Cristian “Palafox” Palafox has reached 1,000 LP on the Korean solo queue ladder.
For some, that information might not matter. To others, it is the much needed reminder that he is one of the best League of Legends players in the North American region. The community was a little aggressive with their expectations for the 21 year old entering his first split of professional play but FlyQuest’s 6-12 performance was shocking. A team filled with bright, young talent struggled to get off the block. Two prospects that were a part of the incredible Cloud9 Academy farm system were shells of their former selves.
It was strange.
What felt like ‘sure thing signings’ was instead another evidence point for organizations to look at importing. Why was one of the most promising prospects to come out of the academy scene struggling?
The Waiting Game
Back in 2017, Palafox would find himself as the last pick in the draft for North America’s Scouting Grounds event. Team Ocean Drake was stacked with talent. Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme. Robert “Blabber” Huang, Jacob “Prismal” Feinstein, Max Waldo and Palafox would take the event by storm, winning it but more importantly, establishing themselves as talent to be monitored.
For Palafox, it was a statement. He would find himself drafted over the first overall pick — and widely considered to be the best prospect at the event — Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Abbott. The two would battle it out for years in academy for the title of best mid-lane prospect.
Years.
Struggling in the OpTic Academy system, Palafox would have his breakout moment during the 2019 Academy summer split. Nick “Inero” Smith would get his hands on the Golden Guardians Academy roster the change was evident. Improving from eighth to second, Palafox would develop in an environment primarily surrounded by LCS veterans. He would go toe-to-toe with Ablazeolive in their semi-finals match-up, winning the series thanks to several errors from TSM Academy.
Ablazeolive would still be seen as the more complete prospect yet Palafox had the higher ceiling. Getting traded to Cloud9 would be the boost he needed to cement his status as the best prospect.
The roster was just straight-up stacked.
A combination of really good young talent in skill positions, a coach that would let great players be great and a veteran jungler that could execute a vision, the team was outstanding. After a slow spring start, they would beat out the veteran Dignitas line-up in the regular season and silence the streaking Evil Geniuses Academy line-up in the finals. Competing without Calvin “K1ng” Truong for the summer split would put more of the focus onto Palafox as the lead man and he would take full advantage of that opportunity.
I mean, the dude was being called “PalaFaker.”
He was winning lane, moving well across the map and widely expected to be a part of a LCS line-up in 2021. And then he joined FlyQuest.
Knowing What You Are Getting
Surprising most of the community, FlyQuest entered the off-season with an aggressive approached. Believing the team would be limited by the influence of COVID-19 on the NBA season, the organizations shelled out the cash for talent and a new coaching staff.
On paper, the team looked to be stack with potential. In reality, they lacked an identity.
The coaching staff wasn’t sure how to use the pieces in front of them. The thought of having an aggressive jungler in Brandon Joel “Josedeodo” Villegas paired with Palafox was a dream situation. However, the two wouldn’t really develop the needed synergy. Josedeodo’s disappearing acts weren’t helping either. Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen was expected excel in a different environment with a new support in David “Diamond” Bérubé. But the two would never really get on the same page. Han “Dreams” Min-kook would come in and look better but the team still looked weak.
Trying out different styles with Palafox hasn’t necessarily worked for the team. In the regular season, Palafox was 2-9 on control mages and 4-3 on champions that prefer to roam. It should also be noted that his three losses on roaming mid-laners were all on Twisted Fate. His best performance of his rookie split came in Week 4 against TSM, where he completely showcased why he was hyped up.
But even in his 3-0 performances playing Yone, he still felt constrained. His roams wouldn’t be as clean — often a result of miscoordination or better opponent team play. If Eugene “Pobelter” Park doesn’t commit several side-lane errors, FlyQuest likely doesn’t win their Week 5 match-up.
There’s something off.
The ‘Something Off’
Adapting to the professional stage is an issue almost all players experience. It is not out of the ordinary for a player to experience some “growing pains.” Palafox is averaging deficits in the laning phase. In wins, he is averaging a -226 gold deficit at 10 minutes compared to his 306 gold lead during the 2020 Academy summer split. He’s also putting out weaker damage numbers, participating in fewer kills and averaging a weaker economy.
Normally, it doesn’t feel good if a player is performing noticeably worst at a different level. Palafox’s story gets a little bit worse.
Compared to FlyQuest’s wins, Palafox is contributing more in the team’s losses. He’s participating in 4% more of the team’s overall kills, performing better in lane, averaging 1% more of the team’s creeps post fifteen minutes. While his damage numbers are weaker in losses — a good sign that he’s contributing more in wins — he’s averaging a higher percentage of the team’s economy in losses — not a good sign.
A lot of these problems can be connected to the underlying issues with the team — how they approach the game, how their coaching staff has prepared the team. But it is tough to ignore his stats.
North America doesn’t have a lot of domestic success in the mid-lane position. Thinking that it is a result of talent, given how imports have found success, is understandable. Teams don’t want to take the risk and accept paying the premium for talent elsewhere. It has also created this problem with developing mid-lane talent. The time and investment that went into historic import mid-laners like Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg is somewhat forgotten.
Salvaging Before It Is Too Late
Never talk about another man’s job.
However, it is incredibly suspect how FlyQuest have approached developing a premium prospect. Palafox was the surefire prospect — he still should be recognized as such. Entering a completely re-built franchise clearly has played a part not only in his individual woes but the team’s woes. It felt as if the team bought all of the pieces yet with no clear vision of what they were constructing. When building a PC, you can just buy all premium parts but they may not be compatible. It doesn’t make the parts less valuable on their own. Or, at least, it shouldn’t.
The worst part is that he could still struggle in the summer split. FlyQuest were not the worst team in the LCS last spring but showcased a lot of problems that don’t necessarily get fixed with a break. A decision like going to Korea for solo queue may, on paper, just elevate his practice. But also, it protects his resume.
Palafox should not be on the chopping block when it comes to talent in the LCS. He’s proven his value in the academy system. This iteration of FlyQuest is yet to prove that they’re onto something. For once, the scene should trust the player, not the team.
Stay Connected
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Con!
“From Our Haus to Yours”