Wildcard shines in Dust2.us' Team of the Month for July 2023

At the beginning of each month, Dust2 commemorates the best players inside the North American Counter-Strike scene by awarding five domestic talents over the three major competitive layers as members of Dust2’s Team of the Month.

This monthly award is handed out to the most impressive tier-one professional North American talents, as well as the best players inside of the second tier, most notably teams competing in the ESL Challenger’s League. Lastly, to highlight the next best upcoming talent inside of the scene, at least one spot is given to the best player in ESEA Advanced over the month.

The aim of this award is not only to continue to spread the good word of some of the best players in the scene today, but also to give a platform of discovery to rising talents who may dominate the servers of tomorrow. As a part of the mission to improve our coverage within the scene, monthly recognition of the best players across the region comes as a natural step in growth.

In our efforts to continue highlighting the performances of the region’s best talents, it is only right that the coaches receive the proper spotlight. Accompanying the five players chosen for the Team of the Month will also be the Coach of the Month, to ensure the mind behind the talent gets its deserved recognition.

Starting the list is familiar name and undisputed king of the TOTM, Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, making his eighth appearance on the list after a rather impressive showing at BLAST Premier Fall Groups. His headlining performances came against G2 and Liquid, with the star rifler averaging nearly 22 frags across the four maps to help his team secure two series wins and a seat at the Fall Final.

The next two selections on the list is the red-hot duo of Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa and Michael "Swisher" Schmid, who are both looking impressive on the server together as a part of the newly put-together M80 roster. The two helped their team qualify for the Thunderpick World Championships, and both touted a 1.15+ rating on the month. With this being their first month together under the banner, things can only go up from here for the two star riflers.

Rounding out the player's portion of the list are the stars of the second stud ECL-level team of Wildcard, a team that also thoroughly impressed during the month. Their sound team performances, which included wins at the Thunderpick qualifiers and ESEA Pre-Season Circuit, were capped off with strong performances by star AWPer Keller "SLIGHT" Nilan and rifler Brett "brett" Rhein. SLIGHT. The two took turns dominating their peers, with SLIGHT closing the Thunderpick qualifiers third in rating. Brett, on the other hand, took care of business in the ESEA Circuit, hitting over a 1.75 rating in matches in both the qualifier and the event.

Wildcard's coach João "horvy" Horvath takes the coach's pick this month with his team's impressive performances in both major lower-tier North American events, winning a seat at the Thunderpick World Championship and securing first at the ESEA Pre-Season Summer Circuit.

Dust2.us’ Team of the Month for July is:

• Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken

• Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa

• Michael "Swisher" Schmid

• Keller “SLIGHT” Nilan

• Brett "brett" Rhein

• João "horvy" Horvath (Coach)