FlyQuest fly high to lock in OCE's first CS2 LAN win in Atlanta

Written by: Taffy

Aussie squad FlyQuest has finally broken its international tournament duck, completing a near-flawless ESL Challenger Atlanta run with a 2-1 (13-10, 14-16, 13-9) victory over BIG. 

Under-fire Alistair “aliStair” Johnston (59-48, 1.21 rating) delivered when it mattered most in the three-map final against the German squad, while Joshua “INS” Potter (+8, 1.11 rating) and Chris “dexter” Nong (+28 K/Diff, 1.22) were consistently on top of the server across FlyQuest’s run to the trophy.

“It’s pretty insane, it was crazy. It’s a huge accomplishment for the scene and it’s everything I could wish for,” tournament MVP dexter said. “I’m so fucking proud of everyone, our composure was some of the best and some of the worst we had,” Declan “vexite” Portelli added on X/Twitter after the final.

ErkaSt was enjoying it just as much as the boys were. Photo via ESL

FlyQuest’s triumph over BIG is the first for an Aussie team at an international LAN since 2017’s StarLadder i-League Invitational victory over Virtus.pro and the first for this core against European opponents — the majority of which they had no problem beating in the lead-up to the grand final.

The Aussie squad took down BetBoom and SAW with ease in the group stage before dispatching Wildcard in a tight semi-final, setting up a meeting against BIG. It’s a rematch of the DreamHack Leipzig final from 2020 that dexter and INS remembered all too well.

The Germans put FlyQuest to the sword on multiple occasions this year, but this time was different as heavily-criticized Aussie sniper aliStair silenced pundits with an astonishing grand final performance.

Across all three maps FlyQuest took solid leads and threatened a boilover, but in all three BIG refused to go out fighting. Karim “Krimbo” Moussa (80-46, 1.55) looked like he would single-handedly carry BIG through each map, but superb team play in the clutch saw FlyQuest emerge winners on Ancient.

Krimbo and Rigon “rigoN” Gashi (25-21, 1.25) weren’t going to be denied the comeback on Vertigo, and it appeared the pair would also orchestrate a recovery on Dust 2. Enter aliStair, who completed an epic 1v2 clutch for the ace to maintain FlyQuest’s lead. The Aussies ran away with the map in the end 13-9, lifting the trophy once and for all.

The win pauses FlyQuest’s tumble down the rankings after numerous last-place exits at international events. After a playoff appearance at ESL Pro League Season 19, FlyQuest crumbled to group-stage elimination at EPL 20 and IEM Cologne with aliStair copping the brunt of the criticism for his poor performance.

Now, he’s turned over a new leaf. “The boys are always pushing me forward and not putting me down or blaming me for anything, they’ve always had my back,” aliStair said. “I think after my recent form I reflected a lot and utilized a lot of my resources at FlyQuest. I’m going to keep this up as much as I can for the boys.”

AliStair was unstoppable on Dust 2 to close out the win. Photo via ESL

FlyQuest will return to AUS to close out Season 48 of ESL Challenger League Oceania before gearing up ahead of the all-important Shanghai Major APAC RMR. 

It’s still a tall task for FlyQuest to make it to the Major given their opposition in the region, but if Ali shows up as he did today and the team remain consistent, the sky’s the limit for the boys in green and gold.