Shroud Announces Retirement from Competitive CS:GO
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek, one of North America’s most popular esports personalities, revealed on Twitter today that he is retiring from competitive Counter-Strike. Along with his retirement, shroud is also parting ways with the Cloud9 organization. Although he will no longer compete, shroud will continue streaming on his Twitch channel.
The Journey of a Professional Gamer
Shroud expressed his thoughts on becoming a professional video game player through a heartfelt tweet: “There isn’t a rule book for how to become a professional video game player. You don’t grow up planning for it, or even knowing it’s an option. Honestly, it’s the kind of ride that you pinch yourself during to make sure you’re not dreaming it up. When you’re young, just playing because you love it, you don’t plan on ‘going pro,’ you just want to beat your friends or the boss character. And then you wake up one day, and you’re trying to figure out how to write a retirement statement.”
Shroud’s Legacy
As a support player for Cloud9, shroud was renowned for his role as one of the best site anchors in the world. Despite occasionally receiving less attention compared to his teammates, his charisma both in-game and off-screen kept fans eagerly awaiting more shroud highlights. Shroud also earned the title of the “King of Reddit” on the /r/GlobalOffensive subreddit, as even the smallest entertaining stream clips captivated audiences and made it to the front page.
During his time with Cloud9 from 2015 to 2017, shroud contributed to several successful rosters that put North America on the world stage. He played alongside esteemed NA players such as Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert, Sean “sgares” Gares, and Ryan “fREAKAZOID” Abadir. He was also part of the C9 lineup, including Jake “Stewie2k” Yip, Tim “autimatic” Ta, and Tyler “skadoodle” Latham, that clinched victory at the ELEAGUE Boston Major in January. However, shroud and n0thing were subsequently replaced by Tarik Celik and Will “RUSH” Wierzba after the PGL Krakow Major last August, thus marking the end of an era in NA Counter-Strike.
During his retirement announcement, shroud stated, “Yesterday’s stream was my last as a part of the C9 organization. As of today, I am officially retiring from competitive Counter-Strike… Over the past four months alone, you [the fans] have spent over 1.3 billion minutes watching me do what I love doing. You are the reason I can take this leap, and why I can’t wait to take it to the next level.”
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