Swisher: “When we were in NA, the scrims were non-existent”

M80 stepping up for the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025

M80 kicked off their Major campaign in Budapest with a gritty 13-11 win on Mirage against B8, turning a 10-1 CT lead into the full result. The victory came after the team exploited an 11-0 map record (10-0 LAN) on Mirage in the past three months. 
Michael “Swisher” Schmid described the veto moment as “we were rubbing our hands together” knowing the map favoured them. 

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The NA preparation gap

Swisher didn’t mince words when assessing M80’s earlier preparation:

“When we were in NA, the scrims were non-existent. There were two teams scrimming, NRG and sometimes SkinRave… Getting info a little bit. There’s no teams scrimming, it’s very very hard.” 

The team’s path before Budapest included two consecutive weekends of local LANs (namely DreamHack and Fragadelphia) in North America, followed by a nine-day bootcamp in Germany. Swisher admitted that the lack of meaningful scrims back home forced M80 to turn to alternate preparations.

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The shift to Europe-focused bootcamping

Having been tested on the international stage previously — such as when they were “destroyed 13-4” by Virtus.pro in Europe — M80 recognised that domestic win-rates do not always translate overseas.  With that in mind, their German bootcamp before the Major was a deliberate move to sharpen their readiness.

Swisher also touched on his own role adaptation:

“The role changes were the most beneficial. It gives me more of a voice in the server … I’m Long on Dust2 … more impact on Long compared to B…” 

Such internal adjustments appear to have paid off, given the strong Mirage map-record and the initial win.

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Confidence and what’s next

Swisher laid out the team’s goals going into the Major:

“We’re obviously aiming for Stage 3 or playoffs … get our Stage [1] games, go 3-0 … get momentum … come in hot against Stage 2 teams coming in dry…” 

While the group they entered had fewer marquee international fixtures this season, M80 seemed to embrace the under-dog tag and used it as motivation. 

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Context & team journey

• M80, a North American team, is currently ranked #26 in the world according to HLTV.

• They recently secured a playoff berth at BLAST Open London 2025 by sweeping fnatic 2-0 in the group-A lower bracket final.

• Earlier in the year, they eliminated FURIA Esports from BLAST Open Lisbon with a 2-1 comeback win.

All these results hint at a team ascending and building momentum, despite foundational challenges like the lack of NA scrims.

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Why the story matters

M80’s comments highlight a broader issue in competitive CS2: teams based in North America sometimes face an infrastructural disadvantage compared to European counterparts — fewer quality scrims, less frequent top-tier bootcamps, a smaller cluster of high-level teams to test against. Swisher’s frank admission gives insight into the behind-the-scenes hurdles.

In that light, their major win becomes more meaningful. It isn’t just about the scoreline — it signals that a team with fewer resources is willing to adapt, bootcamp abroad, refine roles, and step onto the global stage with intent.