FLY Thinkcard: “I think the important thing for this team is [that] Gryffinn is planning very, very, well.”
Q: For a debut, this result is pretty solid — but many criticized FLY’s seeming inability to back away from a potential fight. In Game 3, for example, it seemed insane for the Viktor team to take an early skirmish against Lee Sin. Thoughts?
Thinkcard: Um, yeah, I mean, I’m sure it can seem that way, but when I’m looking at our team, I think the most important thing is mid game. And if we are looking at the 5 minute skirmish, it should honestly be pretty favorable for us — [they have] Varus no flash, they have no way to connect. But we, yeah … Made some mistakes.
But either way, I think the important thing for this team is [that] Gryffinn is planning very, very, well. In Game 1, he did mess up his pathing, but for the most part, in scrims and on-stage, he’s having much better plans.
We’re syncing up with laners, everyone is playing a lot more respectfully, we’re not really dying of ganks, and when we get to mid game, it wasn’t perfect, but it’s a lot better and that’s what we’re really focusing on right now. So I get the sentiment but I think it’s a little bit fake.
Q: It can be hard to tell how meaningful results are, especially early in the Split — how much of an indicator of improvement was today’s series for FLY?
Thinkcard: Once again, I don’t really care if the games are close or not. I’m just looking at our fundamentals and the way that we’re playing the game, and I just talked to the guys after the game. The key thing for me is [that] mid game is how you beat teams. […]
Last split, we weren’t stable enough every game, and our fundamentals weren’t up to a certain level where we [could] get to mid game consistently, and practice things [so] we can come out ahead and get gold leads in the mid game.
Against TL, [we] made some early game mistakes, but, for the most part, we got to pretty playable states in the mid game, and there were many, many points where I showed them [ways to grow our advantage].
I don’t think TL played very well today, but we’re able to get in game states where we can recognize when enemy teams are trolling their macro, and we’re able to come ahead with gold leads. That, to me, is the important thing.
I think we’re still working on it — it could’ve been crisper — but when I’m looking at these games, there were multiple points in mid game [when] we made good decisions and we set ourselves up for success. And there were also a few points where it was okay, but it could have been a lot better.
So in terms of TL’s strength, if this is the level that they’re going to be at, I don’t think they’re a very strong team. I think their mid game was not very good today, at all, and they’re messing up their macro a lot, so I think TL needs a lot of improvement. So, the fact it was close today is kind of whatever to me, because I’m just looking at the things we need to improve on.
And I know our team’s improving a lot. It’s happening in scrims, and today’s stage series was much better than how we basically collapsed at the end of last split.
Q: It feels like the teams are particularly close this year — like anyone can push towards the top. Have you felt that?
Thinkcard: I think there’s definitely a lot of teams that can compete. I would say there’s a tier list for sure. Against almost all the teams, we do very, very well — but there are like one or two teams that just have a lot better plans and, honestly, play macro well.
I think the majority of teams in the LCS don’t really know how to play macro, so I think you can kind of separate into two different categories: Teams that are playing the game correctly and teams that aren’t recognizing that they’re not playing the game correctly.
Q: You’re facing DSG next week — which category would you put them into?
Thinkcard: I think DSG actually do a pretty good job of playing the game. They recognize where they need to put in resources in-game and usually move around the map pretty well. Honestly — big props for DSG. I think like their coaches are doing a really good job and their players seem to be clicking and understanding like what their roles are.
Yeah, nothing but respect for that team, to be honest. I think we’re better, but we’ll see.
Q: Is that a 2-0 prediction? Or will it be a 2-1 for the entertainment?
Thinkcard: I don’t know. I’m never going to just predict a 2-0, because I mean maybe we will, [but] Game 1 today we had some players that were pretty nervous and weren’t super comfortable, and really had to like relax going into Game 2. And then Game 2 was a lot better, you know? Game 3 was a bit back-and-forth.
So, we still have some players that are really young, that are still adjusting to being on stage. When you do have players like that, it’s hard to just say we’re going to 2-0 when it really is about being comfortable, being relaxed, and playing your game.
Q: That’s interesting. It’s almost hard to imagine Gryffinn or Cryo nervous — they’re so infectiously energetic.
Thinkcard: Yeah. I mean, they have a lot of energy. They joke around a lot. The vibes are good. But still, you know, they’re human. when you’re that young, and you’re playing on stage — or doing pretty much anything important — you’re usually pretty nervous about the upcoming event.
Q: Did you know about this late-night scaring-eachother-with-the-lights-off game during the Korean bootcamp? Did it contribute to the team’s improvement?
