Vexite: "It's our home, we want to make the playoffs"

The Australian says his team won't be satisfied with just taking the one scalp in Melbourne.

FlyQuest pulled off the first big upset of IEM Melbourne 2025 as they beat Virtus.pro in just two maps to eliminate the Russian side, ranked 11th in the VRS, in last place.

It was FlyQuest's third LAN victory of the year and the first against European opposition. The Australian side recently brought in Corey "⁠nettik⁠" Browne to replace Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong, whose IGL duties were delegated to Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter.

"We just didn't really see CS the same way, the team and him," Declan "⁠Vexite⁠" Portelli told HLTV about the decision to move on from dexter. "Ever since he joined the team, we had had a lot of discussions regarding CS and stuff. And we just didn't gel the way we wanted to, and we just never kicked it off."

FlyQuest will go up against either Falcons or Natus Vincere in their next elimination match. The Australians face a tough road to making the playoffs, but Vexite remains hopeful.

"Just taking it one match at a time," he said. "But obviously, it's our home, we want to make the playoffs. That would be great. And hopefully, we keep the dream alive and just keep going. You know, use the Australian power."

Read more in the interview below, or listen to it on Spotify.

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A 2-0 victory against Virtus.pro and you're still alive in this tournament. This is the first upset of the tournament, I'd say. How confident were you heading into this match?

I'd say we were pretty confident. We know how VP play and had a pretty good game plan heading into it. We hoped Inferno was a bit cleaner, but we lost a few rounds we shouldn't have and made it closer than it should have been. But we're really comfortable against their play style, the way they play.

 This was your first victory against European opposition on LAN this year. How big of a confidence boost is it, and do you think this is a sign that you are heading in the right direction?

It definitely feels good getting a LAN win, especially with the new team. It definitely inspires a bit of confidence within one another. But our expectations are still a bit higher than this. We think we can get a few more wins and hopefully make the playoffs. We've been performing well in practice. So it's more about just trying to translate that over to matches.

This was perhaps regali's best performance since he's been on the team. Is he just the type of player you were looking for after the Shanghai Major?

Oh yeah, for sure. regali has been really good for us. He's just really good at finding kills all the time, a lot of impact. But I'd say that was definitely a big team effort, the way we played. Regardless of whether he performed or not, I think we would have won. Because our communication and stuff was just on point. So it's good.

This is nettik's first LAN with the team, and there's a lot of hype surrounding him. What can you say about him? Has he surprised you in any way?

I don't think he has surprised me. I think he's pretty much what we expected. He's just trying to ease into it, get rid of the LAN jitters and stuff. But he has a lot more to show. What he has shown in these recent matches is not what he has been showing in practice. He's a very strong player, so hopefully he shows that in the later games.

I wanted to ask about dexter's benching, which came as a shock to many. What was the reasoning behind that decision, and how did that change come to be?

We just didn't really see CS the same way, the team and him. Ever since he joined the team, we had had a lot of discussions regarding CS and stuff. And we just didn't gel the way we wanted to, and we just never kicked it off, although we did have a few good results together. So we decided to make a change.

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 And what can you say about the differences between INS and dexter as IGLs, not just in terms of the calling style, but also the system in place?

I'm really familiar with the way Josh [INS] wants to call because I had played with him before as an IGL. I understand his thought process and the way he's thinking. So it sort of helps. In terms of the differences in the way they call, I'd say INS just takes a lot more control, whereas dexter leaves a bit more freedom. Simple as that. That's probably about the biggest difference between the two.

 You have a very tough road ahead to make it out of the group stage and into the playoffs. Next up you'll face NAVI or Falcons. Considering this, what kind of goals have you set for this tournament? Are you just taking it one match at a time?

Just taking it one match at a time. But obviously, it's our home, we want to make the playoffs. That would be great, and hopefully, we keep the dream alive and just keep going. You know, use the Australian power.