The MSI play-in finals held on the 9th of May (CEST) between Flash Wolves (FW) and Gambit Esports (GMB) was the match that attracted the most attention of the MSI matches up to now. Many people remembered when Diamondprox and Edward were at their prime. It’s been a while since GMB played at their peak level, but those who remembered hoped for the return of the old GMB.



FW also has a large fan base. Their popularity in Taiwan is unbelievable and they’ve delivered quite impressive performances in international competitions, but their final results were mainly not that good. Many fans hoped that this MSI would be the stage set for FW.



Of course, one of these two teams had to be eliminated. The match was rather one-sided than thought. FW dominated GMB during all three games and proved that there was a big level gap between the two regions. And at the vanguard, there was Moojin. He led the game from the beginning to the end. When Moojin was stalling, Maple and Betty did really well. Again, FW showed the world what kind of a team they were.



After the match, Moojin and Maple were interviewed.







Q. You came to FW to replace Karsa. Did you feel a lot of pressure on your shoulders?

Moojin: I feel a lot of pressure, and right now, I’m feeling so much pressure. But as we just won, I’m feeling better now.



Q. You said in interviews in the past that you look up to Peanut. You’ll be playing in the same competition as him. How do you feel?

Moojin: I’m really happy to participate in the same competition as Peanut. I feel a bit of pressure, but I think we can do it.



Q. Last MSI, FW made it to the semi finals. Do you think FW can do better and make it to the finals?

Moojin: If we do as we did today, I think we can have better results?



Q. Do you think that there’s a specific team that stands in your way?

Moojin: All the teams are the same, but I think Kingzone will be the hardest to face.



Q. FW has changed quite a bit during the past year. Exactly how did the team change over the past six months?

Maple: Moojin is very similar with Karsa so I had no problem in getting used to him. As for Hanabi, he has a wild style of play and has a wide champion pool. That brings us more dynamic.



Q. The last two times at the MSI, you went to the semi finals. Do you think with these members, you can make it to the finals?

Maple: We always reached semi finals in the past, and of course we want to surpass that this time.



Q. You only won 1 game at Worlds. Is there a lot of pride on the line specifically for you at the MSI this year?

Maple: We didn’t do that well at Worlds because we didn’t do as good as we did in scrims. Hopefully, we’ll do 100% of what we practiced during the games and we’ll probably do better.

*Pictures from Riot Games Twitch Channel