BOROS proved doubters wrong at the RMR, now he's taking aim at the Major

The Jordanian youngster impressed at the RMR — how much further can he and Monte go at the Major?

"There was an internet cafe close to my home, I went there and I saw people playing CS:GO in 2014," Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas tells HLTV in an interview ahead of the BLAST.tv Paris Major. "I was 10 years old, I played the game for fun and I liked it. Then, in 2017, I started to grind FACEIT. I saw that I was good and I started to play more because it was my dream to be a pro CS player when I was young."

Jordan isn't known for producing a plethora of Counter-Strike talent. Just one top-level player, Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad, has emerged from the country in the last decade, but BOROS is looking to defy the odds and become the second stand-out player to make a name for himself from the underrepresented region. Despite a lack of infrastructure and negligible domestic talent to grow alongside, the 19-year-old has been eyeing a professional career in Counter-Strike since before he was a teenager and he has been making huge strides toward reaching that goal in the past year.

His initial appearance in HLTV's database was in WESG East Asia 2019 with OG3OD, an event that served as the qualifier for WESG 2019 APAC Finals. In just his second-ever recorded series, BOROS was matched up against Finest, a lineup which featured Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan and Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz, and he immediately made an impression. He finished the three-map series with a 1.77 impact rating, +8 first-kill differential, and 0.91 KPR to power his team to victory and qualify for the offline event.

Note: WESG 2019 APAC Finals would have been BOROS' first recorded LAN event, but it was canceled in January 2020 amid mounting fear of the coronavirus outbreak.

The core of that roster went on to join NASR, an Emirati organization in which BOROS was primarily playing with friends. The team had a goal to play in larger events and showcase their potential at an international scale, but the lack of support for organizations in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region made that an incredibly difficult goal to consistently reach. Instead, he put focus on developing and showcasing his individual talents through FPL. He qualified through FPL-C in his first attempt.

"Everyone couldn't go full-time," the 19-year-old continued. "I just tried to show myself so some team can pick me up, and when Endpoint picked me up I remember I was so happy that I got this opportunity. "I always wanted to be a CS:GO pro, it's been my dream since I was a kid. It was hard for me in the beginning because my family thought that it was just a video game and I am wasting my time playing it all the time because no one knows what esports is in Jordan, unfortunately. But when I signed with Endpoint they understood more that this can be my job and I love that they understood me."

The move to the British organization marked a steep ramp-up in competition and also in expectations for BOROS since Endpoint took a much more serious approach to the game than he had experienced in the past. More regular participation in big event qualifiers along with frequent matches against notable teams thrust him further into the spotlight and he rose to the occasion, dominating opponents during the online era. His aggression, ability to disrupt opponents' game plans, and sheer impact to completely turn the outcome of rounds made him stand out from the pack and drew the eyes of his peers early in 2022.

Focus was on the youngster as he approached his first offline event with Endpoint, the PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR. Questions surrounded whether he could maintain his level from online play once on LAN and he — to be fair, along with his team as a whole — didn't deliver.

A meager 0.84 rating over seven maps by BOROS left Endpoint with little opportunity to contend against the top teams in the world and the British organization crashed out of the Major-qualifying event with a 1-3 record. According to the 19-year-old, however, the writing was on the wall well before this event got underway. A change in the team's playstyle lead to his discomfort and a lack of freedom, which resulted in him benching himself shortly after the failed Major qualification bid in order to seek new opportunities.

During that period BOROS attended Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022 with a different NASR lineup, his second offline event tracked by HLTV. There, he recorded another negative rating (0.90 over three maps) as his team was immediately eliminated by Ninjas in Pyjamas, which cast further doubt upon his ability to perform offline despite him taking on a top ten team while playing in an unfamiliar lineup.

It took BOROS three months to get another chance to prove himself after a time during which he didn't play much CS:GO. "I got contacted by Woro2k and he said, 'Hey wanna join with us?'" BOROS recalls about receiving the offer to team up with Monte. "I saw that the team was good to qualify for the Major or make the top 30. I was benched in Endpoint for 3 months and they could buy me out, so I accepted to go because I wanted to play and make it, I didn't want to stay benched."

