Official: M80 sign Lake

M80 have officially signed one of America's brightest prospects to a full-time contract with the organization. Mason "Lake" Sanderson has been selected as the newest member of the starting lineup and the replacement for Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa, after the Guatemalan star was acquired by G2 on June 28th. Lake's addition to the roster comes after Dust2.us first reported that M80 were targeting the Carpe Diem player for the Esports World Cup.

Lake has played with Carpe Diem for the majority of 2024 and it was during this time that Lake really popped onto the radar of many NA CS viewers where he has performed admirably. During his time with the team in the domestic NA scene this year, Lake posted a 1.13 Rating alongside a 1.32 Impact rating and 85.2 ADR. His solid performances awarded Lake with a spot on Dust2.us' Best Players of ECL S47.

Despite his near complete lack of LAN matches, Lake has been floated by the community as a malbsMd replacement not only for his stat line but also his play style. Lake attempted nearly 30% of his team's opening duels during the latest ECL season, showcasing an aggressive side that M80 lacks with the departure of malbsMd.

"Our decision to pick up Lake stays in line with our original goal of finding talent within the region and developing them in a European system," head coach Rory "dephh" Jackson told Dust2.us. "We want to be a team both regions can get behind, and we will continue driving development and progression through our system, including traveling to Europe to play against the best before each tournament. The team is currently bootcamping with Lake in Katowice, Poland, in preparation for the Esports World Cup."

"With Mario departing to G2, it presents a unique opportunity to bring a young, high-firepower rifler into the star roles of a high-performing team in a forged-by-fire development path, where he will bootcamp in Europe, play under a European IGL, and compete against the top teams in the world," Donald "SyykoNT" Muir, VP of Esports explained. "Dephh has managed to develop these players well and get the best out of them, and I have faith in his ability to turn Lake into the next great North American talent."

The move to M80 will clearly be Lake's biggest challenge yet as he has never played on a team of this caliber. His prior teams include Unjustified, Snakes Den.

M80's roster is now:

• Michael "Swisher" Schmid

• Ethan "reck" Serrano

• Fritz "slaxz-" Dietrich

• Elias "s1n" Stein

• Mason "Lake" Sanderson

• Rory "dephh" Jackson (Coach)

M80 will work to prepare Lake for his first international LAN event at the Esports World Cup, which is set to begin next week as M80 takes on Vitality at 10:30AM.