M80 maNkz has announced he will be taking a leave of absence from the team’s active roster, amid ongoing mental health struggles. IGL maNkz is most known for his time on Copenhagen Flames, but has recently been a key part in M80’s surge through the NA scene.

maNkz’s absence

Credit: Daniel Morris

The absence of maNkz was announced on X by his team, M80, before the player himself chose to elaborate on his reasons for taking a step back.

This news comes just days after it was confirmed that BOSS player cynic passed away, sending shockwaves through the NA scene. Ultimately, it’s good to see a player choosing their own mental health before their team. The Counter-Strike scene is known to be particularly mentally taxing, requiring an insane amount of grind to make it to the top level.

Hopefully, maNkz is able to take all the time he needs to work through his mental health struggles and return to M80 when ready and reinvigorated.

Who replaces maNkz?

With M80’s run at IEM Katowice 2024 set to start tomorrow, and the Americas RMR for the Copenhagen Major just around the corner, the team has been allowed a replacement by the tournament organizers.

Credit: Complexity

While maNkz takes his break, the team’s coach, dephh, has been confirmed as the stand-in for the time being. As a player, dephh spent three years on Complexity’s lineup but has been inactive for just over four years now.

NA org M80 entered competitive CS2 in July of last year, and has quickly developed a strong reputation among fans by brute-forcing their way to Tier 1 events. They even managed to take down Liquid in the Copenhagen Major RMR Closed Qualifier. Now that they’re there, let’s see how they cope with a higher level of competition on the server.