IEM Sydney, one of the year’s biggest CS:GO non-Majors, is in full swing. There are several noteworthy Australian teams in attendance, including Grayhound, Renegades, and Chiefs, who commanded the spotlight heading into the event. Unfortunately, though, the home crowd advantage didn’t work for them, as all three have been eliminated from the tournament already.





Grayhound, though, showed a glimmer of hope despite the elimination, as they were able to pull off a massive upset against FaZe before heading out. In this win, eyes turned to the team’s interim coach Neil "NeiL_M" Murphy, who tells Upcomer he believes this Grayhound squad could be his perfect team.









Big series for you guys to walk away with a win, lot of comeback halves and swings in momentum. Walk me through what it was like standing behind them throughout the Bo3.





NeiL_M: We had bad starts in every map to be honest with you. Our T-sides were really, really bad. That's the first thing we're gonna look at, we aren't going to hide away from that because we won. We could still play a lot better. T-sides are normally our strong point. But, like, playing a bit too scared and stuff, and like, the info we prepared before we weren't really using it to gain advantages.





But on CT-sides we were taking more gambles, we know information, for example, we know Heroic are always going to go on the bombsites were mertz is. So we kind-of adjusted a bit more and saved utility. Because I've faced him a fair few times in my time on Imperial and X-Com, so I know how they play on T-side. So it was very comfortable for us. But, first thing we've got to go and sort-out our T-sides at the hotel.





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You haven't been in this team for a very long time, so this might be tough to answer. But so-far, how has your philosophy of the game blended with the Grayhound culture and structure?





To be honest, I'm not really bringing in that much strategic-wise, because I don't really have enough time since we've decided to set-up. I'm doing more the analytic type stuff and feeding that to Dexter. I'm letting them play their game plan at the start and then if things start to hit the fan, then that's where I come in and try to bring basic ideas.





But, yeah I haven't really bought a proper structure to them right now, so I feel like I could do a lot better with more time.





So as this outsider from EU looking in, you have a really unique perspective on the top Australian team. How does it compare to previous teams you've coached?





Compared to EU, the guys are just so together which is so hard to find in EU. People are always like, toxic and back-stabbing to each other, but these guys are such great friends outside of the game which is such a big advantage.





They all want success together, and no one wants to be the star man and no one things they're better than anyone else. They are all just together, so it's actually easier for me to come in. They've been so welcoming to me, which has given me more confidence to bring ideas and stuff like that. It also gives me motivation. Because to be honest, the last 6 months since Imperial fell apart I've found it really hard to find a stable home.





It's taken me along time to find a team I can get along with. That's the most important part for me, I need to be able to get along with the guys. Otherwise I can't bring my 100%. And with these guys, I feel like this could be the team for me.