M80’s impressive showing in Malta at ESL Pro League Season 19 brought a great deal of attention to the massive talent and potential future star of NA CS2 – malbsMD. The 21-year-old rifler has been killing it on the server for a long time now, and it’s time he got some recognition from the Counter-Strike community. But who is malbsMD?
Credit: M80
malbsMD started making a name for himself at the tail end of 2021 playing under the Brazilian organization TeamOne. The then-18-year-old was the team’s star player, outshining his teammates and dominating the local competition, which netted him a move to 00NATION at the beginning of 2022. The Guatemalan rifler joined coldzera’s squad together with Try, another young talent, in hopes of making 00NATION a competitive South American team. Unfortunately, the roster didn’t click, and after eight months malbsMD returned to TeamOne.
For another year, malbsMD put in great performances on Brazilian soil, before M80 took notice and secured his signature. Since then, the NA-German mix has seen a lot of success, with impressive performances at ESL Pro League Season 19 and in regional qualification tournaments.
On the individual front, malbsMD has been simply unplayable in 2024. The Guatemalan rifler averages a ludicrous 1.33 rating across the past three months, including a 1.28 rating over 17 maps against tier-one opposition at ESL Pro League Season 19 (the sixth-highest in the whole tournament). He’s one of the main reasons why M80 managed to beat G2 and stay competitive in their rematch.
Thanks to malbsMD’s incredible performances in online qualifiers over the past few months, NA fans will get to see a whole lot more of M80 at tier-one events – the first one being on home soil, with IEM Dallas starting at the end of May. Furthermore, M80 recently beat Liquid to book themselves a ticket to Riyadh to the Esports World Cup, where they’ll get to battle the best teams in the world over a share of the biggest prize pool in Esports history.
However, there is a chance that a big NA or international organization will come knocking on M80’s door and want to buy out the Guatemalan sensation. While they’d probably have to pay a hefty price, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Considering malbsMD’s profile as a player – aggressive, impactful, playmaker – a couple of top teams could use his services.
If he wanted to stay in North America, Team Liquid would be the perfect destination. The legendary organization isn’t in a great place at the moment and one of the biggest critiques of their roster has been the disappointing form of YEKINDAR, who plays near-identical roles to malbsMD. The Guatemalan’s addition would preserve the identity of the org, with the majority of the team being from North America, while simultaneously improving the squad and lowering its average age.
Another option would be an international team like Falcons. The Saudi organization is yet to find success after their big money moves in late 2023 and an injection of youth in the star-player roles might be exactly what they need to rejuvenate the squad and start winning some games.
Whatever malbsMD decides to do next, he’s a player worth watching and following his career closely.
Read next: Best CS2 players in 2024 | Top 5 CS2 players
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