malbsMd: "We are on the same level as Liquid and Complexity"

M80 ended Dallas on an incredibly low note, 0-1 then 0-2 to leave with zero map wins. However, that's fairly in line for the rest of NA's performance at their home event. It was a bad game from their end, but there's still positives to take away from the event and M80's 2024 as a whole. After the eliminating loss, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore spoke with Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa about the matchup and the year.

Please note that the full interview can be found below on YouTube, while the transcript has some key snippets from their conversation.

This was not the ending M80 were likely wanting or expecting here in Dallas. What do you think went wrong in your matches against FaZe and HEROIC?

In both series we had a slow start and MR12 is complicated to be down 5-0 in especially in BO1s. It was a really bad mistake for us not being ready to play.

Why do you think you weren't ready to play? Was it a lack of prep, a busy schedule, or something else?

I don't know, I think we're just tired. We have been playing a lot of matches and traveling a lot. It just got us right now.

Despite the exhaustion and the poor finish to the season, there's a lot to be proud of and excited for in the second half of the year. How are you feeling about the first half of 2024?

We accomplished many of the goals we had for the beginning of the year. We qualified to many events and had good runs at the RMR and EPL and we are happy with what we did but we could've done better at many events. We're on a good path and I'm proud of the boys.

What's going to be the focus for the team in the second half of the year to come back stronger?

We need to manage these kinds of mistakes where we're not ready to play even if we're tired or whatever. We need to be at 100% when it's hard and learn how to make it not be hard or make it so we're all confident and focused and playing.

Also trying to focus on fundamentals and many things that the game gives us. We need to improve a lot and keep working and that's got to be the goal for the other half of the year.

Looking at ECL, do you feel confident in securing another EPL spot for Season 20?

I hope so, we are at a level above most of the NA teams. I don't want to sound cocky or anything but NA is not in a good spot right now but it has been improving but it's still at a bad level. The only good opposition will be the top teams like Nouns and Wildcard. We can hopefully make it to EPL S20.