FLY Busio: “I hate the gaps honestly, ‘cause I really don’t play on stage for a while. It feels kind of weird playing on stage again.”

Q: Do you feel like you’re the most popular you’ve ever been, even when you were playing with Doublelift?

Busio: I’d say for like Twitter interactions and whatnot, this is my most popular point, just because I’ve been putting in a lot of effort into my socials and I’ve been streaming a lot — but probably in different regards, I was more popular in the Doublelift era.

I remember when I first got announced on the Doublelift roster, I was streaming [and I would get] thousands of viewers, but it’s hard for me to reach those numbers again on Twitch.

Q: Who would you pick as their team’s MVP from the series?

Busio: I’d say River. […] Just for example, in the Vi game, his engages were really creative. Like he was basically inting, but he buffered my CC with Vi ult and then kind of baited us to use all [our CC], and then got a good fight in that situation. Later that game, he’s like hiding in bushes instead of farming to kill people. He’s just a very aggressive player, so he can be a difference maker. 

So yeah, I would say River.

Q: Thoughts on Eyla? Felt like he had one of his best individual series ever.

Busio: I mean, I think he played pretty well; they were playing ranged champs and they had a lot of control around mid. And they were making the map quite difficult in some of the games, for sure. Like they were perma just playing the map with mid pass.

So we were on the defensive most of the time. And then they had some pretty good swap tactics in some of the game. Some of the games, they had good vision around the swaps. Like in one of the games, we were getting double frozen on. That was not very good. So I think he had good planning for sure in the swap part of the game. And yeah, he played well. 

Q: Bwipo said he expects 100T to make it to the Dallas finals against you. What do you think about the LTAS teams?

Busio: I know VKS won today, and they played against Red. So guess those two teams are already qualified. I don’t know who else is coming up. 

Q: It’s VKS, Red and Pain. It’ll be Pain vs. 100T, Red vs. SR, and then FLY vs. VKS. 

Busio: Yeah, I know VKS and Pain can be good. I don’t know much about Red, to be honest. I guess all the Southern teams, we need to be focused. And they can easily beat 100 Thieves. 

I think even in Split 1, when we had the cross conference in Brazil, the teams were solid. Even though results wise, the North outperformed them quite convincingly, at least in scrims or actually watching a lot of the games, I don’t think the gap is that big and anyone can win.

Q: NA fans argue that the jet lag and schedule narrowed the gap, basically saying that the distance is way larger than it seemed. Thoughts?

Busio: *hesitates* I mean, yeah, that’s definitely a factor… Yeah, I mean, that for sure contributes. You just gave me some flashbacks of that tournament. You know, we were pretty jet lagged, and I remember there were some problems around the scheduling. 

Like, we couldn’t be practicing after like 11 p.m. or something. So people would have to change their schedule around the schedule Riot chose for us in the practice rooms. I remember there were some problems there, which could affect some players more than others.

Q: What about Trymbi? You said you’re not focused on beating EU, but there’s an EU support up next.

Busio: I haven’t watched him play very much to be honest, so I don’t have a strong opinion of him, but I know he’s been around for a while and he’s been on good teams, so he’s definitely probably a solid support. But I don’t know if he’s Faker or not until I’ve faced him, or until I watch more of his games.

Q: So all scouting VKS now?

Busio: Don’t even know what the schedule’s like. I don’t know — do we play next week?

Q: You get 2 weeks off.

Busio: Aw, no… I hate the gaps honestly, ‘cause I really don’t play on stage for a while. It feels kind of weird playing on stage again. […] 

Yeah, I mean, even just the super-loud white noise in your ears. It’s like, “Eugh, I’m not used to this,” you know? 

For sure, I felt that like Game 1 and 2 — I just wasn’t playing very well. 

I think Game 4, I was actually like playing my champ. Game 4, I felt good. The first two games, like I was playing aight, but I definitely wasn’t playing well. Definitely, momentum or not playing on stage for a while can contribute to that. ‘Cause yeah, it just feels different, you know?

Q: So what’s FLY going to be better at now? What’s going to help you finally beat an LCK/LPL team?

Busio: Everything, you know, we’re improving in every aspect. 

At least for bot lane, we are going to be much more consistent with our matchups. You know, we have a clear idea of what we want to do. 

