Josedeodo Is Finally Living Up To The Hype

Founded in 2017, the 2020 season marked the best year in FlyQuest history. They posted back-to-back second-place finishes and went to Worlds for the first time. Despite going 3-3 in groups, they failed to make it to knockouts. With one of the top LCS rosters in place, it came as a surprise when they decided to field an entirely different roster for 2021. Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, Christian “Palafox” Palafox, David “Diamond” Bérubé, and Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen were all brought in, but the big splash was landing jungler Brandon “Josedeodo” Villegas.

Fresh off of an impressive Worlds performance with Rainbow7, Josedeodo stood out for his aggressive playstyle. He was also able to hold his own against some of the top players in the game. Unfortunately, his first season with FlyQuest was a disaster with the team finishing 14-31, good for ninth place.

In the summer split, Josedeodo finished 10th amongst junglers in GD10 (-81), 11th in CS10 (-2.0), 12th in XP10 (-68), and was last in KDA (2.5). Poor timing and miscommunication amongst him and his new teammates limited severely limited the then 20-year-old. The synergy between him and top laner Licorice, which was projected to be a strength of the team, never materialized.

Despite being under contract through 2023, it was unknown if FQ would keep Josedeodo for another year. Fast forward to this season and FlyQuests decision to keep the faith has been rewarded in kind. They currently sit in third at 7-4 thanks in large part to a resurgence by Josedeodo.

A Much Needed Resurgence

The 21-year old looks more confident and has flourished with new mid-laner Loïc “Toucouille” Dubois. Part of his bounce-back stems from playing with veteran support Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black. The former MVP is known for bringing the best out of younger players and is a much-needed shot caller.

After a disappointing super week that saw his team go 0-3, Josedeodo was able to bounce back. Last weekend in their win against TSM, Josedeodo who was on Lee Sin was able to make his presence felt. In a pivotal team fight that took place at bot river, Fly’s jungle was able to swoop in and secure a quadra kill. Later on in the game, Josedeodo was able to dash into the dragon pit, kick the enemy jungler out, and steal the dragon for the soul. From there he was able to snowball the game and was named Player of the Game after finishing 6-2-9.

We force a steal on the dragon to pick up the soul! #LCS pic.twitter.com/ws6WWT8yxx

— FlyQuest (@FlyQuest) March 5, 2022

He carried over his success into their next game, despite Dignitas quickly banning his Lee Sin. In a back and forth affair, Josedeodo who was on Hecarim was able to gank early and often. He set up his top laner Colin “Kumo” Zhaos Tryndamere for first blood. This got his teammate going early who played a pivotal role in split pushing and engaging the enemy backline.

The turning point of the game was at the 27-minute mark when Tuki stole the dragon. Four minutes later FlyQuest won the pivotal team fight and in turn the game, with Josedeodo collecting five assists.

His best performances of this split have come on Lee Sin, so he needs to prove he can be consistent with other champs. Yet, Josedeodo has his team on the upswing and his overall numbers are much better. Amongst junglers this split, Josedeodo is first in kill participation (79%), and tied for first in first blood rate (55%) and neutral objectives stolen (3).

There are still three weeks left in the splits, but he has his team in a great position to make the playoffs.