It may be too early to say that Aussie Counter-Strike is back, but the FlyQuest boys are flying high after exceeding expectations in Chengdu and Malta this weekend. While a change of scenery at their new organisation has been beneficial, young shooter Declan “Vexite” Portelli attributes the change to the team’s makeup.

The 19-year-old, who is now more than a year after his international LAN debut at IEM Rio RMR, said the team’s shift from Grayhound to FlyQuest this year hasn’t made a dent in the team in terms of performance or expectations. Instead, he specifically highlights the personnel change – the return of Chris “dexter” Nong – as what has really lit a fire under the team.

“The biggest thing was picking up Dexter and fundamentally integrating him into the team,” Vexite told Dot Esports, adding that adding Dexter after his time in Europe freed up Joshua “INS” Potter—and to a lesser extent, Vexite himself. The effect of this is statistically significant, to say the least.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed in the community: INS currently has an average rating of 1.28 in ESL Pro League Season 19 according to HLTV, good enough for 11th place so far across the tournament. These numbers are more in line with his performances prior to taking over the Grayhound captaincy. “It makes sense: I think everyone knew in the back of their mind that [INS] would rather be a lead player if there was someone he respected enough to be the IGL,” Vexite said.