FlyQuest may have indirectly pointed at the return of top-level Aussie Counter-Strike after the boys exceeded expectations in Chengdu and Malta over the weekend. A change of environment may just be what the team has been looking for all the while, according to youngster Declan “Vexite” Portelli.
The 19-year-old made his international LAN debut last year at IEM Rio RMR. He’s credited personnel swap, especially the return of Chris “dexter” Non to the team, rather than the whole move from Grayhound to FlyQuest as the deciding factor.
“The main thing was picking up dexter and having time to integrate him fundamentally into the team; it makes everything make sense: I think everyone knew in the back of their heads that [INS] would prefer to be a player with a main role if there was someone he respected enough to be IGL,” Vexite said
The combination of INS in his comfort zone and Vexite is making the team thrive after two years of uncertainty on the international stage for the squad. Grayhound (before becoming FlyQuest) dominated Oceania, but they failed to perform in every international event that they participated in as they got knocked out consistently.
They missed out on the PGL Copenhagen Major after failing to adjust to the quality demanded at the big stage, like the RMR, according to Vexite. Meanwhile, things have started looking good for FlyQuest, which just finished marginally off the playoffs at IEM Chengdu in April after games against the likes of Virtus.pro and FaZe Clan.
The team was able to stretch the form into the ESL Pro League last week, taking themselves close to the brink of international playoffs CS2, and they could be the first Aussie CS team to taste that since DreamHack Leipzig 2020. FlyQuest will face Ninjas in Pyjamas in the lower bracket final.
