M80 slip in battle of the Americas
It was a disappointing end for the list of Americans at ESL Pro League Season 20 as M80 fall to the hands of MIBR in the quarterfinals of the Malta event. M80 follow Complexity out of the event, but will take a number of positives away as they can hold claim to a Top 8 finish at one of the premier events of the year.
It was a brutal match for M80 as they struggled to hold back Rafael "saffee" Costa who produced one of the most ridiculous opening matches in recent memory. The Brazilian AWPer single-handedly carried his team to a dominate opening as he started the match 28-2 - yes, just two single deaths while claiming nearly thirty kills. Despite all of the that, MIBR were only able to tie it up on the first half on their pick of Anubis. It was the second half where MIBR really closed up shop as they jumped out to a 12-6 lead before eventually closing it out 13-10.
M80's pick of Ancient was also a tough showing for the American squad. They had a back and forth first half with M80 not making a convincing case to turn the tide in the series. The second half made things even worse as MIBR once more reached match point with M80 stuck at just six rounds. While M80 tried their hardest to force an overtime, MIBR were simply the better team as the Brazilians closed it out 13-8 to secure a 2-0 victory, sending M80 home.
M80MIBR| M80 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elias 's1n' Stein |
27 - 33 | -6 | 70.1 | 61.4% | 0.84 |
| Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich |
23 - 28 | -5 | 56.2 | 59.1% | 0.84 |
 Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
24 - 33 | -9 | 58.5 | 59.1% | 0.79 |
| Mason 'Lake' Sanderson |
20 - 33 | -13 | 59.7 | 59.1% | 0.78 |
| Ethan 'reck' Serrano |
22 - 37 | -15 | 61.4 | 59.1% | 0.71 |
| MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
43 - 19 | +24 | 92.0 | 79.5% | 1.54 |
| Felipe 'insani' Yuji |
38 - 25 | +13 | 98.7 | 81.8% | 1.46 |
| André 'drop' Abreu |
27 - 25 | +2 | 71.0 | 75.0% | 1.14 |
| Raphael 'exit' Lacerda |
26 - 20 | +6 | 66.2 | 81.8% | 1.11 |
| Breno 'brnz4n' Poletto |
30 - 29 | +1 | 77.2 | 75.0% | 1.10 |
As for M80, this isn't the end of the road just yet, but rather the start of their season. The team still need to play in ESL Challenger League Season 48 and in the ESL Challenger Atlanta LAN this October. The team have also qualified for the Thunderpick World Championships in Europe next month.
