Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa, now in his third event with G2, has quickly become an integral part of the team as they make their playoff run at IEM Cologne 2024. In a candid interview, malbsMd reflects on his journey to G2, the challenges and successes he's faced, and his aspirations for the future, including winning a Major and earning an MVP title.

As G2 prepares to face MOUZ in the quarterfinals, malbsMd shares insights into his transition into the team, the importance of respecting opponents, and the drive that fuels his ambitions in the competitive scene.

After beating Astralis you said “That was for Swisher”, what did you mean by that?

[laughs] He's a really good friend and a good teammate, and I remember him being sad about what happened and even after a long time passed he was sad as well.

So I did it for Mikey just to make the meme and just because he wanted to beat him as well but he never got to play against Astralis.

Let's talk about the tournament; you're in the playoffs of IEM Cologne, how are you feeling about it all?

It feels amazing honestly, like I'm super happy. Putting my flag in places that have that it has never been before. It's honestly very good. I feel super proud, super excited.

Are you surprised by how good it's been on G2 so quickly? Did you think it would take longer?

I can definitely be better, I feel like I can play better than I'm playing right now.

I feel like it's not surprising that the guys are pretty good with me. They're pretty friendly. They're super nice to me, I feel like they made me feel like I'm home even though it was a short amount of time. It feels super nice to be here.

Ever since the first day I met them, they were super friendly to me and always treated me nicely, so I'm super thankful to them for that.

Did it ever faze you that you were joining a team with legendary names like NiKo, m0NESY, and Snax?

I was not going to leave M80, no matter what. But when NiKo and m0NESY come knocking, you cannot say no to them. The M80 guys understood it, they said that this is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. They knew it was for a better thing for me.

You lost against SAW in your opening game here but since then, it's been plain sailing. What conversations did you have after that game?

It was a long conversation. We discussed the schedule we were having or that we had on that day, how we were preparing for the game and also our mentality for the game.

We made sure that we were not going to be cocky anymore about anyone who we were going to play against, no matter who it is. We needed to respect more our opponents and everything.

I felt like we needed this conversation and I felt like this made us wake up and it actually did.

The last few years of your career before joining M80 were sometimes strange, on the outside it looked like the teams maybe just didn’t click, but from your perspective, how has your journey been?

Before I made it, it was pretty frustrating. I thought I was never going to make it, honestly, because I was never making it to Majors, even though I was going to to RMRs, and I never made playoffs on any event or never made it out of play-ins.

It was kind of frustrating and feeling like you're not improving is a feeling that I would not wish for anybody because it feels so bad, especially when you're sacrificing many things to like be on the top and you can’t get to the top.

It feels horrible. But now ever since I made it, I felt like it actually got better. I'm playing playoffs in Cologne. It's pretty good.

Do you feel like some of those teams just were the wrong fit for you?

Yeah, it's one of them that when like when you actually got to M80, at what point did you start thinking it's all back on track? Was it an instantaneous thing?

It was pretty good when we WolfY and maNkz, but we were not that underdog team. We were good, but not that good.

Ever since slaxz- and s1n came into the team, I felt like we improved a lot. slackz- helped us a lot. And then s1n came with his calling, he made it really good as well. His system was really good.

I'm guessing the G2 move came a lot faster than you thought a move like that would come. Yeah, it did [laughs].

So what do you think is next for you now you’ve made it?

I want to get an MVP from an event. And obviously, win a trophy. And then it's going to be six months until the end of the year, so I want to make it to the top 20. So yeah, I think it's doable. So yeah, let's see what happens.

Where does the Major factor into that?

I forgot about the Major. Yeah. Probably win the Major too. That would be crazy, honestly.