North reveal surprise return of MSL to CSGO team

North have announced the surprise return of former in-game leader Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen to their CS:GO squad.

North recently underwent a rebrand and are currently in the process of rebuilding their roster for the new year, and surprised fans by revealing the return of their former IGL.

The announcement came alongside the first look at the team’s new jerseys, with the video ending with MSL stepping from the shadows, once again sporting a North shirt.

MSL represented North from the team’s inception in January 17 through to the FACEIT London Major in September 2018. During that time, he led the team to several trophies, most notably at DreamHack Masters Stockholm where he himself was the MVP, just weeks before he would be removed from the squad.

• Read more: Valve reportedly introducing ranking system for CS:GO Major invitations

Following his departure from North, MSL moved to Rogue before joining OpTic Gaming, but following the acquisition of the organization by Immortals Gaming Club, which also owns MIBR, the OpTic CS:GO team was disbanded.

Meanwhile, North have struggled to return to the peaks they hit in the MSL era, with largely underwhelming results since replacing him. They also recently lost star player and in-game leader Valdemar ‘Valde’ Bjørn Vangså, who for many had remained the highlight of the team, as he joined the new international roster under OG.

North haven’t yet confirmed their full starting line-up with MSL, as the organization now apparently houses six players. It’s not currently clear which player MSL will take the place of, or whether the team is still to undergo further roster changes.

So far, they have only announced that Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye has re-signed with the team.

Update: North have confirmed that Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen has been benched following the return of MSL.

North roster:

• Philip ‘aizy’ Aistrup
• Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye
• Nicklas ‘gade’ Gade
• René ‘cajunb’ Borg
• Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen