Same grind, different scene: aliStair brings more than sharp AWPing to SemperFi

Five months ago Alistair “aliStair” Johnston felt on top of the world after lifting Oceania’s first international A-tier trophy since 2017 at ESL Challenger Atlanta.

A lot has changed since then, but the 26-year-old sniper—now representing SemperFi—is seeing the light in his Australian homecoming; in particular, the gruelling travel schedule he experienced at FlyQuest is gone, for now.

“I'm loving not having to travel as much,” aliStair said to DFRAG. “Look at FlyQuest now with how hectic their schedule's been and how much that's taken a toll on all of them.

“I'm enjoying being home in my routine, able to work and do a lot of theory and stuff from home. I think scrimming Asian teams will definitely going to help us develop pretty fast as well.”

AliStair admits there’s plenty of work to do for SemperFi, who survived their opening day at the DFRAG Invitational with wins over Only One Word and Rooster. SemperFi were slow out of the gate in their opener, requiring a nine-round comeback against OOW to open their tournament campaign.

“[OOW] have a good lineup now, some solid players and so they're gonna get better and better, we definitely didn't underestimate them. We just came out really slow,” aliStair explains. “Communication was off, the energy wasn't there yet but by the time we got to CT and strongarmed a few rounds everyone was starting to feel it and get into it mentally.” 

Their following series against Rooster also wasn’t as smooth, but by the end SemperFi locked in the first playoff spot 2-0. “It got really, really messy towards the end of the map but [Rooster] played good, they definitely brought the energy. I think we just have to focus more on ourselves and fix the little stuff and everything will fall into place.”

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This is aliStair’s second official “event” with SemperFi after the PGL Astana open qualifier. He recalls his return home and his search for a new squad in the new year, but it wouldn’t take long for him to find a new home.

“Pretty much all the AUS teams reached out and I was just kind of feeling out what was there. For me, SemperFi made the most sense.” His chief reason for picking SemperFi, as he explained both here and on Jordan “Elfishguy” Mays’ Geographically Challenged: he wanted to “break the mould” with a fresh crew.

“I kind of wanted to see, you know, a different lineup and not kind of like the same old players in AUS trying to break the mould and dethrone FlyQuest. I felt like the scene definitely had to switch it up and this lineup made the most sense in that regard.”

“It was a pretty smooth transition. We haven't practiced enough, we still have a long way to go, but the boys have the right attitude and mentality. I'm keen to just keep sticking out with these lads and see what we can do internationally.”

AliStair’s not just wanting to bring his talents with the AWP to SemperFi. The structures and routines he’s picked up from his time with OCE’s premier squad are being applied to SemperFi with great early effect.

“A lot of the systems and practice that we did in FlyQuest, I feel like I can help develop and structure for this team,” he explained, adding that as long as the boys stay locked in and keep the competitive mentality, the rest will work itself.

“That's never been the issue for young Australian players, everyone's mostly pretty sharp. I just want to help develop the little things and make sure everybody's thinking the right way and watching demos.”

SemperFi isn’t a temporary stop for aliStair, either. He’s planning on sticking in for the long haul—Austin Major qualification or not.

“It's not like if we miss the major, it's just GG… but I'm not really focusing on the little things like VRS points and the bullshit of having to pick your events,” he said. 

“I want us to just develop as much as we can, play as much as we can, and focus on the games in front of us and not worry about all the minor details. I think if we just trust the process, success will come and hopefully we can make a major.”

He knows the path to Austin goes via the MRQ, where a surefire match against his old crew at FlyQuest awaits. The opportunity to put FlyQuest down is one he is relishing, but affirmed any bad feelings were left on the server.

“I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't be sweet, I love all the boys over there, nothing but love to them,” aliStair laughed.

“But as soon as it's live, I know they're not going to hold back so I have no intentions to hold back either.”

AliStair and SemperFi return to the server on Saturday, March 22 for the DFRAG Invitational playoffs.