Team Vitality CS:GO player Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom is set to trial with Team Liquid’s VALORANT division to form a six-man roster, multiple sources told Upcomer and VLR.gg.
The organization will trial Nivera in place of James “Kryptix” Affleck. Nivera’s role on the team, however, remains unclear.
Nivera’s move to Liquid was reported by journalist Guillaume “neL” Rathier back in May. While some of the players were unaware of the move at the time, it was later revealed that Nivera would have signed to the roster as a back-up for Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen if he decided to leave the team and return to CS:GO, as Upcomer reported.
Nivera will team up with his brother Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom on Team Liquid, if the move goes through. While Nivera is yet to play professional VALORANT, his brother made the switch in August last year to become one of the best players in Europe. The ‘headshot machine’ has proven himself as one of the best duelists in the region with over 250 average combat score on Agents like Jett and Reyna in the last 30 days, according to VLR.gg.
Team Liquid’s road to Champions
Team Liquid has around a month to practice until the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, which is set to begin on Oct. 10. Team Liquid failed to defeat Gambit in the third round of the lower bracket during VCT Stage 3 EMEA Challengers Playoffs, which ensured Liquid could not automatically qualify for Champions, the biggest VALORANT event of the year.
With the loss to Gambit, Team Liquid failed to ensure qualification for VCT Masters in Berlin, Germany. Gambit would later go on to win the event while Acend, SuperMassive Blaze and G2 qualified for Masters, which is set to begin Friday, Sept. 10, and conclude on Sept. 19. This international event will allow one team to qualify for Champions.
If Nivera joins Team Liquid, the organization would field the following roster:
- Kryptix
- Nivera
- ScreaM
- Jamppi
- Travis “L1NK” Mendoza
- Dom “soulcas” Sulcas
- Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield (coach)
- Jake “Bacon9” Lloyd (analyst)
