aliStair: 'The point of the [THUNDER dOWNUNDER] project was to gamble on ourselves'

OCE squad THUNDER dOWNUNDER banked all their IEM Cologne Major hopes on this past week in Brisbane, but the risk has paid off in spades for Alistair "aliStair" Johnston and the squad who claimed both events in back-to-back banger grand finals.

THUNDER dOWNUNDER thwarted SemperFi twice last week at the DFRAG Wildcard LAN and ANZC Autumn 2026 finals. In their first meeting of the titans, it was SemperFi who came away ahead — but TdU has since put three-straight best-of-three's past the boys in green to come out on top.

The offline wins cap off a truly packed month of action for TdU, and as aliStair said to DFRAG following the ANZC Autumn win, there's only two things he's looking forward for in the immediate future.

"A few beers and a break," aliStair laughed.

"We’ll take a couple days off because it’s been the most hectic month of Counter-Strike with ECL, CCT, Bucharest qualifiers, two back-to-back LANS… it’s a lot and I think we need to let ourselves breathe."

An "ecstatic" aliStair was relieved following Tuesday's final, and was especially proud of the team who pulled back from their DFRAG Wildcard LAN loss to SemperFi in the upper bracket final.

"We haven't practiced or played against them at all, that was our first taste," aliStair said.

"But I think even though it was 13-11 on both maps when we first lost to them, we knew that we had played our C-game. That's all we said afterwards — we really needed to tighten s**t up.

"It was always on us and it was within us to make sure we didn't give it away even towards the end of the night, though I was definitely doing my best to give it away [in the second grand final]. The boys had my back."

Outside of a few online matches against Asian opponents on far-flung servers, TdU's bank of VRS points comes almost entirely against OCE squads in local competition.

This fact was not lost on aliStair, but his focus was on how tough it is for teams like TdU and SemperFi to raise their ceilings whilst competing in the isolated OCE region.

"We’re in a very unique position in Australia because [we're] versing the same teams over and over," he said.

"When you're the overdog, teams are looking at you, you know what I mean? You’ve got to make sure you don't doubt yourself and you're constantly backing yourself in this position and coming up with fresh ideas."

As the newly-minted IGL of TdU, it's on him to develop these concepts and ideas — a challenge he's embraced and is enjoying.

But he's not doing it alone. With the likes of Chris "dexter" Nong beside him and coach Eddie "viridian" Azzi behind him, aliStair has a solid framework from which he's been building upon these past few months.

“I think I have adopted [dexter’s] style, or tried to," aliStair explained. "I’ve been using him as a mentor, in a sense, because he's got that experience that you definitely want to utilize.

"I not only lean on Chris, I lean on all my players, the people who are in the mid-round info positions to relay information so we can form good rounds. It's definitely, like, a team effort. It's not just me dictating everything and saying what we should do just because I have heaps of experience.

"What makes us really good is when everyone's chiming in and helping out. I also think I do my best outside the server to keep everyone at a good level, so when we do enter the server, we show it."

The challenge for aliStair now is ensuring he leaves enough for himself. The 27-year-old was pleased with his individual effort — a 1.18 HLTV rating across both events — but agrees there's room for more.

"Yeah, I’m happy but I think I can definitely utilize myself a bit more," he said. "I do tend to support a lot more, it's very map dependent, but I think if I set myself up a little bit more it'll help the boys out in return."

The TdU project is only five months and one season old, but their first goal — make a CS2 major — is within reach.

What that major brings, whether it be more international opportunities or a team sponsor, isn't something aliStair is thinking about right now.

“Step one is definitely to make the major. Making it would be huge for TjP and asap, and I really want them to appreciate and take it all in. Beyond that, we are enjoying our own path and project.

"We've definitely had some outside interest in TdU, but the whole point of the project was to gamble on ourselves, to back ourselves and make it work. We've done the best we can."

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