In front of a packed-out LCS studio, FlyQuest (with a little help from a few minions) has taken out the Summer Championship 3-1 over Team Liquid and is NA’s top seed for the League of Legends World Championship.
FlyQuest left it to the last moment but after eight years in North American League, they weren’t going to let Liquid deny them a chance at their first LCS title. For Liquid, it was an all-but-perfect split—the six-time regional champions were undefeated heading into the final, but they were unable to complete the season sweep and will have to settle for second.
The opening three games saw the team’s trade wins back and forth, but game four was a total rollercoaster in itself. Down 1-2, Liquid came out of the gate firing in the hopes of keeping their undefeated League season alive, but then FlyQuest fought back into the match and took control—only for an overextension and back-to-back aces for Liquid saw the LCS regular split top seeds march down mid-lane, looking to force a game five.
In a final stand at their own nexus, FlyQuest desperately held on while super minions bashed down Liquid’s base, and just as FlyQuest’s nexus turrets fell, the minions landed the killing blow to send the crowd into raptures.
Such was the end of the game, jungler and championship MVP Inspired hadn’t even realized his team was about to end the series and was already mentally locking in for a decider when the minions ended the game. “Honestly, I was just thinking about the game five draft, and then Quad said ‘Look, minion!'” he said.
Inspired was at his versatile best across the four maps, dominating Liquid in game one with the Lillia and keeping his performance up on the Brand despite the game two loss. He was back to his best in game three with a seven-kill effort on Zyra before closing out the series on Ivern, making crucial mid-game plays to keep FlyQuest in the match after a blistering game four opening from Yeon and UmTi.
Bwipo, meanwhile, was having the time of his life rolling with the Garen in game four. “Whenever I was one-shotting people I was just laughing. I really love League of Legends and getting to share what you guys experience at home on a stage like this, it doesn’t get better than me,” he said following the victory—his first regional championship since 2019 with Fnatic.
It couldn’t have been a more perfect end to the LCS as we know it with the American league undergoing massive changes heading into 2025 as part of Riot’s global League esports restructure. Eyes will be on the current set of LCS, CBLOL, and LLA teams with the downsizing meaning several squads from each division will miss out on spots for the next split.
But, until the moves are officially made, it’s FlyQuest’s world we’re living in and should this be the final LCS championship we’ve witnessed, we won’t be forgetting it in a hurry.
From here, the focus shifts to Worlds. It’s just the LCK we are waiting on to confirm all the teams attending with the pinnacle League tournament kicking off on Sept. 25.
Published: Sep 7, 2024 06:45 pm