FlyQuest are the underdogs to root for at the end of the Summer Split

Three weeks to go, and FlyQuest are already surprising us.
Photo via [Riot Games](https://www.flickr.com/photos/lolesports/41916648460/sizes/k/)

FlyQuest are currently tied for third in the standings of the Summer Split. While the standings overall are still extremely competitive, and one weekend of games could topple the whole order, Fly have still managed to impress, upset, and make the game their own.

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For a team that’s ended their last two splits in a row at an abysmal 6-12 and ultimately failed both times to make it into playoffs, their current 7-5 season is already better. Even if they lose the last six games in a row of the season, they will still end with a better record than they have in a year.

Related: FlyQuest channel their inner xPeke to defeat TSM

They don’t need to worry about that, though, because FlyQuest, even with a roster full of bygone heroes, have managed to make a lasting impression on the NA LCS in recent weeks. Sure, Liquid and 100 Thieves still look great, and although Echo Fox has been slumping, even they are still a solid contender for the finals.

If you’re still looking for a team to root for here at the end of the split, or maybe you’re a Cloud9 or TSM fan and you just can’t take it anymore, we recommend casting your lot with FlyQuest. Even if they don’t end up going all the way, they’re a blast to watch—probably more than any other team in the league right now.

When the first base race began against 100 Thieves during week five, FlyQuest definitely earned some fans. It was one of the most intense endings to an NA LCS game in recent memory, and, like most instances similar to this one, the NA LCS community went about their lives as usual.

And then they did the same thing again the next week.

The genius behind both of these plays is that FlyQuest seemed to plan them out beforehand. Unlike most backdoors and base races, which seem to begin as spur-of-the-moment decisions that either work out really well or crash and burn, it seems like FlyQuest knew exactly what they wanted to do before the casters and viewers even realized what was happening.

That’s why FlyQuest is special. In the match against TSM, they knew they were starting to throw the game. They knew they might lose the next five-on-five fight and eventually fall in the standings. But who said they needed to fight? No one. So they decided to take fate into their own hands.

They baited TSM, who almost always play for the late-game, into a late-game fight. They sucked them into the mid lane all the way up close to their own base, and then Lee “Flame” Ho-jong and Jason “WildTurtle” Tran went for broke up the bot lane to victory.

FlyQuest does something else that no other team seems to be able to do just yet in the current NA LCS climate—they can let every player on the team carry. Flame, WildTurtle, Jang “Keane” Lae-young, and Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen have all proven that they can take on that mantle this split so far. Though a good portion of Fly’s victories have been close games, they always have a plan to fall back on someone on the team that can run away with the game.

What WildTurtle does for the team is incredible, too. On past teams, mostly TSM, he was known for throwing games with his unparalleled aggression as a bot lane carry. FlyQuest uses that as a tool, however, to win games. Though it’s unlike anything that other NA teams do, WildTurtle can play marksman champions that suit his style.

He can use those champions like Ashe to force fights, which is usually the role of the team’s tank. And as long as Fly is prepared to match him, or someone else on the team is filling the role of carry for that game, it works really, really well. Sure, he’s a former Worlds contender and regional champion, but this might be the first time a team is consistently using him to his strengths.

WildTurtle likes to make shit happen, and he certainly makes shit happen on FlyQuest, even if he isn’t the most mechanically gifted player in the game.

Can FlyQuest and WildTurtle surprise us all and make it to the finals? Who knows, but it’ll probably still be really fun to watch.


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Author
Aaron Mickunas
Esports and gaming journalist for Dot Esports, featured at Lolesports.com, Polygon, IGN, and Ginx.tv.