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Published: September 22, 2023

Written by: Stefan Velikov

  • The veteran Danish player has decided to s6ep down from the competitive Counter-Strike scene
  • MSL used to be the in-game leader of popular t5eams, such as Dignitas and OpTic Gaming
  • He has been crucial in bringing other Danish talent to the global scene

Mathias “⁠MSL⁠” Lauridsen has decided to retire from competitive Counter-Strike, ending a decade-long career that started way back in CS: Source.

MSL Retires

There often comes a time when esports players retire from professional competition in order to focus on other aspects of their career and life and it looks like this time has come for Mathias “⁠MSL⁠” Lauridsen. The 28-year-old Danish player announced that he is stepping down from professional Counter-Strike, although he did not rule out a potential return to the field sometime in the future.

“I’m happy that I got to make my hobby into my work. I’m even happier that I reached some of my dreams and got to lift trophies on some of the biggest stages, I will cherish those moments when I get old, but for now it’s onto new adventures,” the ex-pro wrote in an Instagram post.

With this decision, MSL ends a decade-long career that started way back in CS: Source. He quickly transitioned to CS:GO and his first notable team was Anexis, with whom he attended some of Global Offensive’s first Big Events. This was enough for him to get noticed by bigger organizations and over the next ten years, he went on quite the journey.

Not only that, but he was quite prominent in many of the teams he was part of, most notably leading the squads of North, Team Dignitas, and OpTic Gaming. During his career, MSL attended nine Majors and won seven significant events, such as the DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018, which also landed him an MVP award.

MSL also contributed a lot to the Danish and global CS:GO professional scene, as he helped many new players from his country enter the sport. The likes of Emil “⁠Magisk⁠” Reif and Kristian “⁠k0nfig⁠” Wienecke made their way onto the scene thanks in part to MSL, who helped them develop their earlier careers.

It is almost a shame that MSL retires so close to the release of Counter-Strike 2, which is apparently coming next week, at least according to speculations around a recent teaser Valve put out. During the latter parts of his CS:GO career, the player struggled to find himself a home where he could compete in the upper echelons. His last stints were with Tokyo Revengers, TITANS, and Sashi, where MSL had a somewhat mediocre performance.

Despite his retirement, the player does leave the potential of someday coming back to competitive Couinter-Strike. “It would be an obvious choice for me, to become a coach, but for now I feel that something else is calling, I might be back at some point,” he said in his Instagram post.

Only time will tell what MSL has decided to do next.

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Stefan Velikov

Stefan is a well-versed gamer who loves every aspect of gaming - including its most competitive nature. He is bringing you the latest updates from the world of esports as he painstakingly tracks dozens of competitions. 

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