blood: "People might say I’m learning at a faster level, but a lot of it is just basic CS"

Much has been said about the health of the OCE CS2 scene of late, but we're still uncovering diamonds in the rough Down Under — one of which is 21-year-old prodigy Ozzy "blood" Rose.

Blood made the papers in early 2026, becoming one of a few in the region to make the HLTV Prospects list in February and March — a 50-player list designed and built to promote the best young talents across the globe.

That was before his first LAN, where at HyperX Intel Nationals, he overcame first-time jitters to post a 1.06 HLTV rating in Abyssal's four maps. Since then, he's skyrocketed up the charts, and entered Brisbane this week as one of the region's best snipers.

Blood's career almost didn't kick off at all; he'd been playing for over a decade, but fell out of love with the game following the transition from CS:GO to CS2. But after returning via a close friend, blood's been back on the grind and out to establish himself as a future star of Aussie CS.

DFRAG spoke to blood prior to Abyssal's first test against Asian squad Alter Ego — but regardless of where Abyssal end up by Sunday afternoon, blood's over the moon with his team's growth this season.

An incredibly close series in that opener against Rooster with some big individual plays from yourself. Talk me through your approach to taking on Rooster, especially given their intent at this tournament is to play disruptor.

“We approached [the match] with a lot of confidence. We lost it, but we felt like we were the better team. Even on the server, we were up 11-5 on Inferno, I think up 9-4 on Nuke and we lost an anti — if we win that round, we're up 11-4.

"What I'm trying to say is when we're playing how we should be playing, we're way better than them. That's what we were reflecting on, that we made a lot of mistakes and then we lost, of course."

We missed out on catching round three of this Ground Zero vs. Abyssal rivalry for this event, but outside of the best-of-one loss at ANZC Locals Spring, it’s been all wins to you guys in the head-to-head. What’s giving Abyssal the edge in what, to me, should have been a confident win to GZ?

"Personally I've versed them like a lot in the last like year. I've played more higher-level CS and I understand how they play now, like how [apocdud] calls, so it's pretty easy for me to play."

"I think it goes the same for my teammates, too. Coming into the event, we had two online series against them, and we lost. I played pretty bad in those, but we personally felt like the way they play CS is not that high-level or consistent — you can’t repeat the things they’re doing against the best teams.

"What that means for us is, if we’re aware of what they want to do and we simply play for it, they can’t actually win. It’s not that they are bad players — they’ve smashed us at events, they’re smart — but they’ve been playing that way for a while. We worked out how they play, it was just a matter of being aware of it."

We now see this Abyssal reach the top four of arguably the biggest LAN on the calendar in OCE, a level not thought possible for the previous iteration of this lineup. The team is no stranger of chopping or changing, as is the way in OCE, but what is it about this squad that is working?

"I’ll talk about our new team, I don’t want to shame any of the other past players, but it comes down to us five really trusting each other. 

"We all work towards the same sort of goal, and we all believe each individual on the team has the skill level where we can beat FlyQuest, we can beat Ground Zero, we can beat Off Chops.

"I can tell you right now, I can look at every single one of the players on my team — they can win a round for us versus any of those other teams. They can pop off, clutch, whatever is needed.

"Maybe on previous teams we didn't have that, sometimes it was a different style, but the way we play now, we all get to do what we want, in a way. We have our own say.

"We’re going to keep progressing and working on playing the best type of CS, and a lot also comes down to zune’s calling. He understands the game at a really high level, I really appreciate how he sees the game. I see it a similar way.

"On the old Abyssal, I think we lacked a higher floor. Having these players in our team now, it’s like I can close my eyes and just win with the basics, with our aim, and without overcomplicating things."

Abyssal has a great combination of youth and experience, and it’s not like you didn’t have that before, but you’re all really thriving off the back of the work set up by Sharvesh "dangeR" Saravanan. How important is it to have an experienced head with the squad, and what is it about dangeR specifically?

“dangeR is really, really good, the best player I've ever played with, easily. He's extremely smart, extremely experienced, and he knows how to play the game — but the biggest differentiating factor for him is he has a low ego.

