Nivera decides to step down and retire from professional competitive Valorant
Former professional Counter-Strike player Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom has decided to retire from competitive Valorant after a little over two years of play. The player has had quite an explosive career after debuting with his brother Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom in Team Liquid. During his time playing Valorant, Nivera had grown immensely as a player and even gained a strong fan base. Despite the successful start, Valorant’s shifting meta and quick pace caused some trouble for him. Eventually, these issues forced Nivera to step down from the active roster for his new team, Karmine Corp.
So let’s take a look at Nivera’s career and why he decided to retire from Competitive Valorant.
Nivera Retires From Competitive Valorant
Nivera, better known as the little brother of the headshot king, ScreaM, has recently decided to retire from professional Valorant. Both he and his elder brother stuck together during their time in Valorant. Even though Nivera initially wanted to pursue Counter-Strike like ScreaM, he decided to swap Valorant for a chance to play alongside his brother in a reputable org like Team Liquid.
I am officially announcing my departure from the Valorant competitive scene.
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter as I have reached a mutual termination agreement with KC, allowing me to pursue my dreams in CS (Counter-Strike) as a free agent.
The game has always been in…— Nivera (@Nivera__) March 14, 2024
Over the next year, Nivera grew as a player and made a name for himself in the Tier-1 scene. He was famous for his ability to perform and frag-out on support agents. His methodical thinking and strategies also helped him find success as a player. He eventually found his way to Karmine Corp, another team from Europe, alongside his brother.
Despite having tremendous talent and a strong team around him, Nivera could never really reach the top dogs of Valorant and always wandered around to the mid to lower areas of Tier-1. Eventually, the rapid changes to the game and the rise of newer players led Nivera to a rough time during the last few months of his time in Valorant with Karmine Corp. After another year, he decided to retire and go back to pursue his original game, Counter-Strike.
Brother Buff in Team Liquid
Back in September of 2021, Team Liquid announced their plans to add Nivera to the team replacing James “Kryptix” Affleck. This was major news as Nivera’s exploits in Counter-Strike were known to esports fans. He had shown tons of potential and talent. Being the brother of the Headshot King ScreaM, fans were hoping to see him perform on the same level.
Another major aspect of this signing was the brother-buff. Since ScreaM was already playing in Liquid for some time and was one of the top fraggers on the global scene, fans were excited to see the chemistry between the two. Besides ScreaM, he also looked forward to playing with big names like Travis “L1NK” Mendoza and Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, who had also made a name for themselves in the European region.
Even though the team was playing well in their local region, they never were able to perform well in global events. They showed great prowess during the regional qualifiers like the EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers. However in major tournaments like Valorant Champions 2021 and 2022, we saw a major drop in their performance.
Individually Nivera played extremely well, having a strong K/D and Combat Score, but he could not convert that performance with the rest of his team. A continuation of disappointing losses in international events led to both Nivera and ScreaM leaving Team Liquid.
Joining Karmine Corp
Both ScreaM and Nivera joined Karmine Corp after leaving Team Liquid. The team had built this new roster with players like Ryad “sh1n” Ensaad and Alexis “Newzera” Humbert, alongside the two brothers, specifically bringing results in global tournaments. On paper, this seemed like a strong team, a few young guns with two experienced mentors to guide them through the games.
However, the team hit the ground running and failed to live up to expectations. Nivera attended a few major tournaments with the team including LOCK//IN Sao Paulo 2023 and EMEA 2023 LCQ. They weren’t able to stand against many smaller teams with less experienced players and had a long string of losses. Nivera himself performed decently but in the grand scheme of things, was not up to his usual standards.
Eventually, in November of 2023, the org disbanded the roster and the two brothers were inactive from competitive play. Since then ScreaM has decided to place himself back as a free agent looking for teams willing to sign him. Nivera on the other hand decided to retire from the game and plans to make his way back to Counter-Strike.
Nivera’s Future
As of now, there have been no updates on whether Nivera has joined any teams or when he is going to be back in action. All we know is that he wants to return to CS and has officially stepped away from Valorant. Despite not having the best performance during his last few months with Karmine Corp, his raw talent and undeniable potential are still things that fans should look out for. Following in his brother’s footsteps, the young player wants to make a name for himself back in the game that started it all for him.
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