The 2022 LCS Summer Split playoffs are upon us and FlyQuest sits in a great position to battle for a top-two finish in the regular season. A strong finish would be an incredible achievement for the organization. FlyQuest in two years has rebuilt a top-tier roster from the ground up. FlyQuest had to start from scratch after losing every member of the 2020 roster that saw them make two LCS finals and a first-time appearance at Worlds.
Following their week five game one victory over Golden Guardians, FlyQuests Philip sat down with Esports.gg’s Piratechnics for an exclusive interview.
Pira: Congratulations on a big win it was dominating. I mean, it felt like this team was so scrappy. How do you feel in the aftermath of that one over Golden Guardians?
FlyQuest celebrating victory over Golden Guardians. Photo by: Chris Bet/Riot Games via ESPAT
FLY Philip: I think after last week’s loss to TSM I think a lot of teams kind of forgot how we beat 100 Thieves the previous day and how we beat Cloud9 while also playing TL close. Yeah, I was hoping to get like some sort of resurgence for today.
Pira: Seems like you got it and your Gwen was not just hyper-aggressive. But also you were just coming out of every possible angle getting great flanks off, do you feel like you had to make the big plays?
FLY Philip: I mean yeah, to be honest, a problem for me is when I miss too much CS, I start like monkeying around [laughs]. I have this weird mindset where I have to do some crazy stuff to get back to gold, you know, but like, that’s obviously like a really bad habit. But yeah, I mean, I knew my strength and my job is just straight up fighting and maximising my damage. So I just Just look for plays like we saw today.
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Pira: Now that you’ve completed a full round robin in the LCS coming up from Academy, what have been your biggest takeaways as an LCS top laner now?
FLY Philip: For sure knowing how the game is played at a much higher level, I would say. I would say in the academy, like, the macro and just how the game is played is different to LCS. In academy it’s really individual skill reliant. Like a lot of games are just decided through the laning phase to be honest. And these games it feels much more like a chess game. And just feels like, like the mechanical stuff. It’s, it’s much rarer for it to result in like a win, I guess.
Pira: So is it like weirdly like less pressure because the individual play level and the mistakes you might make don’t matter as much?
FLY Philip: I would say the champion pools that people have in Academy are much more volatile than in LCS. It’s because they play a lot more carry champions right like Camille, Irelia etc. In LCS, I’m playing against like Kayle today, I’m playing against Gwen and Ornn you know, and I feel like it’s more about just playing the scaling game here rather than just having a scrap in Academy.
Pira: Is there a champion you really want to bring out on the FlyQuest roster?
FLY Philip: I have a pick but I don’t want to say because it is going to come in clutch one day [laughs].
Pira: So is there a champion that like you’d love to bring to the LCS something that maybe you’ve had in the back pocket? Or is there a strategy that you found, you know, playing around in academy that you’d love to see in LCS?
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FLY Philip: I think Camille is a big one in Academy. I would say, there are a bunch of Camille mains in there that are really good at the champion and in LCS, it’s rarely played right. And I think this champion, you see in the LPL and the LCK and I think even eventually blind picking it might be an advantage that I may have.
Pira: Yeah I think other regions like to play Jax, we started seeing Fiora being blind pickable as well. So you would love to see more carries being played in the top side?
FLY Philip: Yeah, I just take a lot of inspiration from LPL top laners you know, like, I think a big reason Yone top in NA is because no one plays Jax or Fiora. Those are the two champions that counter Yone top. I think a big reason why people are getting away with playing Yone top here is that they don’t play those champs.
Pira: Oh that is interesting, and who would you say is your favorite LPL top laner right now?
FLY Philip: Probably LNG Ale, there was a game where he just destroyed Burdol with Fiora against Irelia. And the gap in that lane is every top laners dream [laughs].
Pira: That is awesome! Moving it back to the LCS, what has it been like playing with veteran players like Josedeodo and Toucouille?
Image courtesy of FlyQuest via Twitter
FLY Philip: Well first off when you get to know them, they’re one of the funniest, funniest people you could meet in the esports scene. I would say like when we are together we are just trolling around. Even last season, we were just making fun of each other.
But it’s like really funny, you know, like, we play each other. We have this meme that we have with each other in Champions Queue. It’s like when you get two FLY members on the same team, it’s like two FLY can’t win. And when you get three, it’s like, three FLY can’t win. And I think that’s like, it’s pretty funny.
Pira: That is pretty funny, and moving onto your opponents, you have played against every player in the league now, what is your thoughts on the other LCS top laners?
FLY Philip: I mean they’re obviously good at their champions good at the really smart. I think for top lane, in terms of Gnar gameplay I think Impact , Ssumday and even Bwipo, their Gnar gameplay play is amongst the best in the world. Right. So I think Gnar is champ that since it’s always in the meta throughout the years, right, I’m trying to find a good answer.
Pira: Absolutely, speaking of academy too, we are seeing more and more academy players be moved up to LCS, is there anybody in academy right now that is catching your eye?
FLY Philip: I think from playing against players like tenacity and I think Bradley those guys have the champ pool and mechanical skill. Like Bradley, he learns things so quickly like how the waves work, how to communicate etc.
This interview was conducted on week five, day one of the LCS summer split regular season.
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