LCS Recap: TSM vs FlyQuest

Team SoloMid rolled into action taking on FlyQuest in their first match in Week 2 of The LCS. TSM struggled to find their footing in Week 1 with a crushing defeat to rivals Team Liquid and a narrow victory against former rivals Counter Logic Gaming. FlyQuest has been slow out of the gate, losing both of their opening games to Golden Guardians and Cloud9.

Draft Phase

The pick and ban phase was nothing short of action-packed. TSM fans were sweating in their shoes as 3/5 champions from their matchup against Counter Logic Gaming were selected in the first phase of the draft. On the side of FlyQuest, they selected their bottom lane of Caitlyn and Lux – a pick that has jumped into a priority in the LEC and LCK. TSM opted into Pyke in the Top Lane with FlyQuest selecting Omran “V1per” Shoura Riven – his signature champion.

Early Game

As expected the Flyquest bottom lane raced off to an early lead – securing their first turret plate within the first five minutes through the sheer range of Caitlyn and the vulnerability Sona/Taric gives in the early game.

Despite the large lead they had amounted in the bot lane, FlyQuest were having a difficult time getting their team composition online. Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen struggled to find picks on Elise – a champion known for her early game aggression. Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham was able to got a pick onto Juan “Jayj” Guibert for first blood. This led to TSM grabbing multiple kills for themselves.

Despite being in a kill deficit, FlyQuest, through the power of their Bot Lane were still able to race out to a 2k gold lead as the mid-game approached. TSM lacked the range to be able to compete with Caitlyn and Lux. Through their dominance on the Caitlyn pick, FlyQuest were able to secure a two dragon advantage over TSM.

Late(r) Game

As the game approached the mid-game FlyQuest had broken out to a 5k gold lead and were able to secure Baron through their power over the weak TSM composition. TSM lacked the tools to deal with the power coming out from the side of FlyQuest.

Akaadian made one final attempt at salvaging the game with an engagement to start the team fight that would ultimately seal their fate. V1per was able to successfully kite back the Hecarim ult and was able to find a crucial pick onto Sona. This led to FlyQuest acing TSM and making their way towards the nexus in what would turn out to be a 25-minute win for FlyQuest.

Conclusion

As TSM found out the hard way, if a team is going to draft losing lanes then they are asking for trouble. Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik was never able to utilize the Pyke pick with  Akaadian having to put all of his attention into the bottom lane. TSM lacked damage and were made to pay for it in a rough way. This was a huge win for FlyQuest, not only did they take down one of the top teams in the league but they were also able to pick up their first win of the season. TSM fans will be hoping to see them pick themselves up and secure a victory against Echo Fox.