The Arabian knight who swung his sword during the most prestigious Counter-Strike battle, caught the eye of spectators from all over the world after remarkable performances against the best the game has to offer at the recent BLAST.tv Paris Major.
His grit allowed him to stay strong and not fall under pressure which solidified his name in gold as one of the best upcoming riflers in the world. This was reinforced by his captain Viktor ‘sdy’ Orudzhev in an interview with VaKarM after he stated: ‘BOROS has a big future in front of him.’
Mohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas has yet to make the big leap towards his dream of playing for the top five teams in the world on the biggest stages. But with such gradual improvements during the last few events, it’s inevitable sooner or later he’ll make a move.
The beginning of a journey
Following in the footsteps of players like Robin ‘ropz’ Kool and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, BOROS’ brilliance was first noticed in FACEIT after a stellar skill display earned him an invite to the FPL Challenger Hub and later FACEIT Pro League. FPL is the highest division in FACEIT’s ladder, featuring the best CS:GO players in the world.
The decision to shift focus towards FPL instead of chasing a far-fetched dream with NASR played in his favor. Shortly after joining FPL and becoming one of the best puggers on the entire FACEIT platform statistically, he received a big push towards a great career by joining the British organization Endpoint.
The transfer can be described as ‘bursting the bubble’ out of an underrepresented region that lacked good infrastructure and competition which are essential for players’ growth. It’s worth mentioning Issa “â ISSAAâ ” Murad was the only success story from Jordan before BOROS, reaching a high competition level with multiple international teams before switching to Valorant a couple of years ago.
BOROS at BLAST.tv Paris Major (Image Credits: Michal Konkol/BLAST)International debut
Joining Endpoint was the ultimate test for the Jordanian youngster since the organization had a serious approach to the game opposite to what he experienced in the MENA region.
The team casually took part in the biggest events qualifiers, providing the perfect opportunity for BOROS to showcase his capabilities. He eventually stepped up to the challenge and was a force to reckon with during online qualifiers with strong entering skills and impact, which pushed him into the spotlight.
Many players, past and present, have been unstoppable online but are unable to recreate this offline in the biggest events the game has to offer. Question marks were raised when BOROS rose to the spotlight in online events; hence spectators kept a close eye on him during his first offline event in the PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR, where he failed to demonstrate his exceptional skills and overall impact.
Endpoint crumbled at PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR with a 1-3 record and a shy 0.84 rating from BOROS. The results were foreseeable since, according to HLTV, ‘A change in the team’s playstyle led to his discomfort and a lack of freedom.’ This led to him later benching himself in order to seek new opportunities.
On top of the mountain with Monte
Three months after benching himself, an opportunity presented itself when Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk approached him with an offer to join Monte.
The pace was plodding, and BOROS, alongside his team, didn’t find much success nor the impact hoped for, with a runner-up at 1xBet FRAG Season 9 as their best finish.
After some roster changes, things eventually took a turn for the better. Adding ‘sdy’ as an in-game leader kicked them into high gear at the start of the year, recording 170 official maps, which paid off immensely, winning four titles proving their worth as contenders in tier two.
The BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR B was the event where we got to see BOROS’ true potential after going ham and recording a whopping 1.31 rating across eight maps, putting himself as one of the best performers next to ZywOo and Rasmus “sjuush” Beck.
Impressive numbers against ENCE, Cloud9 and ForZe during the RMR set the expectations bar high for the Jordanian star going into his first-ever Major event in Paris where he didn’t hold back regardless of the opponent.
The first BO1 against Major winners FaZe Clan was a true masterclass skill showcase when he single-handedly pushed Finn “karrigan” Andersen and his team to the limit, fighting tooth and nail with a staggering 28 frags. Monte qualified to the Legends Stage by the skin of their teeth, going 3-2 in the Challengers Stage. Throughout the stage, BOROS dismantling the opposition was a repetitive pattern and luckily for him, the story does not end here.
The strong performances continued and Mohammad kept putting on a show on the biggest stage. They kept fighting on and eventually, Monte defied all odds and made it to the Champions Stage after giving Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev a taste of his own medicine, mopping the floor with the struggling NAVI and reaching a career-best achievement.
Unfortunately for BOROS and his teammates, their underdog story ended on the first day of the Playoffs after losing to the eventual Major finalists GamerLegion.
Regardless of the defeat, BOROS came out as a winner, writing his name in gold in front of the million spectators from all over the world. What started as a struggle ended as a success, making him a step closer to reaching his dream and waving the Jordanian flag on the biggest stages across the globe.
All in all, BOROS is a star in the making, and regardless of how long it might take, seeing him representing the best teams in the future is inevitable after we got a glimpse of his true potential and saw him prove his worth on the biggest Counter-Strike stage.
