Liazz: "I don't know if Australian CS is back yet; I think we're on the right track, though"

The Australian believes there are "a lot of positive signs" for FlyQuest after the team's good showings at IEM Chengdu.

For a team that, only a month ago, was staring into the abyss, to be on the brink of a playoff appearance at IEM Chengdu certainly feels like a massive success.

FlyQuest exceeded everyone's expectations in China, where they notably beat Cloud9 in a best-of-one game and played out a close three-map affair in an advancement series against Virtus.pro. It is a huge boost for the Australian team after a turbulent period that saw them miss out on PGL Major Copenhagen and test the free-agency waters for a while after Grayhound closed doors.

"Considering what we had coming into this event, we are very satisfied," Jay "⁠Liazz⁠" Tregillgas told HLTV after the loss to FaZe, admitting that the team had no expectations before the event. "It was just to sort of get a feeling for it. To feel how it is to play against European teams again. And it felt good."

FlyQuest have two LAN events on the horizon, ESL Pro League 19 and IEM Dallas, both of which will be preceded by a bootcamp in Europe. With the Major blow firmly in the past, Liazz thinks that this might be the start of something big. "I think that the goal is that we make the finals in at least one of these two coming events," he said.

---

It's the end of the road for the team. Still, are you satisfied with what you accomplished here?

Considering what we had coming into this event, we are very satisfied. You know, taking a map off Cloud9 is fucking sick, beating Nemiga is good, and playing close against VP is pretty fucking amazing.

What are your main takeaways from this event?

We have a lot of tactical stuff. Most of it is a little bit just in-depth, like decision tree stuff. I think that, for such a young team, especially with dexter coming in very recently, there are a lot of positive signs and we just have to keep doing what we're doing. We have a bootcamp coming up over the next couple of months and that'll be really important for us

What sort of expectations did you have heading into this event? No one knew exactly what to expect from you because you hadn't made it to the Major, and you were mostly playing Australian teams. Would you agree that you surpassed everyone's expectations, including your own?

Absolutely. We had no expectations coming into the event. It was just to sort of get a feeling for it. To feel how it is to play against European teams again. And it felt good.

You now have Pro League and IEM Dallas coming up. Are you going to bootcamp before both events?

I think so, before both. We have a random qualifier happening in Australia in between, so we will have to fly back after Pro League, I believe, just for a little while. But yeah, we have two solid bootcamps coming up.

And what will that help you with that you cannot normally do in Australia?

Well, [laughs], in Australia—not to shit on the region too hard —, it's just fucking chaos. In Europe, you throw some strategy at them, and they have a set reaction that makes sense. And then, in practice, you can practice against that set reaction. And then, you know, your decision tree as a team grows. And you get better, you learn more. In Australia, it's just chaos from the get-go.

SPUNJ was saying that one of the reasons you struggled at the Asia RMR was that you were still getting used to dexter's way of calling. He came into the team after some time in Europe, he has another way of seeing the game, of approaching it, and that was the reason, since you were so new as a team, that you guys couldn't make it to the Major. Would you agree with that?

Yeah, probably. I mean, I think Chris called pretty well during the RMR. I think it's like a little bit of an adjustment, like getting used to Asian Counter-Strike again. It was probably a while since he had played against Asian teams. But I can't really fault Chris too much. I think it was a little bit of everything.

I think there were a lot of nerves going into the last match as well. We got knocked around by TheMongolz, and I think that shattered our confidence a little bit. And there's a lot of pressure to perform, especially when you have a new player coming into the lineup. All those things mounted, and maybe we got a little bit scared.

Would you say that Asia having three spots at the next Major will take away some of that pressure?

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, we're thrilled. It's fucking sick for the Mongolian boys, and we're really happy for them. But yeah, it's also really great for us.

Now, for you, it's about building on this, right? What are your goals for the next months? And would you say Australian CS is back?

[laughs] I don't know if we're back yet. I think we're on the right track, though. Next few months… We're not going to expect ourselves to make the finals of every event coming up. We have to be a little bit realistic. But I think that the goal is that we make the finals in at least one of these two coming events. We have ample time to bootcamp and get ready, Chris is fitting into the roster now and we have our strategy all lined up. So it's just a bit of playtime now, and see how we go.