FlyQuest.PowerOfEvil: "TSM's performance was indefensible. 0-6 as first seed is a disappointment." - League of Legends

After the final day of groups we caught up with PowerOfEvil from FlyQuest. In the interview he talked about his team’s performance, the troubles of North America and the things he learned at Worlds 2020.

FlyQuest surprised the fans on the last day of groups with two strong victories against Chinese powerhouse Top Esports and the Unicorns of Love. While it was not enough to make it out of groups due to their loss to DRX, FlyQuest provided much needed comfort for the North American scene.

esports.com: First of all thanks for taking the time to do this interview with us. Congratulations on your victories against Unicorns of Love and Top Esports earlier. How do you feel right now?

PowerOfEvil: Naturally we are all a bit sad right now, since we could not win in the deciding match against DRX. Nevertheless we are also quite happy to have ended Worlds 2020 on a positive note with two victories and a 3-3 record.

How difficult was it for you to mentally reset after the loss against DRX? After all you played two very strong matches against Top Esports and Unicorns of Love right after.

After we lost to DRX our hopes were already pretty small. I still tried to cheer up my team by saying that maybe Unicorns can take a game off Top Esports. But after they lost it was clear that our run was over. But we still wanted to show a good performance, not only individually but also as team. We are a good team and had our chances, even if we missed it by a bit and we wanted to show that. Hopefully we can use all the things we learned and experiences we made to make it out of groups in the future.

Especially in your match against Top Esports FlyQuest showed an impressive performance. What was the difference maker betweeen week 1 and 2?

I am not that sure anymore, but I think I played well in the first week but one of the sidelanes blew up a bit. We still are not that good in saving a sidelane by investing more resources into it or the sidelane itself saying what to do to help them out. In games in which a sidelane spirals out of control like it did against DRX and Top in the first week, things like these can turn a game really fast.

Since we are already talking about the sidelanes. This was the first time at Worlds for your Toplaner Solo. How did you help him deal with the pressure?

For Solo that was a hard challenge. You play against the top regions at Worlds, the best of the best. To make things worse for him we are also a team that does not play around top much. So he was left out to dry and had to try to survive on his own. That is an extremely difficult task.

aight I’m gettin drunk see you next year — Colin (@SoloLCS) October 11, 2020

After our first games did not go that well and he was also criticized heavily, we sat down as a down to say: “Hey, that was not your fault. We did many things wrong as a team.”

Hopefully our games in this week could change the narrative, so that people can see, that Solo is a very strong Toplaner.

Now on to a topic that we have to talk about: The performance of the North American teams. Once again all three teams did not make it past groups. Top Seed TSM even wrote history with a 0-6 record . What is the biggest problem of NA?

Team Liquid and us actually had decent chances to advance with our performance. We had quite challenging groups and sometimes 3-3 is enough to advance. Just like I did with Misfits in 2017. So we were really close to making it out this year. But yeah, TSMs performance, which many are criticizing, was indefensible. 0-6 as first seed is a disappointment. But it is also quite hard to say what their problem was. Sometimes things just happen, a bootcamp might not work out, you lose the spark or the team loses its identity. I can understand it to a certain point, but obviously people expect better.

This is the first time a Pool 1 seed and the #1 seed from a major region went 0-6. The only other time it was close was 2017 Pool 1 Flash Wolves who went 1-5, picking up a single win against… TSM. — Mark Zimmerman (@TheeMarkZ) October 10, 2020

So what can NA do to improve? I think it is important, that the players who make it to Worlds to play the best not only apply their experience but also share it with other players of their region. That way knowledge gets passed, so the scene can improve. Another thing is that lower ping should also translate to better practice, but that is a different problem and topic.

Prior to Cloud 9’s elimination at the Summer Playoffs, many had counted them as the big North American hope for Worlds, especially because of their dominant Spring Split. How do you think would they have performed at Worlds?

That is impossible to say. I think last year Cloud 9 was also counted as a strong team, but got eliminated in groups. In my opinion Team Liquid is also a really good example of a team that I did not have high hopes for before Worlds, lower than TSM. But during the tournament they found their identity, changed a few things and everything started to work out. Liquid performed really well and almost made it out of the groups. Things like these can change really fast and honestly I cannot say and judge.

Now a question in regards to your personal development. You moved to the LCS in 2018. But neither Optic nor Counter Logic Gaming were that successful. It took you three years after Misfits to return to Worlds. Why did it take this long?

Optic was obviously not much of a success. We just did not make it as a team. I don’t know, if it was because of the team identity or the other players, but it was just a big flop. Individually I did well, if I remember correctly, I was even voted second-best Midlaner, although we finished seventh.

At Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) we had a bad start in Spring but turned things around in Summer. From seventh we climbed all the way to third. We missed out on Worlds by going second in the regional finals, just a step from the goal, just like I did five years ago with Unicorns of Love. Obviously it hurt to fall just short, but we did not deserve it.

GGWP @TSM, and congratulations! We’re proud of all the hard work our players and coaching staff have put into this split. From spring to summer, we’ve shown how much we’ve grown, and we’re excited to continue to #ShowcaseGreatness at Worlds! #SeaQuest 🌊 #GoDeep 🤿 pic.twitter.com/ch2A3qtVwZ — WorldQuest (@FlyQuest) September 7, 2020

Now with FlyQuest I am super happy. We made back-to-back LCS finals. We have a strong roster and have shown strong performances individually and as a team. So it took a while, but now we are here.

You performed really well during Worlds. Even against Knight, whom many consider the best player in the world. How difficult is it to play against renowned opponents?

I am not someone, who is afraid of such a situation. I already played against many other strong Midlaners, even some of the “old guard” like xPeke or Alex Ich or even Faker three years ago at Worlds with Misfits. You just have to be confident, go in and do your best.

But I am also quite happy with Group D. The group had the strongest Midlaners in my opinion and I learend a lot from playing against Knight, Chovy and Nomanz. They are all very strong Midlaners with varying strenghts and weaknesses. Laning against them and learning is a great honor. While I performed well against them, I could also learn a lot out of the matchups and games. For example how to get priority better or how to trade more efficiently. It is always a give and take between Midlaners.

On the Worlds level every single minion lasthit is a battle, pushing out waves a struggle. That is very different from the regional leagues.

Thank you very much for the extensive interview and good luck for the next season.

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