How we got here?
FlyQuest surprised many by putting up a 9-9 record in Spring and a 10-8 record in Summer last year but disappointingly fizzled out in playoffs in 7-8th place. Changes were coming, but no one was sure in what direction.
First came the introduction of PapaSmithy as the President and Chief Gaming Officer. This provided hope that they would be looking to build something that would eventually result in a Championship, as he did at 100 Thieves.
Free agency officially kicked off across the globe on November 21st, but it wasn't until mid-December that a full roster was announced.
After letting go of every player from the 2022 roster, rumors swirled about the potential of importing some young players from the LCK.
First came Eyla at Support, being promoted from TL Academy. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1601003694811762693
Next was the reigning LCK Rookie of the Year, Vicla as Mid Laner. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1601215086097473536
Then the LCK Player of the Split, Prince as Bot Laner, joined him. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1601577474747506689
With the 2 import slots filled, NA resident and former World Champion Impact joined as Top Laner from Evil Geniuses. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1602105959022997504
And to round out the team, former LCS MVP Spica joined as Jungler from TSM. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1602830731511635968
And to top it all off, coming off a World Championship, Ssong joined as Head Coach from DRX. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1604838965277650944
With no previous synergy and less than half the team with LCS experience, people weren't sure where to place this team, even though they had really strong players in every role. To add to this, before Week 1, it was announced that Eyla would not be starting due to visa issues, and Winsome would be stepping in. https://twitter.com/FlyQuest/status/1615484235363516416
W1 TL
In the season opener against Team Liquid, things started off slow with First Blood coming in at 13 minutes, but things shifted into FlyQuest's favour when they got both the Dragon and Baron uncontested at 22 minutes and they never looked back.
W2 DIG
When Dignitas gave up First Blood to Prince in the 1st minute, you had a feeling the game was going to be a cake walk, and with a 24 minute Cloud Soul, FlyQuest was well on their way.
W3 GG
Golden Guardians put up more of a fight than the rest, but even though FlyQuest was down on kills most of the game, they played a masterful macro game getting Baron at 31 minutes and Chemtech Soul at 34 minutes to secure the win.
W4 C9
Cloud9 came in undefeated at 3-0, but Spica brought out the surprising Amumu pick in jungle and started the game off with a bang. He combined with Vicla to secure a double kill at 6 minutes. Then another Baron at 20 minutes snowballed their advantage and they were never challenged.
W5 EG
Evil Geniuses looked to counter Spica's Amumu, but a strong mid game saw FlyQuest come back from 3 dragons down to take Baron at 21 minutes and take control of the entire map for the rest of the game.
W6 100
100 Thieves were the next challenger and it felt back and forth early on, but an extended fight at Dragon saw FlyQuest take over the mid game once again. capped off by a triple kill from Prince and then another Baron at 21 minutes.
W7 IMT
Going into Super Week, it felt like a foregone conclusion that FlyQuest would go 9-0. Immortals was first up and slowly but surely FlyQuest built up a lead in the mid game, which led to a team fight win and Baron at 23 minutes.
W8 TSM
Next up was TSM, who drafted Solo a Cho'Gath in top lane, looking to counter FlyQuest's late game comp. And even though he started 0/5/2, TSM did not let FlyQuest activate in the mid game, and this time, it was TSM who got Baron at 28 minutes and Solo finished 5/5/9 handing FlyQuest their first loss.
W9 CLG
CLG saw what TSM did and came out fighting with FlyQuest early, but even though kills were even, FlyQuest were on Soul Point at 18 minutes and they snuck Baron at 22 minutes, only losing Winsome in the process. Another early Baron led to Ocean Soul at 24 minutes and a straight forward victory afterwards. FlyQuest finish the first half of the spring split at 8-1 and in 1st place.
The chance for 18-0 is over, but they can still tie the regular season record of 17-1. And they still haven't had their starting support in Eyla play a game yet, so maybe this team still has another level to go. It will be hard to imagine this team not finishing 1st in the regular season and going into playoffs as the favorites as they have looked so dominant.
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