It's the quarterfinals of the North American League Championship Series spring split playoffs. FlyQuest, a heavy underdog, entered the series against Counter Logic Gaming looking dead on arrival. It was torn apart in the first game by an overall kill count of 22 to 1. The next game was more of the same, with CLG putting itself only a win away from rekindling its longtime rivalry with archnemesis Team SoloMid.

FlyQuest captain and starting mid laner Hai "Hai" Lam wouldn't let that happen. The No. 5 team coming into the playoffs reeled off two victories in a row following the frigid start to tie it up and force a decisive fifth set. He put CLG on its heels.

When did one of the best shotcallers in North America know the series was over?

"When [Choi 'Huhi' Jae-hyun] picked Ekko," the two-time league champion said. He won those titles as part of the Cloud9 organization he helped build from the ground up alongside two of his now-FlyQuest teammates, An "Balls" Le and Daerek "LemonNation" Hart.

"I think Talon is a very good matchup into Ekko," he said. "I've done it a few times against Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, specifically, and it's always gone very well for me. And the fact I get to play Talon, there's a few factors into it: Their team was bad against Talon, his lane was bad vs. Talon, and I was just super confident going into it."

A year ago, Hai, one of the league's greatest stars, was done. He had taken a step back from professional play to become more involved in the business side of things in the C9 organization, but when Cloud9 Academy needed a mid laner, Hai took up the call once more to try to help his friends get back into the NA LCS.

The experiment was a success: Rookie jungler Juan "Contractz" Garcia broke out as the only rookie on an otherwise heavily experienced Challenger team, and C9 Academy qualified up from the minors.

Hai, though, didn't see himself making the journey along with his new team into the LCS. When asked if he would be returning alongside the rest of the Academy team for the upcoming NA LCS season by commentator David "Phreak" Turley in the winner's interview of the Challenger finals, Hai said although the rest of his team was hungry to get back into the main competition, his future seemed uncertain. Hai cited the substantial workload and practice needed to keep up in the NA LCS as what kept him away from committing to moving forward with the club, and he also brought up the lingering pain in his wrists that had been ailing him for years.

It felt like the end of the road for the captain that pushed C9 to prominence in its rookie NA LCS split. On its way to the title, Hai's team toyed with opponents and thrashed clubs considered to be among the best. Over his illustrious career that spanned a little over three years, he led Cloud9 to two domestic titles and also made it to Worlds with the team every year he was part of the starting lineup.

His final mission, after being replaced by Jensen as C9's mid lane player and eventually left off the main roster entirely by the beginning of 2016, was to help C9 one more time on the battlefield. It couldn't have ended any better. C9's main team was once again a top contender in the league, and the Academy team made it through the minor league as the Challenger champion.

When the Milwaukee Bucks ownership group announced the acquisition of C9 Academy and its rebranding as the bright gold-and-white FlyQuest, the only man capable of piloting the aircraft, one without the luxury of high-priced imports to steer it, was clear. Hai decided to return alongside Balls, LemonNation, starting AD Carry Johnny "Altec" Ru and new jungler Galen "Moon" Holgate, as Contractz moved to the main C9 team following the end of the 2016 season.

Hai "Hai" Lam and his FlyQuest squad shocked Counter Logic Gaming in the North American League of Legends Championship Series quarterfinals. Next is a matchup against Team SoloMid. Provided by Riot Games

Both the former and the current C9 teams jumped out to quick starts to begin the season, the two conjuring up dreams of an all-Cloud9 final come the playoffs in Vancouver. When the two teams faced for the first time in the regular season during the fourth week of play, neither disappointed. The series went all the way to three games before Jensen ultimately bested Hai and led his team to an important match win.

After losing to Jensen and Cloud9 for a second time later in the season, Hai wants to get his revenge on the best stage possible: the NA LCS Finals.