“He's not afraid to say he did something wrong, he’s not afraid to improve, not afraid to change the way he plays, and he's not afraid to critique us as well. So it's really like a give and take. 

“You would think that he has a bigger ego, maybe he's trying to talk down to us or not listen to us, or dictate more often — but he doesn't do that. He just keeps it cool and calm and he's sort of like a check on the team. We'll look to him sometimes emotionally, and in the game as well… it's really good to have him.

“He'll literally tell me ‘I'll die for you,’ just to set us up better for the round, and he says the same thing to vinhy and zune. [He’s] just the best teammate.”

2026 was a year of first’s for you, specifically your shift into offline play with your first LAN coming last season. How big of a leap has it been to go from online play, especially after the trial-by-fire that was your first appearance?

"It honestly depends on the type of player you are. I think different people will get more affected by LAN than others, and I'm not talking about gameplay, I mean like, emotionally.

"Seeing other people when they yell at you, how you react, seeing your teammates get annoyed, or you getting annoyed at them — it all depends on the type of person you are.

"I'm not saying I'm an amazing player that can immediately handle pressure, but it’s a difference you have to be wary of for the first time. In terms of playstyle, there’s a few minor differences but honestly if you're a good player, you should play better at LAN.

"There’s still a few things I'm working out. That first LAN when I played Rooster in the first match, I got like a 0.31 rating. I was nervous in that game, I was shaking. It seriously was a bad thing. 

"And then, after that one LAN, now I'm not. FlyQuest, Vitality, even… it doesn't matter, it doesn't faze me anymore. It's just a learning thing, but it took one tournament for me personally.

"On the whole online thing, people might call other people onliners. I just think it can affect how open you are. Some people are more comfortable at home, some people open up more at LAN because they're physically next to the people, things like that."

How and when did you get your start, your introduction to Counter-Strike? What or who do you base your style and game on, individually?

"I started playing FACEIT over 10 years ago now, but I was mainly a matchmaking player up until about 2019. and then I grinded FACEIT a lot. I wasn’t a higher-elo FACEIT player then, I was just a pugger.

"I would get on after school and just play with my friends, but I was obsessed with the game. I watched a lot of NiKo, GuardiaN — [they’re] my favourite players of all time.

"I study how they peek angles, why they died in this round, what they did in a scenario that made them win the round or win the duel, whatever it is. [GuardiaN] has a unique AWPing style, but a few of the tendencies he has I like to say I picked up.

"And then, it was just playing the game itself and learning. ‘Why did I die now?  What happened this round?’’; even though I was playing with friends for fun, my brain is just automatically thinking ‘Why am I losing?’

"People might say I’m learning at a faster level, but a lot of it is basic CS premises — jotting it down and working as a team."
Ozzy "blood" Rose, Abyssal

"I moved into competitive play because I always wanted to. I just never really had the drive or the chance or whatever it is, but now playing comp is just a learning thing again like timings, when to do this, when to do that, when to communicate for my team, how to control different pieces around the map. 

"That's literally all it's been for me for like the last six months to a year, just learning the comp side of the game."

You're very much a member of our new crop of stars that we're trying to cultivate through DFRAG and in the region in general. What more can the organisers or the scene do to get you to the next level of your career?

"DFRAG is doing a really good job. Just the more experience I have playing these LANs, the more experience playing these high level opponents, the better. 

"Abyssal hasn't versed any Asian teams yet, but we've played FlyQuest four times, we’ve played Ground Zero a lot of times as well at these LANs, Off Chops… that experience is really, really big for us and it's gonna make us better.

"We'll just learn, learn, learn, and learn as a new team, that's how it helps me too. The higher the level of competition the better, and what [DFRAG] does is great."

Abyssal ultimately fell in their playoff opener against Asian squad Alter Ego 2-0 (13-7, 13-6). Blood and co. will take the day to reset and prepare for their lower-bracket run, which kicks off Saturday, Oct. 31.

For more on the DFRAG Invitational, and plenty about Asia and OCE CS2, stay tuned to DFRAG.gg.