Abyssal foggers on competition in OCE: 'Tall poppy syndrome in Australia goes crazy'

"You want a clickbait title, then? I'm gonna say there's going to be a lot of changes, a lot of changes. But in reality, it's just gonna be roles and stuff like that."

Ever the "class clown" of the region, everyone in OCE CS2 knows Jayden "foggers" Graham loves a good laugh.

There was no laughing last Friday at the HyperX Intel Nationals, however, following his team Abyssal's shock straight-sets exit in the group stage.

Humbled by Rooster and Mindfreak, Abyssal — who were dark horses to challenge for a spot in the top-four — missed a huge opportunity to prove their online form wasn't reserved to playing from home.

Nevertheless, there were positive takeaways from the early Brisbane exit for hometown LAN veteran foggers. Of particular note, the form of young sniper and LAN debutant Ozzy "blood" Rose, who has been dazzling OCE CS2 for the better part of 2026.

That got foggers talking about unfair expectations; those set upon blood through his rise through the ranks, those that new OCE teams set upon themselves in the post-VRS world, and those that foggers sets for himself, a full three years on from the most tumultuous period in his career — his two-year ESIC ban.

Talk me through the lead-up to Friday and what happened, because many of us were excited to see Abyssal really grasp at this top-four chance, but we get here, and we instead see a day one exit on the Friday.

"Not gonna lie, we just shit the bed. We came in pretty confident, because I felt we were leading up well in our really long scrims and built a great baseline.

"I won't use the first-LAN excuse for blood or the team, we just shit the bed. Losing to Rooster in the best-of-one, that's a 50-50, but to be 13-2'd is embarrassing.

"The Mindfreak loss got us, it fucked us over. They got louder as the series went on, and we were so confident after the map one win [on Mirage] and after a great CT side start on Inferno.

"Then we just started feeding in Banana, the one place that you're supposed to win and not die in, and we began to get frustrated. Not to talk shit about any one player, it was all to do with us as the whole team.

"They played into our frustration, and even though we started okay on Nuke, we fell off a cliff."

How much does the online-versus-LAN effect play into it? Because while you've got some experienced offline players here like yourself, you've obviously got LAN debutants like blood...

"I think it matters for the younger players. When we came in on Friday and set up, I feel our younger players weren't really comfortable, not as much as they are at home and online.

"It's obviously easy to say we're onliners and stuff like that, but you can see they aren't as confident as they would be. The mental barrier exists, but it'll come down with more experience and time, and the more they come out of their shell and become confident at events like this."

The hype around blood these past few months has been huge, from the Ding Cuts uprising to landing alongside you and other experienced heads in Abyssal. How did you feel he performed here at his first LAN?

"He's been loud and extroverted from the get-go, no nerves at all, just excited to be here. His mind for the game is really, really good. The Rooster game might have been a blowout, but he did really, really well in the second series [against Mindfreak].

"Abyssal needed an AWPer that can take over the game. Blood's rise has been meteoric from the amateur scene, he went from pretty much a nobody to forming the Ding Cuts team with his mates and taking big results early.

"We spoke together about his freedoms and what he wants to do, especially in our CT-side layouts and setting him up in the positions he wants. We're seasoned enough players to understand how to adjust for him, but it's on blood to build the confidence to make those calls.

"Everyone thought [blood] was cheating. The tall poppy syndrome in Australian CS goes crazy."
Jayden "foggers" Graham, Abyssal

"Blood's been going from strength to strength ever since we picked him up. He's an amateur and a rookie, sure, but he isn't making a mistake twice. I'm really happy for him."

Tall poppy syndrome is a great way of putting OCE's competitive environment, but it's something I thought would have been stamped out a bit given how important it was to retain a core for VRS today. We're still seeing teams form, play, and break apart in short amounts of time. Why is it still an issue in OCE?

"People just have too high expectations of themselves. When new teams form they say stuff like 'We're gonna be better than FlyQuest in three months,' but then the harsh reality hits that they're just shit.

"They give up when they lose to the teams like Arcade or Time Waves — not to disrespect them — but if you can't get over them, what chance do you have of going further? The players talk about how they beat those players in FACEIT pugs, but they can't ever do it in a team environment.

"Also, people don't have the level of commitment here compared to the big regions. Some take it as a 'get rich quick' scheme, but in reality, you've gotta stick it out. Abyssal has had its fair share of roster changes, but we're now one of the longest-standing cores in OCE, we've grinded it out, and we're seeing the results.

"If they grind it out and get their 600-odd VRS points, that's just about enough to get invites to ECL, or a DFRAG Open qualification spot — but they just aren't committed enough to do so."

You were beginning to build up your career, then the ESIC ban in 2021 hit, and that was it for two whole years really. We're now three years on from that, and the majority of that list of banned OCE players are long gone from competition. What's keeping you competing?

"It's what I want to do. At the end of the day, it's a hobby... it's easy to say it's a hobby, but also I like competing, no matter what.

"Yeah, it sucks that it took two years off me, but what else am I going to do? I work full-time, but when I come home it's just like, do I just be a bum and just play FACEIT, or do I want to continue playing in proper leagues, and stuff like that.

"Going overseas a couple more times would be pretty sick, yeah. I've gone three times now, with IESF twice and once to China with KZG. Obviously if I make a major, that's a bit of a Cinderella moment.

"A couple more overseas trips, possibly getting my name in the game with a sticker, and just meeting and catching up with more friends. All of my best friends have come from Counter-Strike... I've already won."

Foggers and Abyssal head back to the workshop as they plan ahead for the rest of 2026; with the experience gained in Brisbane last weekend, we're sure to see them hit the server hard in the coming weeks.

For more OCE CS2 news stay tuned to DFRAG.