BOROS mustered decent numbers in his initial stint with Monte, helping them to a runner-up finish in 1xBet FRAG Season 9, but he didn't deliver the kind of impact expected of him. The team struggled to truly make an impression at the time and just three months in he found himself sidelined. "I didn't have the best period of my life at this time," he admits.

"I wasn't focused on CS a lot after I benched myself on Endpoint. I wasn't playing that much so I wasn't in good form and they decided to bench me for one month to improve more and fix my problems outside of the game and then come back and trial again. We played a CCT tournament and I played really well, so they decided to bring me back. I came back and I was fully focused on CS:GO because it's my dream to make it."

Monte finished that CCT event in second place, falling 1-2 to Copenhagen Flames in the grand final, but BOROS' true return to the roster didn't come until one month later, upon which the team immediately won 1xBet FRAG Season 10. It was a slightly different roster then, featuring Szymon "⁠kRaSnaL⁠" Mrozek instead of Joel "⁠joel⁠" Holmlund, and more changes would soon follow upon the turn of the year as the team added Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev in place of Hristiyan "⁠REDSTAR⁠" Pironkov and added former MOUZ coach Sergey "⁠lmbt⁠" Bezhanov.

That roster hit the ground running in 2023, and has recorded 170 official maps since the start of the year to get as much experience under their belts as possible. It paid off: They won four titles in that span, securing victories at European Pro League Season 6, CCT West Europe Series 2, CCT Central Europe Series 5, and ESL Challenger League Season 44 Europe, rapidly establishing themselves as fearsome contenders in tier two.

"It feels good to play in this team now," BOROS stated. "There is no toxicity at all and we have good energy together. This lineup is more serious [than the one with joel and REDSTAR], everyone wants to play and improve and we have the same goals that we want to win everything we can and reach the top. In the other roster, I don't know, everyone wanted to just come, play, and leave instantly. It was like work, but in this team it feels like we all have some goals.

"Since sdy joined us we improved a lot, and he is trying to share his experience from NAVI with us and tell us a lot of things. He is a really hardworking guy and he brings a lot to our team, he always calms us in some bad situations and helps the team with his experience. lmbt helped me a lot and tries to let me play how I like, he is trying to let me feel the most comfortable that I can be and he always share his experiences about something in the game with me and I improved a lot since both of them joined our team. It's really good for me to work with them."

Monte's grind culminated at BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR B, where BOROS was determined to prove doubters wrong and shed his onliner status. He did so by putting up some truly mind-boggling numbers for a rookie at an event of its stature, averaging a 1.31 rating and 1.54 impact rating across eight maps. He was a big part in Monte qualifying for the Major with wins over ENCE, Cloud9, and FORZE.

"I don't feel nerves at these events," BOROS states in regards to playing against teams like Cloud9 and ENCE for a spot at the Major. "I wanted to prove that I can play really good at LANs and against top teams in the world because some people were doubting me because of one LAN event that I played with Endpoint where everyone was playing bad. We all had 0.80 ratings, we were losing most of the games, and I didn't feel comfortable to play — this doesn't mean that I am not good on LAN."

It's hard to deny BOROS' statements, too. The youngster didn't just impress statistically, but passed the eye test with ease while in Copenhagen. Proactive decision-making in key moments and powerful entry work made him stand out from the competition. As Monte turn their attention to the Major in Paris, however, the kind of pressure they will have upon them will only increase and the teams they will face will only be harder. Still, he remains optimistic as his team has already shown that they can beat some of the best teams in the world. His personal goal is now to win as much as he can, starting by making the Legends Stage at the Major.

FaZe are the first team to stand in their way, a team famous for the star power of their own individuals. Even with that in mind, BOROS remains steadfast in his team's ability to score victory in their opening match. "Yeah, FaZe are a really good team and they have much more experience than us, but in my opinion we can beat them," the young rifler confidently stated. "It's a BO1, anything can happen, we will do our best and I am not scared to face them. I am feeling that we can upset this match easily."

BOROS and his Monte side will go up against FaZe in the first match of the BLAST.tv Paris Major Challengers Stage on Monday at 11:30 .

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage
08/05/2023	Monte 11:45 FaZe	Match