dexter: "I don't think people really believed in me in fnatic"

dexter talks about his European journey, return to Grayhound, and state of the Oceanic scene ahead of the start of the Asia RMR.

After a three-year stint competing in Europe with MOUZ and fnatic, Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong has returned to Oceania as he rejoined Grayhound in December, just in time for the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen qualifiers.

Upon their old in-game leader's return the Australian team's dominion over the local scene has seemingly only become more pronounced, and Grayhound now head into the Asia RMR with a 21-1 match and 35-2 map record in 2024.

Ahead of the start of the competition in Shanghai, which will see the new lineup debut on LAN among the likes of The MongolZ, Lynn Vision, and TYLOO in a fight for two spots in Copenhagen, HLTV spoke with dexter about the end of his European journey and return to Oceania.

Date	Matches
PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Asia RMR
26/02/2024	Grayhound 03:55 ATOX	Match

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We're at the Asia RMR in Shanghai, your first LAN event after joining Grayhound. You have a streak of 23 maps won online — were you looking forward to show yourself on LAN?

Yeah, I'm definitely always looking forward to play on LAN, it's usually way more fun. Just excited to be here.

Before we go into the RMR I wanted to ask you about your European journey. Before ultimately returning to Grayhound you played for MOUZ and fnatic. Why didn't it work out?

There are a lot of answers for that, I'd probably need a two-hour podcast. For MOUZ things just didn't work out, they needed a change, we needed a change. After two and a half years, we got good results, got bad results, and we just wanted to go in different directions. That's totally fine. fnatic, I just don't think the people really believed in me. I didn't really get a chance to prove how to play, and that's just how it went. That's why I wanted to go to Grayhound in the end.

You spent in MOUZ and fnatic a total of almost three years. What was the most important thing you learned from playing in Europe?

I learned lots, but probably how to talk to people, deal with other people and be a better leader and all that kind of stuff, depending on the team as well. Definitely that, just trying to be a better person as well as possible for the younger players and whatnot.

Overall, do you think this was the right path for you given you're back in Australia. How does it compare with, say, investing all this time into an Australian project instead?

I think it's really good because I really wanted, at the end of fnatic, to push an Australian team. We haven't really done any bootcamps or anything like that in Europe, so we're waiting for that opportunity. But it's just much nicer playing here because people don't really argue with everything you have to say, it makes progress and all those kinds of things much easier and faster.

Speaking of Australians in EU teams, jks is now on the bench in G2. Would you want to play with him in an Australian lineup one day?

Yeah. I would like to play with Justin at some point, but right now I'm pretty happy with everything and how we're progressing as a team. No matter what I'd love to play with him, but for now we're all just happy.

Do you have any thoughts on jks' situation with G2?

Not really. I know they said they needed someone to talk more and whatnot, but there are positives and negatives to all those kinds of things. If they wanted a person that talks more, then they take more space and that takes up space for things to be done from other players. I don't really know how the dynamics work there, so we'll have to wait and see how they play for future comps.

How would you describe the state of the Oceanic scene? Is there plenty of new talent brewing, or is it at a lower point?

There's definitely a lot more talent in Australian, but right now I don't think there's too much experience with how to play, how to conduct yourself. You definitely see when other Australian teams compete overseas that sometimes it's a bit lacklustre.

What do you think the Oceanic scene needs to thrive? Is it more international events, more local events, more teams with salaries, or is it just time?

Probably all of those things, but probably good leadership. That's how you get good teams. A lot of the players right now in leadership positions are pretty inexperienced and it kinda shows how the team progresses, so that's definitely needed.

Is good leadership something you're keen to bring to the Australian scene with your comeback?

I'm definitely keen to bring it to my team, but I don't know about bringing it to the other teams (laughs). Maybe they can learn some stuff, which I know some people are really keen on learning, which is really good, but I know some other teams are not so eager to learn those types of things. But yeah, it's definitely needed and, hopefully, by being a better team in Australia we can push everyone else to try a lot harder.

Back to the Asia RMR. Two teams were replaced before the event started. Visa issues were cited, but there were suspicions that one of the teams might have cheated their way in and then decided not to play. What are your thoughts on that?

I have zero thoughts because I don't really know any of them, I don't know the teams, I don't really care. I just need to come here and win, and that's really it. I don't really care about those kinds of teams.

You're coming to this event with a win streak of 23 maps against Australian teams. What do you make of your performance? Do you feel like you have clicked?

I think we have clicked but still not yet, there's still a lot of work to do with structuring our team and how to work in different ways. We haven't boot camped yet in Europe, so there's a lot of work to do, still. It'll take only small things to make us lose right now, so that's something I'm trying to fix.

At this RMR the field looks very competitive with four favorites fighting for two spots. Given how much is at stake, is there more excitement or stress from the expectations from this event?

There's definitely always going to be stress trying to compete for a [Major] spot, but overall we're trying to keep calm no matter what. There's only so much you can do, but yeah, it's definitely a lot better event than the previous ones.

Besides your team, which team do you think is most likely to take the spot at the Major?

Probably TheMongolz.

Last question. Now that you're back in Australia, is your kid happy?

Yes (laughs).