The story of BOROS’ fast rise and the road to the BLAST Paris CSGO Major
Michal Konkol/BLASTMohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas has risen from complete obscurity to become one of the Major rookies in Paris, all within two years. He spoke to Dexerto about his journey so far and what the future might have in store.
Until a few months ago, you could be forgiven for not having heard of BOROS. But as the BLAST Paris Major nears, this 19-year-old player from Jordan has emerged as one of the most impressive rising talents in the CS:GO scene.
“I always knew that one day I would be playing at events like this,” he tells Dexerto as he prepares for the Major with Monte Esports.
As recently as June 2021, BOROS was still trying to find his way in the CS:GO scene, with only a handful of appearances in international tournaments, mostly with Middle Eastern teams. His name then began to take on a higher profile thanks to a string of impressive performances in the FACEIT matchmaking platform, earning him an invite to the FPL Challenger hub.
His journey in FPL-C was nothing but a quick stop. He was so dominant that he qualified for FPL, the top division in FACEIT’s ladder, featuring the best CS:GO players in the world, after just one month. Within a few days, he was offered his first professional contract by Endpoint, a British organization that has earned a reputation for developing young players.
“It was obvious to me even before BOROS joined us that he was insanely talented,” Max ‘MiGHTYMAX’ Heath, BOROS’ in-game leader on Endpoint, says.
BOROS spent the next 16 months learning his trade and getting accustomed to a higher level of competition in Europe’s gruelling tier-two environment, first with Endpoint and then with Monte, whom he joined halfway through 2022.
He ended that year with an impressive 1.15 HLTV rating and 1.30 Impact but with plenty of question marks still hanging over his head because of his sub-par LAN showing at the European RMR leading to PGL Major Antwerp.
“My goals for 2023 were to reach the Major, play well on LAN and prove everyone who thought I was an onliner wrong,” he says. “I only played one LAN event with Endpoint and we didn’t perform well as a team. I didn’t get the chance to prove myself.”
Three months of strenuous work at the start of 2023 following the addition of Viktor ‘sdy’ Orudzhev, with a staggering 139 official maps accounted for during that period and three online titles in quick succession, culminated in Monte qualifying for the Major. The team, ranked 32nd in the world ahead of the RMR in Copenhagen, punched above its weight as it beat ENCE, Cloud9 and FORZE — all top-15 sides — to secure a spot in Paris.
The tournament also served as an important test for BOROS. He averaged a team-high 1.31 HLTV rating and 1.54 impact in the RMR, putting himself on the map as a viable impact player on LAN and shaking off the ‘onliner’ tag.
“To be honest, I always knew that it doesn’t matter whether it’s online or LAN,” he says. “I don’t feel nervous on LAN. I wanted to prove that and I did.”
Major hopes and career goals
BOROS is proud of being the sole Arab player at the Major, and he wants to go far in the tournament to properly represent the region. Moreover, he is only the second Jordanian in the history of CS:GO Majors, following in the footsteps of former HellRaisers and OG star Issa ‘ISSAA’ Murad, who switched to Valorant in 2022.
“I started following ISSAA when he was on HellRaisers and I always wanted to be like him,” he says. “I’d tell my family that I wanted to be like this guy one day.”
With the Major merely days away, the anticipation is rising. Just like every other Major rookie, BOROS is ecstatic about finally having his own autograph in the game. “I am so excited, he admits. “It means so much to me to have a sticker in the game.”
Despite being the top seed heading into Challengers Stage, Monte have been handed a tough tie against none other than FaZe, who scrapped through the RMR via the last-chance qualifier. Most players in his situation would be cursing their luck, but BOROS is welcoming the challenge.
“I am very excited to play this team, especially because they are really good,” he says. “I am not scared to face them. I want to prove that we can beat even one of the best teams in CS.”
Monte’s team has been bootcamping to prepare for the event ahead, getting more reps in scrims while remaining active in online competitions, which they also use as a valuable source of practice. One of the key ingredients for their steep ascent this year has been the insane number of maps they have played, more than any other team in Paris. ”There’s no other way to go up from tier three,” lmbt recently said. Only yesterday, the team added yet another online title to their collection, increasing their tournament winnings since the start of the year to $113,000, the tenth-highest in the scene.
It will be interesting to see how BOROS’ aggressive style will hold up against a team like FaZe and whether he will be able to find ways to remain impactful in games if opponents draw up plans to shut him down. MiGHTYMAX believes that his former teammate has hit a new level after learning the ropes of top-tier Counter-Strike: “With Monte, you can see that he has re-built the mindset that he is better than anybody on the server, going for insane entries and being incredibly annoying to play against because you know that if you peek him, you are going to get one-tapped.”
As a team with four Major rookies and that is still taking its first steps at this level, Monte arrive in Paris almost free of the weight of expectation but with big hopes and dreams. “Our goal is set really high,” BOROS says. “We all think we go far at this Major. Our goal for now is to reach the Legend Stage and then we can think about the next goal. But I think we can go far.”
If BOROS is able to maintain the level of performance that he showed at the RMR, there’s no doubt that his stock will really climb. lmbt, his coach, has described him as a “pure aim machine”, one that he can unleash if necessary to bully unprepared opponents.
After the event in Copenhagen, several fellow pros reached out to BOROS, sending him encouraging messages. His meteoric rise seems to have caught everyone by surprise, even the game’s elite: Of the 20 players that made the most recent HLTV Top 20 ranking, not one mentioned BOROS as their “bold prediction” (a young player who is likely to excel in the following year) for 2023.
As he prepares to play the biggest event in his career, what does he think the future might hold?
“I am not thinking about it right now,” he says. “But of course, I want the best for me and I would like to be in a top-10 team. I don’t care if it’s with Monte or with another team. I just want to make it.”