"If it got to happen, it'd be super exciting, just because of a sense of vindication," he said. "We're not on the team anymore, and they're still a really good team, so I want to show them that we're still a really good team as well. To be able to beat Jensen, [Zachary] 'Sneaky' [Scuderi], and Jack 'Jack' [Etienne], it would mean a lot, because I've been with Jack for so long, been with Sneaky for so long, and Jensen was the person who replaced me. So for me to take him down, it would be great."

The only way it can happen is if FlyQuest can first pull off another massive upset in the semifinals, this time against No. 1 Team SoloMid. Not only will it be a matchup against the regular-season champions and the defending league champion, FlyQuest will be fighting against history: In eight seasons of the NA LCS, TSM has never failed to make it to the final.

"To me, I'm still a regular person. I play a game I happen to be good at, and then people idolize me, saying I'm their role model, and I think that's amazing. I hope I can live up to [their] expectations of what they want me to be as a player, individual, and as a leader." Hai "Hai" Lam

Hai and FlyQuest will have to break the streak, or they'll simply go down as No. 9 in the ever-growing list of semifinal victims for North America's most-prized organization.

The most-prized player on that team, TSM mid laner Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg, will be matched up against Hai for the entire semifinal.

"If I had it my way, I would prefer not to play him, but I can't do anything about that," he said, discussing his longtime mid lane rival and three-time league MVP. "I want to show he's not the best, at least in some categories. Everyone says he's the best all-around mid laner completely, and I want to prove that wrong. Every mid laner has their strengths -- I think he's very good with his micro play -- but I think I can outsmart him and make better plays for the team. But we'll see if I can do that."

On the other side of the bracket, the new generation of C9 sits in a battle against zero-to-hero organization Phoenix1, which went from being 0-9 in the middle of the past season to now being one win away from making the finals of the league.

Hai thinks the key in that matchup is another character in the ongoing war of current and former C9 members across the league: The starting jungler on C9's two championship-winning teams and current Phoenix1 jungler, William "Meteos" Hartman. He and Rami "Inori" Charagh compete for starts at the position.

"I think if they use Inori, [P1] will lose," Hai said, "but I think if they play Meteos, they'll win. If they take one game with Meteos, it'll be in their head, you know. It should be a really close match. I expect P1 to win, but if I beat TSM, then I want C9 to win, and if I lose to TSM, I want C9 to lose so I can play them."

A FlyQuest NA LCS title would be the most improbable playoff run in league history, but the team's already thrown a dash of unexpected into the bracket. Hai and his team shook off that 22-1 Game One loss in the quarterfinals and reverse-swept a former regional champion in CLG. Now, it has to knock off perennial finalists TSM and Bjergsen, along with league MVP candidate Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell in the top line.

After all that, FlyQuest would still need to beat Cloud9 or take down P1 and Meteos, a friend and former teammate.

All of this without a single import on the team. FlyQuest is the only team in the league without a foreign in the lineup. The team has no full-time analysts. It didn't even have a team house for the first few weeks of the season.

"I want to show he's not the best, at least in some categories. Everyone says he's the best all-around mid laner completely, and I want to prove that wrong." Hai "Hai" Lam on Team SoloMid's ‎Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg

The plane Hai is piloting is rickety -- only kept above the clouds for now through sheer will, determination and a bit of luck on his team's side. If he could make the NA LCS finals and put an end to the longest finalist streak in pro League of Legends history, it would be his greatest accomplishment as a player.

"To the people who've been [with me] through thick and thin, that's f---ing great," he said. "People who are personally fans of me, it's great. To me, I'm still a regular person. I play a game I happen to be good at, and then people idolize me, saying I'm their role model, and I think that's amazing.

"I hope I can live up to [their] expectations of what they want me to be as a player, individual and as a leader."

On Sunday, those high expectations will be pitted against Bjergsen and Team SoloMid. The forecast isn't the best -- the FlyQuest aircraft already running on fumes after the CLG series -- but it won't be the first time Hai has been at a disadvantage going into a big matchup.

If he has it his way, it certainly won't be the last.