nitr0: "oSee wasn't a convenience pickup, we wanted to play with Josh"

Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore spoke with Nick "nitr0" Cannella after his NRG side beat GamerLegion 2-0 in the semi-finals at FRAG Miami 2. nitr0 commented on NRG's form at the event, Zack "XotiC" Elshani's departure from the team, and the return of Josh "oSee" Ohm.

Find the video interview below, with a full transcription underneath. All questions and answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

I'm here with nitr0 at Frag Miami 2 following the team's 2-0 win over GamerLegion to lock in a spot in the grand finals. So first, congratulations. It's been a great run from NRG to start the year. How are you feeling coming out of that series over GamerLegion?

It feels good. I like that it's kind of a different vibe playing against European teams versus NA teams, because we play against NA teams a lot more, obviously.

So, it's kind of refreshing to play a new team since we didn't really get that many opportunities to play in Europe last year because we didn't do that well. But yeah, we feel good overall. We know that they have a weird situation with losing a guy, and they picked up a new guy. But we also had a new guy in oSee, so it's kind of just a weird match, but I'm just happy we won it.

You've played with oSee many times over the years. How do you feel he's doing in this tournament? Are you happy with the way he's performing?

Yeah, it's nice to see him in good form. I know he was super motivated to come back and prove that he still has it, and he can still do really well regardless of what happened the summer.

It's kind of a different role transition for us because XotiC wasn't as in tune with how to properly support. He was more like a fragger, I would say, because he just hasn't had much experience in a top team. Whereas nowadays, you know, the AWPer is pretty much the support for most executions, and the AWP is not going to run it.

oSee knows most of our protocols, how to set up and execute, and the small minutiae. It's refreshing in that sense, and we have some chemistry from over the years. It's been nice.

When did you find out XotiC would be leaving the team?

They went to the Major with daps, and then after that, we had a talk with everyone, and he said he wanted to keep playing before changing his mind a few days later. I guess it was in the back of his mind the whole time, trying to balance both and deciding he couldn't do that with all of the travel or whatever. I'm not sure of the exact details, but it was pretty fast, I'd say.

Do you feel the team was prepared for that contingenc,y considering he made it clear that he could leave from the onset? Is it a shame that he's retiring after showing promise with NRG?

We knew picking him up where his mind was at because we were having these discussions. It was hard to pick him up in the first place because he was between work and these things going on in his personal life. We were kind of prepared, we gave it a six-month time span, where if he quit, what would the future look like, because we had to prepare for this season as professionals.

It is sad that he's quitting because he's very talented. If he had been playing since 2016, he would definitely be a top player. He has really good mechanical skill and a really good attitude so it's kind of a shame.

With oSee returning to competition, do you think the time away has been good for him to work on his deficiencies that led to his benching?

It's always nice to take breaks. He's been at it since forever, as long as I've known him. It is very tiring, and it's your whole life when you're playing CS because all you're thinking is the game. In your off-time, you have got to stay warm with your mechanics, you have to practice, PUG, DM.

So it was probably super refreshing for him to take a break, and I can definitely tell he's more motivated than he was before. I'm not saying he wasn't motivated, but you can tell he really wants to be here and prove himself.

It's going to help him a lot individually, too.

Was bringing back oSee a move of convenience for the team, or did the return of oSee come from a conscious place of wanting him back?

We definitely wanted oSee because we knew the value he brought when he's not there. It's easy to see when someone is not there what they provided to the team, and oSee provided a lot of those details that we were missing with XotiC on the team. In order for XotiC to pick up the details that oSee has and the experience it would have taken a really long time.

Whenever oSee gets in his own head, maybe that's what led to his downfall in the summer. Overall it's a super good pickup, especially in the short-term, with the chemistry that we've already built together. oSee wasn't a convenience pickup, we wanted to play with Josh.

oSee has been playing quite well, which is great to see. How are you feeling about the potential rematch against M80?

It's always fun playing them. They were in NA for a while, and we were scrimming only them for two weeks straight. It was pretty close; we beat them, and they beat us. The last time we played we pulled off a reverse sweep on them and before that they beat us at the Major with daps filling in.

It's a rivalry, and while I'm not sure who is going to win between them and 9INE, but if it's M80, it's always going to be a good matchup. It's always a fun time, and they have a new player as well, so who knows what's going to happen.

You're also likely to play in fl0m LAN next week. How are you feeling about your chances at fl0m LAN?

Going to this tournament, our expectations were to do our best because we didn't practice due to the holidays, and it's rough for most teams with stand-ins and new players. I'm happy that we're already here in the final, and I hope we keep it going and win this tournament and carry on into the Vegas LAN. I'm really excited for that LAN, it's going to be fun.

NRG went on to win in the grand finals at FRAG Miami 2, beating 9INE 3-1 to claim the title and the $5,000 grand prize.