One thousand two hundred and eighty-six days. That’s how long it’s been since an Australian core made the playoffs of an S-Tier international Counter-Strike tournament. Gone are the days of an AZR-led 100 Thieves tearing up the IEM Katowice stage. Now, Grayhound Gaming are Australia’s best shot at overseas glory, but their calendar year has left many fans wanting.
Imagine if they break that playoffs duck, of all places, in their own backyard.
After nearly four years, Australia will taste top-tier CS once more as IEM Sydney returns this October. Sixteen of the world’s best will descend on the New South Wales capital for a bumper prize pool and in front of the best audience in esports (no bias here, whatsoever).
To Alistair Johnston, the rumors of IEM’s return down under had swirled for a long time, and he could barely keep his excitement when talking to Dot Esports. “We kind of been hearing words about it for like, nearly a year,” aliStair reveals, positively wrapped the tournament is making its long-awaited return.
To the surprise of few, aliStair noted the raucous atmosphere and how the entire Oceanic scene just glows when given a chance to witness premium CS at home. “IEM Sydney is so nostalgic, it was where Josh [INS] and I really started off our careers and it’s just an amazing environment.”
IEM Sydney: Oceanic Counter-Strike’s defibrillator
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the tournament’s initial move to Melbourne in 2020, and since then Aussies have been teased with events like ESL Challenger in 2022 and 2023—both of which saw large crowds in their own right.
But aliStair hopes those events will pale in size and scale to IEM Sydney at the Aware Super Theatre. “It brings the whole Australian CS community into one place; even if you’re not at the event, people are going out together afterward to catch up. It’s so good.”
Alistair graced IEM Sydney twice as a player; first for The Chiefs in 2017, then with Order a year later, pushing an American Cloud9 roster to the limit in the group stage lower bracket. Alongside current teammates Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas and Simon “Sico” Williams, aliStair fell short of taking to the Sydney stage, but he and Grayhound are out to rep the home crowd in the arena this time.
They did so in late April this year at DreamHack Melbourne. Even at 9am in the morning—far from “gamer hours”—the Aussie crowd was there to back GH home against Bad News Eagles. “I just love the Aussie culture and the move it’s made into esports,” aliStair reminisces, pointing out in particular how amazing it was to bring friends and family into their world.
These events are far and few between for the scene, which were on the rise prior to 2020’s COVID shutdown. Motivation was at an all-time high and the scene held an abundance of cash-strapped organizations willing to get in the action. Without these events, as well as an economic turn away from esports in the region, Oceanic CS fell hard. IEM Sydney could be the catalyst to spark a revival.
AliStair in particular would love to see these big-name orgs return to give the region’s best and brightest a chance to make esports a living. In the process, it would improve aliStair and GH’s experience at home, which has become stale of late.
“Scrimming and practicing [in OCE] is really shit because there’s no funding for these teams and players to spend their time on,” aliStair explains. “It hurts us because we don’t want to scrim at home, we end up practicing against the same teams over and over—it becomes pointless.”
First Vox, now Grayhound: The regression to the mean
Let’s wind the clock back to 2015. Veterans of the scene know full well the dominance Vox Eminor held over the Oceanic region. Team Immunity nipped at the heels of the Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill-led outfit but couldn’t quite get above them consistently enough.
It’s easy to draw parallels to the stranglehold GH has over Oceania today. Outside of a shock loss to Vertex at the Fortress OCE Masters and a smattering of smaller events, Grayhound have won every single OCE tournament or qualifier they’ve attended—well over two dozen trophies and qualifier wins in three years.
The major difference between the two cases, aliStair believes, is the opportunities and pathways the scene can afford today, even in its currently weak state. “It felt for us it wasn’t about being No. 1, it was just about landing these international opportunities regularly and making it to these events,” aliStair says.
While it’s hard to pass up the resources on offer to GH for making the Major, aliStair acknowledges the pathways to overseas competition are there for the taking if teams are hungry for it, but admits to doing so without organizational backing is incredibly difficult—something he hopes the boost from IEM Sydney will remedy.
