M80 announce their CS:GO lineup

One of the most popular organizations in the North American esports scene, M80, announced its Counter-Strike lineup heading into the second half of the season. However, the organization has its sights set on having a dominant team at the start of the new era in CS2.

Recall that M80 is an organization created by Marco Mereu, who was the COO of XSET at the time. This organization took its first steps on the competitive esports scene in 2022 when it formed a truly competitive VALORANT squad. However, as we announced 1 month ago, the organization wanted to build a big and competitive Counter-Strike team, and now it’s a fact.

M80 announce their CS:GO lineup

Through an official statement on their Twitter account, the North American organization, M80, announced their new Counter-Strike lineup for the second part of 2023 and the transition to CS2.

NA Counter Strike has never looked better.

@swishcs 

@reckftp 

@IWolfyCS 

@malbsMd
 @mankzCS 

@dephhgg #BombSquad💣 pic. twitter.com/nGYT1fND3Z

— M80 (@M80gg) July 15, 2023

As We can observe, the lineup is mostly composed of North American players. However, we have that both Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa (Guatemala) and Marcus “maNkz” Kjeldsen (Denmark) are the imported players that will have to show their best level in this new lineup. On the other hand, it is also worth noting that the new Head Coach of the team is a veteran and knowledgeable of the Counter-Strike competitive scene, Rory “dephh” Jackson. Dephh was part of COL in CS:GO and then Sentinels in VALORANT.

The rest of the players are Ethan “reck” Serrano, Michael “Swisher” Schmid, and Adam “WolfY” Andersson, three Americans who have also demonstrated a good level in the competitive scene.

Team Liquid opens doors to new teams in NA

With Team Liquid’s departure from the North American scene by signing a lineup with most European players, many teams have a great opportunity in NA. As a result, many teams have a lot of chances to qualify for the Majors through the regional RMRs. In addition, we all know that the NA scene is relatively easier than the European scene, so these teams can fight side by side for the most coveted spot for teams worldwide.

SyykoNT keeps its word for now

A month ago, M80 announced the addition of Donald “SyykoNT” Muir, former VALORANT Head Coach of Sentinels, as VP of the organization. At the time, SyykoNT mentioned that one of his main goals was to build a great new Counter-Strike squad ahead of the CS2 release.

One of my first projects at M80 will be building a Counter-Strike program. If you are a top CS Player or Coach (any region) and interested in building something new, my DMs are open.

Please RT this tweet, and tag your favorite CS players below that I should be looking at. 💣

— M80 Syyko (@SyykoNT) June 15, 2023

However, this squad lacks big-name players, so it remains to be seen if this is M80’s first step or if this is a very well-planned squad that intends to deliver many surprises. On the other hand, it is also worth noting that one of the most experienced players in this squad is the Guatemalan malbsMd.

malbsMd was part of the best CS:GO squads in South America and even got to play for 00 Nation and LOS + oNe (formerly Team oNe eSports), both of which play many Level A tournaments.

Finally, it is also fair to mention that M80 is making a big effort to strengthen the competitive esports scene. The organization has teams in VALORANT, Counter-Strike, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six: Siege. However, this is just the beginning, as it is more than clear that the organization wants to expand as much as possible.

Header: M80