After a rocky Week 3, FlyQuest get back on course with a 2-0 week that cements them at the top of the Table going into Week 5.

Week Four

Game One: vs. TSM (4-3), Sunday

Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett and TSM dominated the early game, setting the entire team behind. Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen got outjungled hard due to TSM’s early lane pressure allowing Dardoch to go for early, aggressive invades. All of TSM played the early game really well, which is partially due to their early game comp and partially due to good macro and map movement. It’s a testament to FlyQuest’s teamfighting ability (and Ornn’s item upgrades, plus TSM’s refusal to buy grievous wounds or armor penetration) that this wasn’t an absolute stomp.

The game itself looked very scattered. Sure, FlyQuest demonstrated a great ability to teamfight and play from behind, but it’s ridiculous that they found themselves so far behind early. Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup abused Jason “WildTurtle” Tran in the early game, and it was that early pressure that forced Turtle back which allowed Dardoch to force Santorin out of the jungle.

The game should have been over after the Ace at 26:40; TSM were able to parlay it into a roughly 8000 gold lead, but weren’t able to put the final nail in FlyQuest’s coffin. The combined waveclear of FlyQuest’s comp, along with the sustain of Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun’s Yuumi prevented TSM from overpowering FlyQuest, even with such a huge lead. Though they lost the bottom inhibitor turret, FlyQuest didn’t lose the inhib, and were able to group together to fight for the mountain soul at 32:30.

That fight was the turning point of the game; IgNar’s Yuumi ult, combined with Omran “V1per” Shoura’s E-knock up on Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Dardoch immobilized the two members who were most likely to challenge Santorin for the mountain drake, allowing WildTurtle to ult and finish the job.

From that point forward, FlyQuest was able to teamfight effectively, and slowly force TSM out of the map and back into their base. When playing with a lead, FlyQuest looks confident and controlled, and they closed out the game with style.

Result: Victory (47:45)

Player of the Game: Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun

This was not a clean game from the Yellow and Green, but it was a victory, and that victory came off the back of IgNar’s engage onto Bjergsen and Dardoch at Elder Drake. WIthout the Final Chapter (Yuumi’s ult) connecting and rooting Bjergsen and Dardoch, it’s very unlikely that FlyQuest comes away with the four kills and Mountain Soul. Shout outs to IgNar for his heads up play.

Game Two: Vs. 100 Thieves (3-4), Monday

When most people think about V1per, they think about his Riven and his carry performances. With his performances this weekend, it’s become clear that he is also a top tier Ornn player. His engages versus TSM on Sunday helped secure victory, but weren’t nearly as flashy as his 1 v 2 in the Top lane in Primetime on Monday Night League.

But before talking about that, it makes sense to discuss what made that flashy play so pivotal. V1per was incredibly far behind at 7:30, due to teleporting midlane on a first blood attempt on William “Meteos” Hartman. Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho had stayed in lane, and accrued a CS lead of well over 20. Despite this huge disadvantage, V1per was able to stay relevant. When the teams fought around Rift Herald at 8:45, V1per got a 4-man knock up with the Ornn Horn and secured a kill on William “Stunt” Chen’s Rakan. His ult helped disrupt 100T response to FlyQUest’s collapse on the objective, forcing them away from Herald and allowing Santorin secure it, pick up the eye and drop it midlane for pressure and plates.

By this point in the game (9:30), FlyQuest had a 900 gold lead… and V1per was down 32 CS. He was their obvious weak point, sacrificing much of his laning presence to help the team pick up objectives around the map. This continued throughout the early game, as he helped his team disengage from a risky fight in river and secure the ocean drake, sacrificing more farm in the process.

By the time 13:45 rolled around, V1per was down 45 CS. Knowing he was the weak link in FlyQuest, Meteos had rotated top lane to try and punish. At 13:50, V1per walked back under turret, and Meteos made his move, following V1per in from the jungle into the waiting arms of Ssumday and five minions.

What happened next was V1per simply decided he didn’t want to die. He positioned himself so that Meteos would have to walk by the turret to reach autorange. V1per knocked up Meteos, then hit him with Bellows Breath (W) to proc brittle, before flashing away from Ssumday’s Aatrox for the final auto. That play seemed to take all of the wind out of the Thieves’ sails; they never again had an opportunity to get themselves back into the game.

Result: Victory (30:19)

Player of the Game: Omran “V1per” Shoura

V1per gets the award this time. His willingness to play for the team, as well as his ability to play weakside of the map effectively, allowed the rest of his team to makes plays around the map. Being able to play both carries and tanks makes him a well-rounded player, and will give FlyQuest more options in draft.

Looking to Week Five

Golden Guardians (4-4)

The Guardians are on a 3-game winstreak, having taken out TL in Week 3 and Dignitas and CLG in Week 4. Their wins don’t look super clean, but a win is a win, as any FlyQuest fan will tell you. Checking the stats, Golden Guardians have a much better Early Game Rating (49.6 to FlyQuest’s 42.3), and tend to have better Herald Control. They’re also more likely to grab first turret, and have the third highest CSD at 15. In some respects, they have a similar early game style to TSM, in that Can “Closer” Çelik is a very effective early game jungler, and tend to focus more on herald and first turret than dragons. Matchup wise, I think FlyQuest should have the edge, but if Closer can force Santorin out of his jungle early like Dardoch did this past week, it could be a rough match.

Prediction: FlyQuest should win this one, but it might not be pretty

Matchup to Watch: Jungle

Jungle is the key to this game. If Santorin is able to contain Closer, then FlyQuest should be able to outmacro the guardians and claim an easy victory. If not, then expect a slobberknocker much like the TSM game.

Counter Logic Gaming (1-7)

It has been a long, long season already for the CLG faithful, and it will likely get worse before it gets better. CLG as a team has looked uncoordinated and lost, and that’s a recipe for disaster against a team who can close out games as well as FlyQuest can. FlyQuest’s objective control this past week was excellent, and CLG struggles there, both in terms of warding effectively and in terms of securing objectives. This will be a rough game for CLG fans, but quite a nice one for the FlyQuest faithful.

Prediction: FlyQuest in a sub-35 minute stomp

Matchup to watch: Midlane

People joke about Kikis always replacing Gilius in EU, but in NA, it seems like Crown goes wherever PowerOfEvil was. First OpTic, now CLG… Expect PowerOfEvil to remind his former team (and his replacement) of what they’re missing.

Need More?

What are your predictions for Week Five? Tell Richard what you think @Imp_Richard

Featured image courtesy of Riot Games

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