M80: The Last Hope for NA Counter-Strike

American teams have always been significant in the history of CS.

We remember the rise of NRG and Evil Geniuses, the magnificent victory of Cloud9 at ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018, the “golden period” of Liquid from 2016-2019, when the team was a finalist of Cologne 2016, won everything they could and became the holders of Intel Grand Slam.

But unfortunately the North American scene has weakened a lot in recent years due to the lack of promising players on the market and the inability to practice with European teams.

Team Liquid and Complexity no matter how hard they try, they can no longer compete with other Top Teams even after reforming their rosters and signing European players. But in 2023, a brand new American organization called M80 suddenly appears and suddenly becomes a revelation to everyone.

Who is M80?

M80 was founded in late 2022 by Marco Mereu and Nate Schanker.

The organization originally signed a lineup for Rainbow Six Siege, which ultimately failed to live up to its potential.

In 2023, the organization decided to create a Counter-Strike roster and signed WolfY, malbsMd, maNkz, reck and Swisher.

It would seem that the team has literally just been assembled and should at least pass ESEA Advanced to have a chance to break through to the Tier-1/2 scene, but suddenly gets an invite to the US qualification for the new Tier-1/2 tournament Thunderpick and immediately takes 2nd place.

M80 Breakthrough and domination at ECL

Just a month later, the team makes it to ESL Pro League S18 thanks to the fact that the current roster of the team previously representing ATK successfully played at the previous ECL. The team is losing to absolutely all opponents, but is already showing its character.

By the end of 2023, M80 is increasingly solidifying the title of the new mega team in the North American region by winning ECL S46 NA, Mythic Cup and successfully qualifying for ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023.

The year 2024 becomes even more successful for the team, M80 is strengthened by two new German players s1n and slaxz and starts to participate regularly in Tier-1 tournaments such as: IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League S19, IEM Dallas.

As the season progresses, the team becomes the best American team and become 3-time champions of the North American ESL Challenger League destroying all other teams on their way.

The first significant victory for the new team was a win at Thunderpick World Championship 2024: North American Series #1, where M80 beat Nouns 2-0, after that the first discussions about a possible new future Tier-1 representative of North America began to appear on the forums.

New signings and sensational performance at ESL Pro League S20

At the end of the summer, the Guatemalan talent malbsMD, who revealed his potential in M80, suddenly leaves the team for G2.

Many fans and spectators began to speculate who would take the place of the team's main killer. Subsequently, at the next tournament Mason “Lake” Sanderson appeared in the team. Many were absolutely shocked at who was signed by M80.

Lake had never performed even on the Tier-2 stage, playing only in little-known teams at ESEA Advanced.

And the first more significant tournament for the American was launders LAN organized by commentator Mohan Govindasamy, where Lake together with For Fun mix takes 2nd place.

Most people ridiculed this transfer saying what can come out of a low-level player, but they were very wrong, because at the next EPL S20, Lake silenced all the haters.

The first opponent of the M80 was Complexity, who were going through a bad time, but no one had any doubts that the “upstart” M80 would be an easy target for Complexity.

However, suddenly this match became a sensation that stunned the fans of both teams. M80 somehow miraculously beats Complexity 2-0, and Lake demonstrates unreal aim and self-confidence finishing the match with 1.20 rating.

Next on the way of the American team were fnatic, which also did not become a hindrance for M80 and the American organization again won and secured a place in the playoffs.

For all the spectators it was a shock, because such rapid progress and striving for victories does not happen every year and for American fans, M80 became a new hope for the revival of the American scene.

Further the team could not beat MIBR and fell out of the tournament, but it was not important, because M80 had already declared themselves as a competitive team, which will not be easy.

Pre-Major Performances

Thanks to such fantastic feats, M80 began to attract attention and even on HLTV they are constantly discussed. The main difference from 2023 is that now fans expect the team to fight and win.

Right now, the team is actively preparing for the upcoming American RMR, where M80's first opponent will be BOSS.

M80 have a good chance of making it to Shanghai Major 2024 given their potential and dedication, so don't underestimate these guys.

It will be very interesting to watch their performance at RMR!

M80 are the most unique team in NA Counter-Strike history

M80, a team with a great future and this performance that they are demonstrating now is not just an accident, but the excellent work of coaches, analysts and selection.

It is worth noting that M80 has not spent a single cent on buying players in a year. All the players who joined the team were free agents and the fact that each of them showed themselves worthy and lived up to expectations suggests that the organization's game scouts are very competent in selecting players, including from Europe.

It is also impossible not to mention the unusual playing style of the team.

M80 is a team with a very strong morale and the number of overtimes won proves it. So many times, the team made a comeback when it seemed that there was no chance to save themselves!

The second point is cunning and team play. M80 interact very well with each other and in most cases rounds are taken thanks to a competent location on the map. Build-up is a very important part of the match preparation and M80 are setting a good example for other American Tier 2/3 teams.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to note that the M80 may well become the future of North American Counter-Strike and are already confidently moving towards this. It is always interesting to follow the game of this team considering their very little experience on the Tier-1 scene.

I would like to see more such promising teams in Tier-1, but as we know, only the best of the best make it here. Let's wish the guys good luck on RMR and definitely look forward to their performance at the Shanghai Major.

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