After toppling TSM on Sunday, FlyQuest secured a spot in the losers’ finals of the LCS Spring Playoffs. Beyond that, the team locked up at least 3rd place this split – the franchise’s best showing in a single split in its relatively young history. Most importantly, however, the team is showing constant improvement and could be on the cusp of genuine success very soon.

Last season around this time of year, when the team was knocked out of the Spring Playoffs at the hands of Team Liquid, things were looking up for FlyQuest. A 4th place finish signified growth for a franchise that had consistently been associated with stagnation and unimpressive results. While the outcome wasn’t entirely desirable last Spring, one had to be happy with the direction that the team was seemingly trending in.

And then Summer came. After putting together an impressive split just a few weeks prior, the team looked utterly lost in the Summer split, as a 5-13 final record landed FlyQuest a 9th place finish once the dust settled on the 2019 season. But now, halfway through 2020, FlyQuest has found itself near the top of the league once again. A reasonably solid showing thus far has put FlyQuest in a position to advance to the LCS Spring Finals. Imagine saying that when the split kicked off.

And while it would definitely be nothing short of a triumphant story if FlyQuest were to topple over Evil Geniuses on Saturday, it’s not necessarily the expected outcome. In 6 meetings this season, including last weekend’s best-of-5, EG has won 5 of those contests.

Throughout the course of that series EG took 25 towers compared to FlyQuest’s 16. Additionally, in the two regular season meetings between the teams, Evil Geniuses dominated FlyQuest by kill scores of 16-6 and 18-3. If anything, it wouldn’t be a wise betting decision to place your bets on FlyQuest, even with the noticeable improvements and strides that the team has been making throughout all of 2020. While the squad has been able to hold its own against a majority of the league – even defeating TSM in 5 games earlier this week, it’s clear that EG has had their number all season long.

It wouldn’t be totally unreasonable to predict another convincing victory for Evil Geniuses come this Saturday, subsequently setting up a meeting in the finals between the #2 and #1 seeds – themselves and Cloud9.

Regardless, FlyQuest has made it clear that they just may be more favorable heading into this weekend than many matchups past. As the team rides a wave of momentum into the final weekend of the split, the cards might just be in their favor. And even if FlyQuest isn’t able to pull off the upset of the century, taking down two teams that are miles ahead of them on paper, there’s still a bright outlook for the Summer Split on the horizon. The focus in the here and now should obviously be defeating the foes in front of them, but shifting that focus onto the future wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. The main goal for the organization moving forward should be to replicate the success that the team has been finding thus far in 2020.

When FlyQuest was propelled into a position of moderate success in 2019, the team flubbed it away when given the chance to replicate. Now, turning this taste of success into a repeat tradition should present more than a shot at redemption – it should serve as the franchise’s top priority and a medium to remedy the consistent inconsistency that has been associated with FlyQuest since the organization’s inception.

Photo Credit: Riot Games, Lolesports, League of Legends