Vexite on new roles: "Surprisingly it has helped me"

After a tough initial game against FURIA, Grayhound are headed to the lower bracket where they'll need to win two BO3s to make the main stage of IEM Cologne. After the loss, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore talked with Grayhound's star rifler Declan "Vexite" Portelli to get a feeling for the game, the team, and the tournament.

Despite being only 18, you're one of the veterans of the Australian scene still playing at the top level. In the team, are you one of the voices?

There's been a bit of a role shuffle since I first joined the squad. When I first joined I was the second IGL in terms of authority, and that was my role. As the team went on, we didn't find much success. I think INS has much better reads when there are not too many people talking at once, when it's just him reading the game and playing the game. Pretty much that means I need to stay a bit more quiet and other players have to be a bit quieter. Honestly, it's been helping me quite a bit. I take a lot of initiative as a player, and surprisingly it's helped me to focus on my individual a bit more.

Has there even been a thought to pluck an older player from the scene as a coach?

Not really, no. This isn't really my decision, it would be INS', but I think the IGL-coach relationship is really important and it's about how INS wants to play the game, how the coach wants to play the game, and if they can mesh that together. Obviously that didn't really work for Kingfisher (editor's note, the team's previous coach), so I don't think we're really actively looking for a coach at the moment. If something did present itself, we'd probably explore it.

Players like AZR and dexter moved to Europe to play in EU teams, which has become the trajectory of their careers. Have you had that thought or consideration?

It all depends on the team. Right now I'm on Grayhound, I'm only thinking about Grayhound. I genuinely think we can be a really strong team. I think we're still finding out footing. Give it time and try different things. Every five players are different, so you have to find your footing with each new five and we haven't necessarily done that yet.

To watch the rest of the interview, visit the YouTube video below.