by BreadHead
Since the inception of Counter-Strike 2’s public release on September 27, the sequel has been able to draw in an exciting array of fresh young players in the ANZ region.
We are seeing top AU teams bring in emerging talent to create a new era of professional Counter-Strike. Seeing a full Australian team making playoffs in a giant international tournament in FlyQuest at ESL Pro League Season 19 is pushing a new crop of hungry talent coming through to achieve Esports careers.
From live viewing, demo watching and talking to players, here are 5 Pros who I believe to have the most potential in Oceanic CS.
Sliimey - Mindfreak
18-year-old Kalan “Sliimey” Lorenzo has emerged as a standout performer and a formidable talent for the veteran IGL Tyler “tucks” Reilly-led team Mindfreak. At such a young age the rifler has the full package when it comes to his skills in the server boasting an HLTV rating of 1.17 in the most recent season of ESL Challenger League Oceania.
Sliimey has unbelievable mechanical skill in the game; he has some of the cleanest pistol aim and a sense of awareness that feels like he is never caught off guard. Sliimey excels in both halves of the game where he has crucial roles no matter the round. On T side he plays a lurk role and is mega clutch, winning 8 1vsX situations last season. He is a dynamic CT player, making bold but calculated information plays when disadvantaged.
He is willing to pick up the second AWP for his team on CT where he also has a great deal of impact. Sliimey played as the primary sniper for MF before Kristian “pain” Isaac was acquired back in March. Sliimey has seamlessly transitioned back into rifle roles: “Watching him, is like he’s always been a rifler and playing the game since he was 5,” Pain said to DFrag.
Unfortunately Mindfreak was unable to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 20 in September so it is uncertain when we will see Sliimey playing on a stage.
Omichella
Aggressive rifler Jack “Omichella” McLoughlin and his former team Vantage, were able to finish in a very respectable 5th place at ECL Season 47, just clinching a playoff spot. With a 7-9 record, Vantage wound up losing their first-round playoff game to Mindfreak.
Omichella is 22 years old and serves as the team's playmaker/space taker. With an impressive 27.6% opening kill attempt rate, it placed him with the second highest opening kill attempt rate in the league, only 0.1% less than Rooster’s entry fragger Tynan “TJP” Purtell. He is also successful 47.5% of the time which is above standard for an entry fragger at this level.
In these games, Omichella showcased impressive highlight moments, breaking open sites and taking out opposing CT side players before they could react. With a somewhat quiet offseason regarding roster moves, it was announced on Twitter that Omichella has departed Vantage with his contract expiring at the end of June. Rumors are swirling that he might be linked to Bad News Kangaroos as they look to fill the gap left if recent Talon reports prove true. Omichella can build upon the good work last season and carry it onto the next. He would definitely be a great pickup for a top AU team.
Damyo - Bad News Kangaroos
Damon “Damyo” Portelli is the most recent pickup for the BRACE-led team Bad News Kangaroos replacing longtime squad member Jordan “PZ” White. Damyo is the older brother of FlyQuest entry frag wunderkind Vexite.
Immediately, you will notice that Damyo possesses a very high skill ceiling shown through his flashy AWP style. Damyo feels very comfortable in taking aggressive fights and excels at quickly peaking the AWP into angles to decimate opponents. Another strength of his game is his ability to use the rifle with over a third of his kills in ECL 47 being with the AK47.
I noticed Damyo was prone to missing some important setup frags with the AWP. People think these are the “easy” frags, but I believe them to be the opposite. Securing the set up frags allows for huge space to be taken for the rest of your team and grants a level of consistency needed for a top AWPer.
Through observation, I believe Damyo is suited as a hybrid-style AWPer who has a super high skill level making him a valuable asset to his team's firepower. He has heaps of potential but needs to tidy up some current weaknesses to fully showcase what makes him different in the scene.
Vision - Vantage
Talk about a smart and sharp player, 19-year-old Vantage rifler Ethan “vision” Holst has those qualities tenfold. With a HLTV rating of 1.00 over 19 maps during the last ECL season, Vision plays the game with precision and class, allowing his IGL to never worry about the moves Vision makes around the map.
Although his numbers don't jump off the page for many onlookers, Vision has shown that he is one of the most switched-on players in the scene. Vision plays the game at his own pace, usually moving slowly but it’s extremely effective to punish even the best players in Oceania with his aim and positioning.
Vision seems very comfortable playing in solo positions on the T-side and has a very clear understanding of his own play style. On CT Vision usually plays tough anchor positions, regularly getting multikills from the site. Also, Vision is a headshot machine, with a 59.4% headshot percentage when gaining a frag.
Unfortunately for Vision, I feel his inexperienced team lacks a bit of discipline, leaving Vision in disadvantaged situations and unable to fully unlock his true potential right now. Vision also has only one series recorded on HLTV against Australian powerhouse FlyQuest losing 2-0 in dominating fashion, as Vantage would forfeit their matchup in the most recent ECL season due to a possible schedule clash.
Pain - Mindfreak
Pain joined Mindfreak in March of 2024 previously playing for KZG and had an immediate impact as the sniper for Mindfreak. Pain has made some noise in the Oceanic scene after a successful ECL season where MF finished 3rd overall, falling short to Australia’s best team FlyQuest. Despite impressive wins during the playoffs against Vantage and BNK, Mindfreak’s goal of qualifying for ESL Pro league fell just short.
Pain was instrumental in the success of Mindfreak this season. I would describe his game as reliable, with big upside. A highlight performance for Pain came during the lower bracket final against Bad News Kangaroos where he was able to consistently give his team the advantage landing 22 AWP kills and 11 opening kills in the series.
Pain described a strength of his as “I’d just do things randomly or even unorthodox things that I’d see from tier 2 or even 3 AWPs in Europe.” Pain is set up for creative opening kills on both halves to gain an early advantage for the team. AWP kills is a stat that I value highly as it is very hard for the opposition to trade the frag back. Pain was able to rack up a hefty 106 AWP kills, making up nearly half of all his frags this recent season.
At just 19 years old, he has a lot of room to grow and develop his skills further. He seems more comfortable with the sniper than the rifle, and finds higher impact when wielding the big green in important rounds.
Pain credits FlyQuest AWPer Alistair “aliStair” Johnston for overcoming nerves in big games, when Pain’s name was mentioned by Ali discussing up-and-coming AWPers in ANZ on a desk segment at ESL Pro League Season 19. Overall, he might already be a top 3 sniper in the country.
Honorable mentions:
- Alecc (Fk Arnd Fnd Out)
- Dpr (The Hampton 5)
- Drox (vantage)
- Supar (Mindfreak)
- Jynx (Vantage)
