A brave Abyssal entered uncharted waters on Sunday evening with the goal of luring another top OCE team into a false sense of security, but the hunter became the hunted with FlyQuest opening their triple LAN account with a steadfast win at ANZC Locals Spring.
FlyQuest's 2-0 victory over Abyssal is the perfect start for the perennial OCE champs who can all but lock in their tickets to the PGL Singapore Major with three wins this October.
With THUNDER dOWNUNDER disqualified, the red carpet was rolled out for FQ, who as expected, took the event win flawlessly. But the big surprise came from the opponents that met them on championship Sunday.
KZG and Abyssal both survived group-stage scares, with the latter overcoming Mindfreak 2-1 (5-13, 13-7, 13-10) in a behemoth best-of-three that saw the two duke it out at midnight. KZG had an easier time in their decider against BGNS Orange 2-1 (13-5, 10-13, 13-2).
Many saw a FlyQuest-versus-Ground Zero grand final as inevitable with TdU absent, so it came as a shock to see Abyssal take down GZ in dominating fashion. Abyssal capitalised on two 8-4 halves and didn't give GZ a chance to breathe, with Marvin "Forleks" Tran (1.45, 31-21) putting the scene on notice.
It's where Abyssal's Cinderella story came to a close, however, with the FlyQuest grand final challenge too tall a mountain to climb.
Abyssal won the opening four rounds of Dust 2, but FQ adjusted, then overpowered what was left of Abyssal's offence. Declan "Vexite" Portelli (1.63, 20-10) was too locked in, despite Sharvesh "dangeR" Saravanan's (1.47, 21-15) best efforts.
The underdogs started even stronger on FQ's pick of Inferno at 6-0 before once again, FQ sat up and stopped such debauchery, winning 13 of the next 15 rounds to end Abyssal's dream run.
ANZC Locals Spring 2026: Standings
- 1st: FlyQuest ($5,000)
- 2nd: Abyssal ($2,500)
- 3rd: Ground Zero ($1,500)
- 4th: KZG ($1,000)
FlyQuest alongside some of Asia and OCE's brightest returns on Thursday, Oct. 15 for Logitech G Pro Series.
