms of understanding how we play and our structure. His main attribute is that he's really good at understanding and gap-filling, which is a really crucial role for someone to have when joining a team.

You answered my next question there, regarding the decision to pick up Sonic. What was the main consideration when you picked him up?

Sonic has been on our radar for a while now. We always thought that he was very good. We know he quit the game for a little bit, then came back with this stanislaw roster. I've been playing against and with him forever now. I just know that he's a really good person. He has a great understanding of the game; he's done pretty much every role and played every spot.

At this level, it's really good to have a player like that because then we can see and fit other players into roles they might be more comfortable in, because Sonic can fill those gaps for us. He's a really good player, really easy to get along with, and a good friend.

In some regards, he's the second-most experienced player on this roster. For a while there, you were a pretty young roster after moving away from HexT and Brehze. Sonic has had an extensive career, whether it was with Cloud9, Envy, or Wildcard.

Was that experience something you were looking to leverage when bringing him into the team?

Yes, for sure, because we weren't feeling the progression that we wanted to feel with the newer players. We felt like we needed a player who understood the game at the highest level and had more experience overall. So far, he's exactly what we wanted, and I think everyone is surprised at how he is in-game as well. He knows how he wants to play, which is the most important thing. He's bringing his ideas of what has worked in his past and from his recent experience in Wildcard. We just needed someone who knows how they wanted to play and is very confident about it. That's exactly what we got in Sonic.

On the other side of the equation, he comes in to replace nosraC, who ends a relatively short two-month stint with NRG. What can you tell me about the decision to remove him?

It's hard to say. It's just the opportunity cost of the availability of Sonic. We were interested in Sonic in the summer. Then he had the whole thing with Wildcard, where he couldn't leave the team. It was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up, so that was the main reason.

Any thoughts about nosraC's future prospects after leaving the team?

He's definitely talented; he's been around for a long time. I was very surprised by his work ethic, it was very good. He knew how he wanted to play the game, but he has a bit less experience than Sonic. He's very easy to get along with in a team environment. He wasn't necessarily bad for us; we just saw more opportunity with Sonic.

With this change, you're chasing an elusive Fragadelphia trophy. You finished top-four in Vegas earlier this year, losing to NIP, and top-eight at Frag 19 after losing to BLUEJAYS (now SkinRave). Now, you're heading to the semi-finals, either facing ODDIK or SkinRave. What are your thoughts on those two potential matchups?

I haven't watched any of ODDIK's games, so it's hard for me to give an opinion on them. We've played SkinRave a bunch online; they got us at the last Frag, so we are looking for a bit of revenge. There's some vengeance that we want to get back after losing to them. I think either team would be a good matchup for us.

We joked before the interview about the possibility of ODDIK winning, which would mean a nitr0 vs. coldzera match at an NA LAN. This would be a weird moment at a Fragadelphia LAN, especially after you faced off in Majors all those years ago. Any thoughts on potentially facing coldzera tomorrow for the first time in a long time?

It's cool, now that I'm a bit older, it's really cool to look back at my history in the game over the last ten years. I try not to think about coldzera as much because some moments were good and some were bad. I haven't really watched him recently because he's been in Brazil. I think he's AWPing on his team now. I said hello to him and stuff.

If coldzera is AWPing, with that in mind, are going to let him go to Mirage tomorrow?

No, we're definitely gonna be mollying van at the beginning of every round.