After finishing the weekend 3-0, I had the opportunity to sit down with FlyQuest’s mid laner Triple. Below is the interview I was able to do with him and following is the transcript.
My questions will be in bold font and his answers will be in regular font.
Congratulations on the 3-0 week, how does that feel coming from academy to now starting in the LCS?
As you can guess it feels amazing, but it’s like we came into the week with no expectations so everything we got this week was just a cherry on top. But for the most part, scrims have been going well, and the overall vibe in the room has been going well, so it’s good to see things paying off for once.
What is your opinion on the difference between LCS teams and Academy teams? Is the gap actually that big or is it closer than people give Academy teams credit for?
I think the gap really comes from the cohesiveness of the teams. On an individual level, you have many good players in solo queue that could probably play competitively if they learned that aspect of the game. Individually there is not that much of a gap, it’s all about the team play, you know how you use wards, how you communicate with each other. It’s all the small things that you don’t learn without playing competitively. That’s kind of why academy is there, to help you with that. I guess the gap isn’t as big as people think.
Do you think that your performance this weekend in the LCS will bring a spotlight onto Academy, with people trying to find the new NA power team or the next NA surprise team?
I think it’ll definitely affect it for GMs or coaches that are scouting players out. In terms of actual viewership I’m not sure because Academy is obviously a lot less exciting than the narratives you guys build in LCS or just having the stage there and much higher stakes, you know if you finish top three you go to worlds. I don’t think it’s going to affect it that much but it’s also going to give a lot of people attention from GMs.
For some of your team members, this is their second time on stage, how did that experience help adjust your team or get them ready for the stage?
Honestly, I feel like that roster was pretty scuffed because they didn’t get much practice on it, and we as a five have been working together for the entire year, so we have that built-in synergy that we talk about, yeah it’s really there. I guess it just helps with nerves, you know, because for these guys, Tomo and Nxi, they don’t have that much stage experience, so it kind of helps them get the nerves out of the way, but once you play a couple of matches it feels normal to you.
You had previous stage time in OCE, and I believe you went to worlds as well, now that OCE has gone through a bunch of changes with the teams and the players, do you still feel a connection to the league?
To be honest, I don’t pay much attention to the OCE scene anymore, but if there is an OCE team playing internationally I’m going to cheer for them because that’s where I’m from right? As for the players, there’s a lot of new faces popping up that some I’ve heard of, some I haven’t heard of, which were I guess challenger league players back in the day. I’m not sure how they are doing but it seems like those guys have improved a lot. Maybe there is some talent in OCE that is hidden. You never know.
A lot of the time on the broadcast and on social media, you’re referred to as the “FlyQuest Academy Team”. Do you like that kind of branding or would you prefer to be called the FlyQuest team, or the starting roster?
Honestly, I like it, it kind of feels like an underdog narrative, and it’s just like we go in there and we play with no fear, we got nothing to lose right? As an Academy team, I think it’s more impressive to take out an LCS team, so I don’t mind at all. You guys can call us what you want.
Looking at the starting rosters in the LCS, is there any mid laner that you really want to go against? You really want to test yourself and see what you’re made of?
I really want to go against PowerOfEvil because I worked under him last year and I feel like he taught me a lot. He’s a person that I looked up to as I came to NA. Having learned a lot from him last year, I want to see how I can do against him this year. He’s kind of like my Dad.
What did you learn from him last year, if you don’t mind me asking?
We did do 1v1s, and we also talked from time to time, and he taught me a lot about lane states, how to call for help, a lot of the communication-based things in competitive play that not many people talk about. He taught me how to use my teammates a lot better, like when to call for jungle. I appreciate him.
For all the FlyQuest fans out there, that may not know you all that well, is there anything that you want to say to them to make them encouraged or excited for the coming weeks?
Honestly we’re a supper motivated bunch of guys, you guys might not know us that well but I hope you guys can appreciate the new, aggressive style that we bring to the league.
