malbsMd: "My form makes me feel super proud because I came from NA"

Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa's road to qualifying for a Major has been long and filled with heartbreak as Guatemala's sole professional player has come up short at four previous RMR events in the Americas, most recently missing out on the PGL Copenhagen Major by a few rounds at the start of the year. However, all of that struggle and toil has paid off as malbsMd has finally locked in a Major with G2 and has made history as the first player from his home country to do so.

This has come off the back of malbsMd making an impressive transition to tier-one play with G2, having helped elevate the star-studded roster to two big trophies and the potential to take home the final Major of 2024. Following his triumphant qualification to the Perfect World Shanghai Major, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore spoke with malbsMd about his long road to qualification, the shock loss to 3DMAX in the 3-0 match, what it means to the first Guatemalan to qualify to the Major, and his thoughts on being immortalized in the game with a sticker, among other topics.

To start, how do you feel about qualifying for your first Major on your fifth attempt?

It feels really good, instantly when we won I felt an instant relief in my chest. It's an amazing experience and I'm really happy and proud that I finally made it.

Your road to the Major was complicated by that shock loss to 3DMAX yesterday, what do you think went wrong against the French underdogs?

We had a really chill time on Anubis, it was controlled by us and we were really prepared, but then on Dust2 we had some complications because they were playing super aggro and we didn't know how to counter it. That was the first problem, we didn't know how to play against their aggression and we lost a lot of entries. We weren't getting enough map control super early so it was really hard on that part.

On Ancient, we were up 11-8 and then we didn't manage to close it out. It wasn't in our favor anyways so it was a hard match because we shouldn't have been up 11-8 because of how many force rounds we won and that kind of stuff. They were playing really good honestly and they deserved to win.

You mentioned Ancient not being in your favor, how do you think that was?

We expected the Ancient pick and we knew they could pick because we were not playing super great Ancient, but they weren't playing great either so it was a 50/50. They left it as a decider and then we felt we could do good but we weren't having a good match.

Once we were up 11-8 we were fucking up some strats, Snax was calling things and we were messing them up. Not having the economy be on our side was really bad to lose some rounds like that.

After that loss what needed to happen for you and the team to be able to mentally reset for Spirit? Did you worry at all about a repeat of the Copenhagen RMR?

For the team it was easier because they have been in this situation a lot of times and many more times than I have been. For me, losing Ancient when we were up gave me flashbacks of the match against Legacy [at the Copenhagen RMR] where we were up 12-11 and we didn't close out that last and we didn't qualify because of that. I was like "hell no, this is not going to happen again."

That had me super frustrated and tilted but we were super confident we could beat Spirit and qualify.

What inspired that confidence against Spirit?

Yeah, the way they play is they rely a lot on donk so it's good for us because donk has to take down m0NESY then me then NiKo so it's a good matchup for us. They play good CS anyways so it's not only about donk but they want him to kill and they will have an easier game if donk is farming.

How are you feeling about your individual form heading into this Major?

I would say I'm playing really well right, I've been feeling really comfortable here and we have fixed a lot of things that were going wrong on the team. With the Singapore win we managed to open our eyes a bit and see how we can be the best among the top three teams [in the world].

My form makes me feel super proud because I came from NA and have been able to go toe to toe with the best players in the world.

Thinking about your road to this Major, what does it mean for you to be the first player from Guatemala and your small region to make it to the Major?

It is really special to me because I want to put my flag on the map and be a role model from my country to motivate them to be pro players. Ever since I started playing I've wanted to play with another Guatemalan player and make it to a Major, but that wasn't possible because the only players that are good enough have been playing with me in 1.6 since 2010.

We don't have talents to make a team and do something but I hope that I can change that and bring some people to CS and make them play and make them realize accomplishing your dreams is actually possible.

Have you been recognized for your achievements back home like we have seen with other Latin American players from smaller countries like Uruguay?

Esports is really small in my country, but of course there's some people who cheer for me and are messaging me and saying good stuff and that's really special because it means a lot but I'm not walking around being recognized and taking pictures.

The most that has happened is a newspaper has written about me.

How do you feel you have changed as a player since joining G2 and having to change many of your roles?

What made me get used to these anchor roles was how they were treating me. Even though I was making mistakes at the beginning they were trying to teach me instead of telling me I was fucking up a lot and to stop this bullshit. They were teaching me instead of pointing at me.

Do you feel playing under s1n and dephh at M80 helped prepare you for playing European CS?

I learned a lot from s1n and maNkz. Even though I didn't have much time with maNkz I learned a lot about how the European system works from him and that's how I got used to it quicker. Also playing with coldzera taught me a lot so those three guys plus dephh were really key for me to make this jump into tier one easier.

A big topic in NA recently has been Lake taking over your position on M80. Have you had a chance to watch M80 and what do you think about Lake stepping up to fill your big shoes on the team?

Lake is a really good player but we are two different players. He can be aggressive but I am just super aggressive and the amount of entries I was getting for M80 is something that is really unusual and it's hard to replicate that.

I don't even know how I was able to get that many entries but so far from what I've seen from Lake he's doing really well and after only four months on the team M80 have been doing some really special things. I was really hoping for them to make the Major and it would have been really special for me because I know the players and the people in the org and how much they want this.

I was rooting so much for them but it was not possible this time, but next year they're going to be more ready. They're playing well and I feel they can raise their ceiling.

With G2 locking in their Major spot, what are your priorities to be ready for your first Major?

I want to be the best I can individually first. I want to be really consistent at this Major and I've been playing a lot honestly. I think I had good stats at this RMR so practicing the way I've been practicing has helped me a lot. I haven't been DM'ing that much, I was playing more offline Workshop maps and I'm going to be more into that than other things.

We're obviously also going to do our practice and demo reviews and everything, but I'm going to be a lot more into individual Workshop practice.

Finally at long last you have your sticker. What does that mean for you to be immortalized in the game?

People really think the sticker is all about the money, people are trying to get a sticker for the money but for me you can't tell me I'm just interested in the money when I come from fucking Guatemala with no competitive scene at all.

I don't have my own region and I have to play in NA and I just want to put my name in the game and just know that I'm going to be in the game forever and it's going to be a legacy for me.

It is super special because ever since I was a kid I used to tell my Dad that I wanted to be like TaZ, NEO, SpawN, and markeloff. Now that I am like them it feels super special and that I actually did what I promised my dad that I would do.