FLY Quad: “Our vibe and mood is always good because [of] Gryffinn. I think [he] makes the mood funny a lot.”

Q: You’ve had really hard opponents back-to-back in stage matches. What did you improve to finally get the win?

Quad: Yeah, I think, uh, mostly Cryogen and Gryffinn. I think they stepped up a lot. But we still make some mistakes in scrims. But I feel like it’s just a focus gap. When they’re not focused, the game is really hard. But today I think they [focused] a lot and then the game was free.

Q: Did you feel like it affected mental, or confidence, to keep facing only strong teams on-stage and losing?

Quad: I think it doesn’t matter. Our vibe and mood is always good because [of] Gryffinn. I think [he] makes the mood funny a lot. So we were not tilted I think. I mean we kinda tilted after losing, but usually we’re fine.

Q: Any funny stories with the team lately?

Quad: Yes, but … Um, I mean, I can’t say the details. But yeah, they are so funny, Cryogen and Gryffinn. I think Gakgos is funny too. I think they are just kids.

Q: They’re too much like kids?

Quad: Yeah, too much like kids, I think.

Q: Have you felt your mood, and the team’s vibe, improve this year? It looks great — has that helped with performance?

Quad: Yeah, kind of. Also it’s really good to like, how to say, [have a] new challenge with three rookies. It’s really funny. And then, I can control our team. I think it’s good. And I can improve more, I think.

Q: Thoughts on SEN? What’s your prediction?

Quad: I think it’ll be [the] same as today.

Q: Where do you think you’re at, in terms of strength, as a team?

Quad: Not sure. I’m always confident — I mean not *always* confident, but I’m confident right now. But also, we still have three rookies, so we are not sure [about consistency]. They will always focus on stage matches, [so] maybe sometimes they can be nervous — so I’m not sure on stage.

Q: Now that everyone’s building Rocketbelt on every mid laner, what do you think about it? Are people just copying Chovy?

Quad: Yeah, I think it can be good [on] some mid lane champs. Like I don’t think Protobelt Azir is good because on Protobelt you have HP, AP and then haste, right? But Azir doesn’t need haste. So I think it’s just a waste of money.

I think [for] Azir the only reason would be if you really need to shuffle enemies. If you really need to engage, you can buy Protobelt on Azir I guess. I don’t think it’s really OP but it’s a really good item because the other items are so bad. Like Shadowflame is good but it’s so expensive and also Horizon Focus got nerfed a lot and Liandry’s is bad, [it got] nerfed a lot.

So I think Protobelt second is good because some midlaners like Syndra, Hwei, also need some haste so it makes sense to get. Also they need to dash.

Q: Some champions, like Akali and Zoe, are way more popular in LCK — will those champs come here, since people think NA just copies LCK? Or is it just style-dependent?

Quad: I think they play their own style. I watch LCK a lot, but I don’t really copy because every player has good points or weaknesses. So I’m just focused on myself. I watch and then just learn how to play the matchup, so that’s why I picked Hwei and Annie today.

Because nobody really plays Hwei into Ryze, [but] I’m just thinking what’s a champion for me. […] I still have like a 100% winrate on Hwei, I think maybe.

[Editor’s note: True — across NINE games.]

Q: Massu’s changed his style a bit this year — have you been able to do the same with the new team?

Quad: But today, like, from draft, Massu needed to play kinda safe on [the] second game. First game also. First game is maybe fine, but I think just Cryogen is a rookie, so Massu is still waiting for Cryo to step up for laning, because Cryo’s still learning in lane phase, so…

Q: Wait, so this is Massu playing safe still, like even when he’s 2v2 killing he’s playing chill right now?

Quad: I think he just tries his best, but yeah it’s kind of hard to say because he can’t [go 100%] every game, you know?

Q: For you, do you feel like you’ve been able to change styles a little bit too?

Quad: Uh, no. I don’t think so. I [think I] play the same.

Q: Since Gryffinn does a lot of shotcalling, like Inspired did, your role didn’t change much?

Quad: I don’t think so, because Gryffinn also calls a lot, [and] his call is sometimes fine, but sometimes … he kinda has a lot of useless calls. 

Q: For Inspired, you have to listen to everything. Gryffinn, you just sometimes ignore.

Quad: Yeah, sometimes I ignore, and then I say just “Listen to me,” and shotcall — but sometimes he says correctly. So, yeah.

Q: Who do you think will win SEN vs C9?

Quad: Oh yeah. I guess… Let me think. I think Sentinels 2-1. […]

I don’t know [why], but the first time I started thinking [about] SEN vs C9, I thought C9 probably wins, but maybe SEN has strong chances to win…

Q: Sounds like it’s just vibes.

Quad: *laughs* Yeah, it’s just vibes.

Q: But I have C9 on my fantasy, so I hope you’re wrong.

Quad: Yeah, maybe [it’ll be either] C9 2-0 or SEN 2-1.

Transcription assistance from @rysaphine

Header Image Credit: Riot Games