Fortnite star mitr0 joins Team Liquid following 2019 contract drama

Fortnite pro player Dmitri ‘Mitr0’ Van de Vrie is taking a big step forward in his young competitive career, signing with Team Liquid for 2020.

The Dutch 17-year-old had a tumultuous, drama-filled end to his 2019, but has set high expectations for himself going into the new year.

For the best Fortnite player to come out of the Netherlands, the long free agency period is over. On January 22, Team Liquid announced that they had signed Mitr0 to their European Fortnite roster.

In the announcement, Liquid’s Fortnite manager Kory Arruda said that he had to reach out “the second [they] heard [Mitro] became a free agent.” There’s good reason for the team to be excited, as Mitr0 has established himself as an excellent player, having won multiple events over the past year and a half as a solo, duos, and squads player.

The Dutch native said in the announcement that “it was always a dream” to be in Liquid, but despite arriving at his dream destination, his journey to Liquid was closer to a nightmare.

• Read more: Fortnite pros Tfue, Mongraal and more back mitr0 amid contract drama

Back in September, #FreeMitr0 started trending after YouTuber ‘TheFortniteGuy’ and Twitch streamer THump alleged that the player was stuck in a bad contract with Team Atlantis. According to them, he was being “grossly underpaid” and was “trapped in a 2-3 year deal with terrible benefits.”

Instagram: Mongraal

Mitr0 teamed with Mongraal and benjyfishy, who then supported him during his Atlantis contract dispute.

Other pros such as Turner ‘Tfue‘ Tenney and Mitr0’s trios teammates in FaZe Clan’s Kyle ‘Mongraal‘ Jackson and NRG’s benjyfishy tweeted out in support of the young pro, and after Team Atlantis released a statement regarding his contract, the two agreed to mutually part ways.

With one of the largest brands in esports now supporting him, Mitr0 has set his expectations high for the 2020 campaign, saying his goal is a “top 3 power rankings spot” and to play well across multiple game modes.

As for the future of the Fortnite game itself, he hopes that he might see the minigun return, calling it “legit the most fun weapon to use.”

• Read more: 6 Fortnite weapons that need to be vaulted in Chapter 2, Season 2

During 2019, Mitr0 won several different events even during his very public departure from Team Atlantis.

This included victories in Solos Cash Cup, Trios Cash Cup and Trios Champion Series with Mongraal and benjyfishy, and a handful of different Squads events to close out the year. He also finished sixth in Duos at the Fortnite World Cup. Not bad for someone who played his first game and “thought it was a sh*t game” that he didn’t play for a month after.