FlyQuest bench aliStair

The Australian team is on the lookout for an international AWPer in the off-season.

FlyQuest have announced that they have decided to bench Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston. This marks the first change to the Oceanic team since they joined the North American organization in March 2024.

With aliStair's benching, the Australian team is now after a new sniper. HLTV knows that FlyQuest will follow in TALON's footsteps and enter the international market to fill the vacant AWP role.

The move comes in the aftermath of a disappointing exit at the Shanghai Major in the Opening Stage. FlyQuest got off to a dream start to the event, easing past Complexity and BIG in best-of-one games, but then fell short in the best-of-three series against Liquid, paiN and MIBR.

Overall, it was a challenging and frustrating season for the Australian team. After showing some positive signs in their first two events under FlyQuest, they went through a barren spell and picked up one victory across four international tournaments (IEM Dallas, Esports World Cup, IEM Cologe and ESL Pro League 20).

A title-winning run at ESL Challenger Atlanta provided much-needed optimism and confidence for the final stretch of the season, with aliStair earning praise for his performances in the trophy match against BIG. "The boys are always pushing me forward, not putting me down or blaming me for anything," he said after the final when asked about the criticism. "I'm glad that today I could show a good performance for them."

FlyQuest then limped through the Asia RMR, where they lost to TALON in the first round and narrowly avoided defeat to DRILLAS in an elimination match. At the Major, their run was ended by MIBR after a series where they posted only nine rounds.

"Alistair has shown incredible drive to become the best version of himself during his time at FlyQuest," FlyQuest President and Chief Gaming Officer Christopher "PapaSmithy" Smith said in a statement. "I have never met a competitor more singularly focused on improving both in and out of game routines in the pursuit of winning.

"Without Ali’s heroics, we would not have become the first Australian team to win an international tournament since 2017 at DreamHack Atlanta, nor would we have been able to return to the Major after the heartbreak of Copenhagen.

"While we are choosing to go in a different direction today, Alistair will forever be an important part of FlyQuest CS2 history, and we wish him the absolute best of luck in his next steps."

On X, aliStair said that he plans on continuing to compete.

"I truly believe exiting this year, I have the best mentality I’ve ever had and a better outlook on how I should approach competition," he wrote.

"This is not the end for me in Counter Strike and I’m grateful for my time with the gents I’ve got to play and grow with."

FlyQuest are now:

Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong
Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter
Declan "⁠Vexite⁠" Portelli
Jay "⁠Liazz⁠" Tregillgas

Erdenetsogt "⁠erkaSt⁠" Gantulga (coach)

Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston (benched)