MSL announces his retirement from CS:GO competitive scene

While it is true that with the imminent arrival of CS2, many veteran players are planning to return to the Counter-Strike competitive scene, others are simply tired and are moving away from it.

That is the case of Danish IGL veteran Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen, who, at the age of 28, announced his imminent retirement as a professional Counter-Strike player. The Dane also said that his “next adventure” would be away from CS2, but, at the same time, he does not rule out returning to the scene in the future.

MSL may not be one of the best-known players in the scene, but those of us who have followed CS:GO since its inception know this Danish player’s quality and intelligence. In addition, he also led his teams to win several major tournaments, such as DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 and Sweden DreamHack Open Summer 2019.

MSL announces his retirement from the competitive Counter-Strike scene

Via his personal Twitter/X account, Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen announced his retirement from the competitive Counter-Strike scene. As a result, MSL ended a career that began in Counter-Strike: Source between 2011-12. In addition, the 28-year-old Dane mentioned that his next project would be outside of Counter-Strike, but he does not close the door on a return in the future.

I have decided to retire.

Im happy that I made my hobby into my work and later my dreams into reality by winning trophies.

Thanks to teammates, coaches, management(some of them 😉), fans and family.

You can read a longer version on IG, but for now.

Thank you @CounterStrike pic.twitter. com/r3BSa3FeM6

— Mathias Lauridsen (@MSLcsgo) September 21, 2023

In the official statement shared by MSL on Instagram, the Danish IGL mentions that the next step in his career would be to become Head Coach of some team. However, he also points out that he wants to leave the scene to dedicate himself to “something else.”. Finally, in the post, he mentions that he may “come back at some point.”

About MSL

As mentioned, MSL started his professional career in Valve’s shooter in the Counter-Strike: Source era before jumping to CS:GO in its early days with Blight Gaming. However, the first major team he joined was Anexis eSports at the end of 2012.

Since then, the Dane was part of many lineups globally, among which we can mention big teams like OpTic Gaming, Dignitas, North, Copenhagen Wolves, and Rogue. In addition, the Danish IGL played 9 Majors and won 7 top-level tournaments, including DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018, where he won the MVP.

On the other hand, MSL also helped develop great Danish players today, such as Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke and Emil “Magisk” Reif.

However, in the later stages of his career, MSL was far removed from the Tier 1 scene in CS:GO, as he could not find an opportunity in any big teams. As a result, it’s quite possible that the player’s momentum and motivation started to wane in recent months.

Now, we at Fragster wish MSL the best of success in his new adventures and, of course, hope to see him back in the competitive Counter-Strike scene, either as a player or as a Head Coach.

Header: Stephanie “Vexanie” Lindgren | DreamHack