maNkz set to miss IEM Katowice & RMR

M80 have confirmed today that Marcus "maNkz" Kjeldsen is set to miss IEM Katowice 2024 and the PGL Major Copenhagen Americas RMR for personal reasons. The difficult decision by the team's Danish IGL will see coach Rory "dephh" Jackson be called to fill in for the team once again as rosters are locked for both events. dephh previously stood in for the squad at ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023, where M80 fell in joint last place following losses to Virtus.pro and BESTIA.

The news of maNkz missing these LAN events is unfortunate as the squad have been in excellent form in recent months and are currently on the cusp of breaking into the top 30 of HLTV's world ranking. Additionally, losing their IGL will seriously degrade M80's chances of making Counter-Strike 2's first Major, something viewed as attainable for M80 in the upcoming Americas RMR.

dephh offered the following comment to Dust2.us regarding maNkz's decision to a leave of absence from the team:

"Sometime this week, maNkz informed the team he felt he needed to leave the team for personal reasons. As much as it came as a shock to all the players, we must respect his decision. I will be filling in for the two upcoming tournaments due to roster lock restrictions and look forward to competing at both Katowice and the RMR."

dephh's statement does not go into details regarding maNkz's decision. However, Dust2.us understands that maNkz will be an inactive player and remain part of the organization for now. Donald "SyykoNT" Muir, Vice President at M80, will stand-in as the coach at IEM Katowice. SyykoNT was previously a head coach for XSET and Sentinel's VALORANT teams.

M80 will head to Katowice and Monterrey with:

• Michael "Swisher" Schmid

• Ethan "reck" Serrano

• Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa

• Fritz "slaxz-" Dietrich

• Rory "dephh" Jackson (Stand-in)

• Donald "SyykoNT" Muir (Coach for IEM Katowice)

IEM Katowice 2024 is set to start on January 31st, with M80 taking on GamerLegion in their opening match at 12:30PM.