The StarLadder Budapest Major opening stage concluded with much fanfare today, but for OCE squad FlyQuest, the action wrapped up two days early — this time for all the right reasons.
Now, the Aussie (and Kiwi and Romanian) squad will need to reset ahead of the second stage of the Major on Saturday where they'll open accounts against famed Ukrainian squad Natus Vincere in an effort to keep their undefeated streak from Stage 1 going.
We're not here to fuck spiders! #YTB || #FLYWIN pic.twitter.com/HRktCKDtCJ
— FlyQuest CS (@FlyQuestCS) November 25, 2025
The pair last met at IEM Melbourne where FlyQuest's brave homestand was ended in the group stage lower bracket. That was seven months ago, and if the events of the last week are anything to go by, a best-of-one against NaVi could go any way.
The FQ boys looked unstoppable during Stage 1 of the Budapest Major, dispatching Brazilian trio Legacy, Imperial, and Fluxo with ease and putting to bed a "2-0 curse" that had plagued the outfit since the org's entry into Counter-Strike.
Declan "Vexite" Portelli (1.64 HLTV rating, +20 K/Diff) was a man on a mission in Stage 1, leading in eight metrics including overall rating, damage per round, and opening kills. Iulian "regali" Harjău (1.33 rating, +29 K/Diff) wasn't far behind, while the rest of FlyQuest all sat within the top 15-rated players at Budapest.
But CS isn't won on paper, and the results posted this past week are a result of months of preparation between the team, captain Joshua "INS" Potter, and new coach Aaron "AZR" Ward, who has been nothing short of a revelation for the FQ outfit.
"I think we just played with confidence for the whole first stage and played with how we practiced, that was the main thing [we were] focusing on this major," INS said following the Fluxo win.
"AZR has helped guide me and other individuals in a way, bringing him in has helped a lot. We just take more fights when we know we have to, we don't go into a shell and that's important for us as a team."
Stage 2 sees FlyQuest, alongside the other top seven from Stage 1, move up and take on the likes of NaVi, Astralis, TYLOO, Aurora, and Team Liquid. Should The Boys' form keep, a spot in Stage 3's top 16 awaits where an opportunity to put an OCE team back onto the main stage of a Major becomes a target within reach.
FlyQuest begins Stage 2 against NaVi at 1am AEDT, Sunday Nov. 30.
