FLY Inspired: “Nothing we can do about [only having one NA seed]. I would for sure rather be in MSI already, but I think the format has to be fair.”
Q: The series felt really close, how were you feeling after game 4?
Inspired: Honestly, I’m not sure. It felt pretty close, but we also knew that we could have won game three, game two also. Like, if we played team fights a bit better, maybe it wouldn’t be close. I don’t know. I think playing against C9, you just expect the games to be pretty close, you expect them to to fight you for most of the stuff and do their own creative plays.
And going into game five, we knew that we are gonna be nervous; we knew they are gonna be nervous. And I think everyone was just farming and waiting for for teamfights on drakes, and it seems like we just executed them a bit better. But, I don’t think anyone from us was specifically, like, scared of game five or anything like that. It was pretty fun because I think both of the teams also knew that if you lose, you still have a second chance.
Q: What was the thought process behind the Lee Sin pick in game 5?
Inspired: They already picked Akali, so I think if the game goes late, we are gonna win. And I think Lee Sin is just good at dealing with Akali. And their team comp will have to go into us. I think Lee Sin is pretty good with Gragas as well because Gnar can’t really force on sidelane too much because Lee Sin can always come and collect him. And on top of that, I think you always have the kick pressure, so it doesn’t matter how the game is looking like.
And I think we just needed the AD jungle. We already have Ziggs, Gragas, in our comp. So we’re like, might as well pick Lee Sin. I was not really sure what to pick. It was depending a lot on what we’re gonna pick top. And, we thought for top the Gragas would be the best pick. So for sure, you need to go for AD. I mean, it was either that or Viego. I don’t think Viego is that great against Sejuani Akali. Like, it’s hard to get a reset. Doesn’t really make sense playing Viego with Tristana. Nocturne, I think, is also not that great. It’s just hard to do much with Nocturne. I think Lee Sin has good interaction with enemy champs.
Q: If you had to pick a player of the series from your perspective, who would it be?
Inspired: Hmm… I’m not really sure what happened in game one, two, three, four. I just remember game five a little bit. And I think Quad played well in game five. Game one, Quad also played well on Cassio. Botlane, I’m not sure. I think I wouldn’t give them any of them player of the series. They had good games, they had worse games. Bwipo’s the same — He had good games, worse games.
I think game one, I didn’t really have to do much. Game five, I didn’t have to do much. I think I played well on Naafiri game, and I played well on Poppy game. Actually, both games that we lost, I felt like I played well. I think the games we won, I didn’t really have to do anything. I don’t know. I guess Quad would have to get it. I think Quad did did fine. Yeah, I would give it to Quad. [E/N: Quad officially received Player of the Series from the broadcast as well!]
Q: This morning, Jojo made it to MSI. Were you watching the series?
Inspired: Yeah, we [the whole team] were watching it. Everyone was watching. Especially game five was happening when we just arrived to the studio.
Q: What was your reaction? Did you text Jojo congrats or anything?
Inspired: Yeah. We have a group chat, so for sure everyone texted him. And we told him already before that we don’t believe in him, and we think that KC is gonna win, but he won. He won one game with Kassadin, with Cassiopeia, like, it’s just kinda crazy. But well played to him.
Q: Obviously you want to make it to MSI, but does the idea of facing KOI and Jojo there motivate you even more to win the trophy?
Inspired: I don’t really like playing against [Jojo] too much because he’s a bit crazy. And I think he’s just really good, so I don’t like playing against him.
I think other mid laners, you can kinda tell the plan of the team. Like, either someone is behind the guy or he’s just alone pressuring, while against Jojo, it seems like he doesn’t care, and I think he has really good mechanics. So it’s just annoying to play against players like that. I’ve already said it so many times, but it’s a similar vibe to Caps. I think only Caps plays like Jojo does. So it’s really annoying to face him.
Q: While Jojo qualified to MSI today regardless of what happens in finals, you will have to win finals to qualify as an NA team because there’s only one NA seed. How does that feel from your perspective?
Inspired: Yeah, I mean, just life. I mean, nothing we can do about it. I would for sure rather be in MSI already. But I think the format has to be fair. I think it would be a bit weird if we got two teams and then LTA South also got two teams while Europe only gets two teams. So we’d get, like, pretty much four. I mean, that will be kinda unfair.
Q: What if our top two seeds played against their top two?
Inspired: Yeah. I think that could be a pretty cool idea. Like, top two play against top two from these two regions. But it’s a bit too hard to make it because when would you make the games? […]
You can’t do anything about it. It would for sure be fun watching seed 2 play against seed 2 for MSI spot, but it’s hard to make it, like, should we go to Brazil? Should they come to LA studio? Like, I think it will be unfair for one of the teams. And also, like, do you wanna fly both of them to Vancouver to play a game for who gonna play in MSI? Not really. So I don’t know. It’s fine how it is. I mean, back in the days, it was just one team anyway that was making MSI. So it gives a similar vibe right now.
Q: Did you originally get Crocs because of Jojo?
Inspired: I think so. Yeah. I think he was the first one that was wearing them. I didn’t really like, see Crocs much before I came to America, and I think he was the one wearing them in office all the time.
Q: What’s your favorite off role and your favorite solo queue champ?
Inspired: I think I’m the best at support, but my favorite one might be… I don’t know. It’s ADC or mid, I think, favorite one. Because jungle and support is a bit boring to play, but I’m better at them. I think maybe ADC is the most fun. My [favorite solo queue champ] might be Lucian or Zed, one of these two.
Q: We’re getting the Lucian jungle next week?
Inspired: Maybe maybe. Our ADC can’t play it. *chuckles*
Q: It’s pride month. Do you have a a message for the gay FlyQuest fans?
Inspired: I hope you have a great month!
Q: Tomorrow’s series is TL vs SR, I know you probably think both teams are bad —
Inspired: Not really, they’re fine, they’re not bad.
Q: So who do you think is gonna win?
Inspired: Hard to say. I think both of them are on a similar level. Both of them can play well, but some both of them sometimes just don’t play well. So it’s hard to say, but I think Team Liquid bot lane is just better. So Team Liquid bot lane might be the winning factor when it comes to the series. And because of that, it’s just kinda hard for me to vote for Shopify.
Well, I think that Shopify top side can be a bit stronger. Impact has good games, sometimes he doesn’t have good games. It’s playoffs, so most likely he’s gonna play well. I think mid-jungle of Shopify is maybe even better than team liquid’s mid-jungle, but CoreJJ and Yeon are just pretty good. So I think they should be the winning factor.
Q: Do you think the jungle swapping between Yuuji and Umti is helping, hurting, or doesn’t matter?
Inspired: It doesn’t matter that much, but I do think that it’s a bit overcooking. I do think that Umti is a bit better, but I think Yuuji with time can become better. Like, I can see that. He’s a rookie right now in in a tier one league. So for sure he gains a lot of experience playing every series, and I think it may be a move that Team Liquid is, like, looking more into the future. Like, they have to think about someone that they can replace Umti with later. So right now, it’s kinda safe for them. They can already try someone out.
And if that person doesn’t work out, like, if Yuuji was to play bad, they can just sub in Umti instantly again, rather than, like, at the end of the season, switching their jungler and getting someone that they are not really sure about. And then, let’s say that person plays bad, and their whole season is kinda cooked. So right now, I think they are in a spot where they can try them out. And if it doesn’t work out, they play UmTi. If it works out, then they are just set for future, and I think that’s what they are thinking.
