Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen: An Overlooked Leader
*DISCLAIMER* This is an opinion piece
Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen, a player and leader worth noticing, has often been overshadowed. Despite having talented teammates, he hasn’t achieved much on LAN. His decision to make Jacob “Pimp” Winneche an AWP player, though he excels in rifling, has hindered his career. It’s time we address these issues, as MSL has been getting away with them for far too long.
To understand MSL’s mistakes, let’s take a look at his career. He started playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive after coming from Counter-Strike: Source. During his time with Anexis and Western Wolves, they performed well, achieving high placings in tournaments like Esports Heaven Vienna and Copenhagen Games. However, the success wasn’t sustained, and Dignitas, his current team, is now struggling. MSL has played with both good and bad players, yet he hasn’t been able to make much of an impact with any of them.
MSL’s leadership skills are severely lacking. There are in-game leaders who can turn bad players into good ones, like Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans did with Cedric “RPK” Guipoy. However, MSL has failed to transform a team of talented individual players into a cohesive unit capable of winning tournaments. Dignitas, with players like Pimp, Philip “aizy” Aistrup, and Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye, should be performing better. Instead, they struggle to achieve anything significant. It’s clear that Dignitas would benefit from a different leader, as MSL is running the team into the ground. Even losing to Astralis with two stand-ins, one of whom hasn’t played professionally for years, highlights MSL’s shortcomings. At this point, Dignitas might even be better off playing with just four players than with MSL.
Dignitas’ recent performance at the Major was abysmal. They were lucky to make it to a three-game series, only to lose to a team with two stand-ins, one of them being Danny “zonic” Sørensen who hadn’t played Counter-Strike in the past two weeks. It’s sickening that zonic outperformed MSL. One wonders how devastating this defeat was for Rene “cajunb” Borg, who had the opportunity for revenge against his old team. Even with Kjaerbye unable to compete and Dupreeh falling ill, Dignitas couldn’t perform because of MSL’s poor leadership.
Pimp is another player who suffered under MSL’s leadership. Pimp, known for his dedication and strong gameplay, was a top ten player in the world a year ago. However, MSL made the disastrous decision to make Pimp an AWP player, despite his proficiency in rifling. It was evident to everyone that Pimp shouldn’t AWP, except MSL. This decision tarnished Pimp’s reputation and eventually led to his removal from the team. Pimp’s reaction, or lack thereof, showcases his emotional control and proves that he wasn’t the source of Dignitas’ problems.
Photo credit: ESL, HLTV, Mantrousse
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