Playoffs came into full effect last weekend. That meant that FlyQuest began their journey to the finals in St. Louis. With their win over Golden Guardians, the team hopes to keep their playoff chances alive against Team Liquid. April 7th, both teams will face off for a spot in finals. Using what they learned from their series against Golden Guardians, FlyQuest are aiming straight for that LCS Trophy.
Image from LoL Esports Flickr
Much like he spoke about in his DRIVE episode, Santorin had something to prove coming in to this quarterfinal against Golden Guardians. Though it was a grueling series, Santorin and team over came their opponents 3-2 as most expected. As close as the series was, a lot of it was made possible by Santorin’s jungle play. In Game 4 of the five game series, Fly Quest secured Karthus in the jungle for Santorin. As volatile of a pick as it can be, he made it look like a breeze playing the farm heavy champion.
From start to finish, Santorin bullied his way into the Golden Guardians’ jungle and punished Contractz early with invades. Sporting a 7 CS a minute rate, Santorin nearly doubled Contractz CS throughout the entirety of the game. Alongside the poke from his Varus and Ryze, the Karthus ultimate was gifted low health targets all game. The Karthus picked forced Golden Guardians to constantly give up fights and allowed for Santorin and Co. to finish off the game with a massive team fight 40 minutes in.
Image from LoL Esports Flickr
Down to the wire in Game 5, FlyQuest picked Irelia for what everyone assumed was mid lane. In a show of faith, they flexed the pick to top onto V1per. For his first LCS Playoff, a few of his games looked absolutely abysmal. Despite that, he knew that this was the game that mattered most. A loss here meant it was over. V1per wouldn’t allow that to happen.
In a team comp focused on getting off poke before a team fight, V1per and his Irelia came in hitting hard. Sporting only two deaths the entire game, his ultimates were pivotal in executing a majority of the team’s battles throughout the game.
For his first showing, V1per showed that he wasn’t just a solo queue monster. V1per’s ability to enter team fights from behind and to zone with Irelia’s ultimate was a master class in top lane play. It all came to a head under the bot lane inhibitor tower. Forcing the entirety of Golden Guardians to clump together, V1per launched his ultimate to slow and scatter them for the final team fight. Just like that, they had done it. With a 3-2 victory, FlyQuest move on feeling on top of the world.
Courtesy of Team Liquid Twitter
With the matches finally set, Team Liquid will be facing off against FlyQuest April 7th. With their end to the regular season, Team Liquid have already shown they have weaknesses. Fly Quest did a wonderful job forcing the hand of Golden Guardians during their quarterfinal. With a bit more effort and focus, Team Liquid isn’t out of reach.
Though the team fought tooth and nail, during their win against Team Liquid, FlyQuest showed promise in capitalizing on mistakes. TL will be looking to return to form from their 3 game losing streak at the end of the regular split. V1per being in form alongside Santorin’s MVP level play are absolutely needed to win a best of five. If FlyQuest can work their magic again, they’re far from out of this playoff race.
If Fly Quest wants to obtain their first LCS title, they’ll need to be nearly flawless. Taking what they’ve learned through the regular split, the team has what it takes to put their hard work into practice. While it may take more than most could ask for, their battle for the LCS title has just begun. Overcoming their first opponent in Golden Guardians was a grueling first fight. They’ll need to come back swinging against Team Liquid even harder.
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