Thinkcard: I mean, they were… the players were staying in LS’s house, me and Apollo are staying in a hotel. Apparently at like 3 in the morning, they’d turn off all the lights so you can’t really see anything and they would hide and just ,like, scare each other.
I don’t know, you just have so much dopamine when you’re that young, you just get dopamine from everything you play with each other. You spook each other, your brain is firing on all cylinders. Hey, whatever’s fun to them — I’m all for it.
Q: We joke about Quad being the old man in the room, but what’s the dynamic like as a coach who’s genuinely an adult in a room of kids? Are you wrangling them?
Thinkcard: Yeah. Uh, Gryffinn calls me a boomer. They call Apollo a boomer. We’re a lot older, but, I don’t know, I think there’s respect — there’s definitely respect both ways.
It’s an interesting dynamic. Everyone’s pretty chill. Everyone’s logical. They know that I’ve been around for 75 years, so a lot of things I say are probably correct — and they’re all hard workers and they have good mechanics, so the respect is definitely mutual.
Q: What’s your breakdown of team strength at the moment?
Thinkcard: I mean, kind of hard to read right now. I think I was really, really surprised that C9 beat LYON. C9 were struggling.
I think they’ve been kind of struggling with their mentals ever since their playoffs loss and going to America’s Cup and kind of getting destroyed — so I do think C9 is just not as strong as they were before. [Then again], we thought LYON was really strong, and then C9 somehow beat them on stage, so I’m not too sure.
It does feel kind of like any team can beat any team depending who shows up on game day.
But in terms of who plays the best macro, it’s LYON by far. And then I think we’re getting there — there’s a lot of work that we still need to do, but we’re getting there.
Besides that, I don’t think anyone really plays the game that well. C9, I mean, their macro is OK, but sometimes they do some really troll stuff. The only team I really respect in terms of playing the game correctly is LYON. I think that’s the only team that really understands the game.
Q: Is it just Inspired, then? It’s been a joke for a while, but he truly seems to run the mid game on his own better than any other team.
Thinkcard: I mean, he’s really good — he has a specific style that he likes to play, and I think that’s the best way to play League of Legends.
Other teams try to do different styles, and try to adjust or [implement] different ideas of how they want to play the game. But, for the most part, it’s about jungle efficiency. It’s about playing on your timers, respecting their timers, and understanding side lane tempo. Inspired is really good at that, and he’s good at getting everyone on the same page to do that, which is why his teams are pretty crisp.
But it’s not an easy way to play the game — everyone has to do their part. Everyone has to understand their role in the plan, and that’s why he gets frustrated sometimes. To him, the plan is pretty obvious; everyone has a job in the plan, and if someone makes a mistake, it really does ruin the next minute or two.
But it’s just, in my opinion, the best way to play the game. It’s the way Gen.G plays the game. It’s the way Inspired likes to play the game.
Q: This is different from the BLG and G2 style we saw at FST?
Thinkcard: [BLG can do it], G2 has gotten a lot better at it. I would say last year they didn’t play the game that way. This year they’re playing the game a lot better — this year, I would say they started to see that’s just the best way to play the game.
Q: Others have mentioned that the faster teams at FST — BLG and G2 — played a different style to take down the slower teams, like GEN and LYON.
Thinkcard: I think there’s one game, I think it was BLG against G2 in the finals, [Game 4] — they messed up a bunch in the early game. And then at 15 minutes, [BLG] did about two minutes of macro, and that’s how I know that they know how to play the game.
There are very few teams in the world that would do that. I think LYON is one of the teams that would do that. I think BLG would do that — BLG showed they can do that. Gen.G would do that.
Almost no other team in the world [would do that]. A lot of other teams in the world wouldn’t see that, or understand that you have to do that, at that time in the game.
That’s why I’m saying I think a lot of teams just don’t recognize what you have to do at certain moments — [but] BLG recognized it exactly. I was actually a little bit upset when BLG was gonna win the tournament, because I usually like having good vods, and GEN always has great vods. But then I saw them do that in [Game 4], and I was just like, “This is why this is the best team in the world.”
Q: Any final message to FLY fans?
Thinkcard: Yeah, I mean, appreciate the support. We’re definitely grinding really hard. We went to Korea, grinded for three weeks, basically had like two days off when we got back, and then grinded again.
So we’re really putting in our best effort to improve. I think we are improving, but it’s still, like, a really young roster, and I’m confident that we’ll get to where we need to be, so I appreciate the patience and all the support. It’s really needed for the players.
I’m telling you, with young players, it’s hard not to feel the pressure and the weight on your shoulders when you lose, so all the nice things you guys say [go] a long way for the players. I appreciate that.
Header Image Credit: Riot Games
