Liazz and aliStair on bringing pride back to the Aussie scene

With a tough opening match against FORZE, things were looking bleak for Grayhound at halftime on Mirage. Down 12-3 at the half thanks to a strong CT side performance from their opponents, Greyhound would mount a monster comeback in order to take the game 16-14.

After the game we spoke to aliStair, who said “It's always nice to start an event with a win. I feel amazing right now.”

Stephanie Lindgren

The win, as with their win over Cloud9, may have “fucked” many fans’ Pick ‘Ems, something aliStair is once again happy to have done. However, he does concede that this time there’s a chance that not as many fans were affected by their victory.

“Last time we were in different form. We've been gradually progressing quite a bit now and I think the teams people picked might have been Fluxo or even The Mongolz because we came out first in the Asian RMR.”

A Major semi-finalist

We also got the chance to speak to Liazz, and he spoke about how the lack of expectations from fans and experts can be “good and bad for the same reason.”

“It can be good because obviously there's no pressure, if we get a win Australia is happy so there's really no pressure on that front. Although, it is bad in the sense that we also put pressure on ourselves because we get this one shot every year, or maybe sometimes twice a year, so we really want to make it count.” Liazz told BLAST.tv.

As Liazz says though, the team has “done well lately.” A win against NIP at ESL Pro League and Complexity at ESL Challenger Melbourne were big scalps for them to claim, and the same could be said about other wins the team has had too.

Stephanie Lindgren

“To us, those are big wins, but we're aiming for a little bit more than that. So when people say we've had a sick event because we beat coL and EG at DH Melbourne for example, that doesn't put on any pressure on us at all because that to us is not an expectation but the first goal of many. We're definitely aiming higher.”

Liazz believes that Grayhound have “already proved we have what it takes to be a top team” and wins such as these will certainly do a lot to stake that claim to even the most stubborn of fans, but he does also admit that actually reaching their expectations could take “more time.”

The path to greatness

“This team is progressing slowly but there is plenty of progression in the team. Every event we play we definitely feel better, we feel more comfortable, and that's all it's gonna come down to, us feeling more comfortable. I think event by event it will get better, and we've been playing a string of events coming into this. I think the expectation of the team is to try and break out of the top 24 then get into the top 16.”

Part of the former Renegades/100Thieves team that made the semi-finals at the Starladder Berlin Major 2019, Liazz says part of that success was because they were “lucky enough to have lived in America and Europe” and that it gave them a “massive advantage.”

“It's a lot harder in this team just because there’s a massive disadvantage coming from Australia, but when it comes down to the individuals this team definitely has what it takes.”

The barriers in the way

Liazz went further about the issues that come with living in Australia. Not only is practice affected, but the fact that the “schedule is a little over-saturated right now” also means “You go through strings of months and months where you don't see your family.”

“When I was living overseas it was like a 3 year commitment of not seeing anyone because what matters more than anything is Counter-Strike and trying to make it work. You have to make a lot more sacrifices in some areas than the average person, even players from Europe have valid complaints.”

Stephanie Lindgren

That being said, he did admit that due to Grayhound playing less events than other teams he does get some respite from it, but he adds that “if I could have it like them I would.” He then elaborated further, explaining how that situation gives him “huge waves of motivation.”

“Seeing where I was before compared to where I am now, it definitely makes me a little bit more hungry, but at the same time I have to be realistic. It's a lot more difficult to be doing things in the position we are now but as I've said, we have the talent on our team and there's been slow progression, as long as we stay on the right track we can get where we want to.”