“I’d hope to see some familiar organizations to step back in and pick up a team,” aliStair says. “Just landing that one international opportunity and exposure and breaking out that way is a huge start.”
And if it isn’t orgs stepping up to cover the gap, it’s the grassroots scene. Smaller scale offerings such as BrisVegas, a tournament local to Queensland’s capital city, are replacing the big leagues and are more than making up for it with a professional broadcast and a competitive atmosphere. These grassroots events not only allow players another outlet to showcase their skills but also a chance for those unable to compete to develop their skills in the industry.
“A closer top five to top eight teams makes the scene so much healthier, and grassroots events like BrisVegas bring a lot to the scene,” aliStair says, pointing out that players, including Grayhound captain Josh “INS” Potter, even fly interstate just to play offline CS. “There are even teams playing together at these events and using them as prep for the rest of the season. Stuff like that goes a long way and I don’t think people realize how important it is for the health of the scene. To qualify for something on LAN in Australia is so much fun.”
What would it take for GH to grace the Sydney stage?
2023 hasn’t been kind to Grayhound. The squad has struggled to leave its mark in tournaments outside of the Major: The Doggies have won just three series over five events attended. Even at the BLAST Paris Major, despite coming closer than ever, the squad couldn’t crack the Legends Stage.
Their follow-ups in Cologne and Malta really didn’t land either, even despite returning from the player break more relaxed than ever before, aliStair says. The global CS calendar cares little for Oceania, often scheduling events during Grayhound’s downtime.
“Usually Australia gets disrespected a little bit when it comes to the calendar and we normally end up having to play some qualifier or tourney right at the start or end of the player break,” aliStair explains, adding that the roster made assurances not to go near a computer so they could totally reset.
The reset also came with a change in the back office. Coach David “Kingfisher” Kingsford departed the roster at the beginning of 2023 and, without a replacement, the team has had to step up collectively to match his work rate.
“We’re putting in a lot more work now, especially without David. It felt like with him, he did a lot of stuff for us,” aliStair says, adding that while the departure of their coach hit the team hard, there are positives. “It’s been a little healthier not having him around as it’s forcing everyone to be putting in more work.”
A lack of coach was a point of discussion at ESL Pro League last week where, at critical times during their ill-fated group stage run, the ‘Hounds lacked the poise to take a timeout and discuss the game state with a sixth man. For their final match against FURIA, the squad was even given a mannequin in a Grayhound jersey to “sit” behind the team. Naturally, the mannequin didn’t help.
Also not helping—GH’s lack of participation in tier two and three events during their European bootcamps. This, however, isn’t for a lack of trying, as aliStair reveals. Grayhound had reached out to many tournament organizers hoping to secure an online event spot to get their reps in before IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League. Alas, they weren’t able to secure anything.
“We’re always open for those events because I think they’re really good experiences to be playing, even if they’re online,” aliStair says. “We were keeping our heads out and actively reaching out looking for an event, but we never really got anything back. Then we started seeing these events were going ahead and playing and it was sad because that definitely would have helped us to get some game time, just to get ourselves ready to take on the big teams.”
In their current state, Grayhound would really struggle to survive what will be a brutal Sydney group stage against the world’s best. With the likes of FaZe Clan, Vitality, and NAVI all invited and attending, GH’s road is tough, to say the least.
But between the jetlag for these top, the ample time ahead of the event to practice, and the home-ground advantage, aliStair is confident he and the ‘Hounds have what it takes to repeat their DreamHack Melbourne antics and make it to the Aware Super Theatre stage.
Alongside Justin “jks” Savage at G2 and Chris “dexter” Nong at Fnatic, as well as fellow OCE qualifiers Vertex, there will be plenty flying the flag, and aliStair is keen to see OCE esports thrive at IEM. “Everyone kind of takes the piss out of every team but it’s all harmless,” he says. “Everyone’s having a beer and having fun—it feels like a lot of good humor and messing around.”
His final words on the topic? “Get rowdy for IEM Sydney, hope to see you there—and shout us a beer.” You bet, mate.
Forty sleeps to go: IEM Sydney is slated to begin Oct. 16.