And then in team fights, I’m improving. I have a better idea of what I want to do. And I’m going to tell my teammates that just those are the two big parts of the game — team fights and laning. And then of course, how to play the map. Every time we start scrimming internationally again, you kind of need to remind yourself, “Whoa, these guys are playing the game. We actually need to be very crisp about what we’re doing and how we’re defending this vision and whatnot.”

They have a great understanding of it. So in every aspect of the game, we have improved and we’ll have to keep improving. And the second you start scrimming international teams, that’s when it’s a real test.

Q: Now something more introspective — some players on your team seem to cause controversy by flaming or shit-talking. You, on the other hand, seem almost overly-respectful and nice, even off-camera. Do you feel like you need to balance out your teammates? Is it a nice guy character?

Busio: No, it’s nothing to do with balancing out my teammates. It’s just because I always feel like I have so much to improve on. It’s never enough, so I never feel good enough — I never feel like I’m the goat. I’ve never felt like that. Like maybe some games, I come off stage and I’m like, ‘Wow, that was fantastic.’ 

But most games, even when we win, I’m just thinking about the things I could have done better. And maybe it’s like some mental illness, but you know, it’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing in the way where I’m always focused on myself and improving, and that probably makes me a good teammate. But it’s also a bad thing because I’m not giving my teammates enough criticism, because I’m more focused on myself and making sure my gameplay’s solid before I criticize my teammates too much. 

But again, it comes down to the thing — it’s never enough. I never feel like my gameplay is enough, you know? And it’s the same for trash talking. Like maybe if I’m the goat and I’m playing perfectly, I can trash talk. 

But I can’t trash talk anything. Like, I made so many mistakes today. Yeah, I can’t. Maybe when I play perfectly, we’ll see what Perfect Busio ego is like.

Q: Maybe when you beat Keria? Not that you would trash talk Keria, but that you’d feel good enough to call other players out?

Busio: I mean, even if I beat Keria, the next series I might make some mistakes and feel bad about myself again, you know? *laughs* So, yeah.

For example, at Esports World Cup, I think I played a fantastic series against Duro. I felt really comfortable in the game, I was doing everything good — like that’s probably my highlight of the year. 

The BLG series was pretty good. I had good games, but I also had bad games. 

The two games I had against Duro at EWC, that’s one of my highlights of the year. But you know, just because I had that doesn’t mean the next series I’m going to do the same. So I need to always be humble and focusing on myself.

Q: Do you think that trait helps balance out in the team, since Bwipo and Inspired are known to give feedback to teammates constantly?

Busio: Let’s say it’s less of a discussion, if anything, because Inspired says something. Maybe he’s right — most of the time he’s right. But sometimes he’s probably wrong, and he’s viewing the game sometimes from his farming jungle perspective. I always just say, “Yeah, I’ll think about it.” Because I will think about it, and see in ways I can improve in that regard or focus on that, or just have that in the back of my mind. 

Because when people are giving you feedback, sometimes it’s because they want to make it feel like it’s not their fault, that’s why they give them feedback. But on a professional team, hopefully your teammates are giving you feedback because they want you to improve and they want their game to be easier and your game to be easier. So feedback’s a blessing. 

Like, I’m happy my teammates give feedback and whatnot. So you always just say, “I’ll think about that.” And then you actually think about it, you don’t just say it so they shut up. You actually think about it and you’re happy they gave you feedback, you know?

Maybe if you disagree, it’s still good to think about, and think about the pros and cons.

Q: You’re talking about it almost like an issue; that you wish you were more confident and vocal with the team. That’s also an image people have of FLY behind the scenes: People see it as you and Massu sitting quietly while Bwipo and Inspired lecture you.

Busio: Yeah, I mean, definitely in-game, I’ve improved on it. In the game, I’m telling people, “I want to do this, do this.” I have reminders written down, like, “Make sure I’m telling Quad to do XXX in this situation.” 

But I more [so] remind myself to tell them in-game, and I don’t focus too much on telling them out of the game. I kind of take it upon myself to remind them in the game, if that makes sense, when I’ve critiqued for them.

Because that’s a big part — and Massu does the exact same thing. Like, Massu will tell me stuff, but a lot of the stuff that Arrow tells him is like, “If you want this done, you have to tell your teammate this. If this helps your game, that’s your responsibility to tell your teammate.” You know what I mean? So I think it’s about helping your teammates see your lens, and then that helps them play better.

Transcription help from @eonmoons