Flight Plan: Starting Roster and Community Updates





Hey FlyFam and welcome to the first Flight Plan! This will be our way to provide you with a line of sight into the inner workings of us here at FlyQuest. For those of you who haven’t met me yet, I’m Ryan Edens, CEO of FlyQuest. After a long journey, we are incredibly excited to finally step into Riot Studios and take on the best that North America has to offer. We feel that the roster we constructed this off season, both for the NA LCS and Academy League, gives us the best opportunity to succeed, not just this split, but in the splits to come.

With that said, and before I get into some exciting news I want to share regarding the orgs plans for 2018 and beyond, I wanted to update you on a situation that has arose regarding our starting roster. During a routine visa renewal for one of our players, Song “Fly” Yong-jun , received a RFE from the United States Citizens and Immigration Service. RFE stands for a Request for Additional Evidence, which is essentially a random check by the US Government to insure that the individual has all necessary paperwork to perform the services outlined in their visa application. Because of this, Fly’s visa will be delayed by up to two weeks as USCIS gathers the necessary information to approve him.

Due to this complication, we will be adding Jang “Keane” Lae-young to the starting roster to begin the NA LCS Spring Split. He will take the rift alongside Flame, Anda, WildTurtle and Stunt as we take on EchoFox and TSM. While we sort out Fly’s visa issue, we will be practicing with both Keane and Fly as part of the main roster so we can ensure ongoing cohesion between the players.

How does this affect the Academy team? For Week 1, Keane will be playing in both LCS and Academy games. This is due to the rules of the league set forth by Riot. For Week 2, we will be fielding a substitute for the midlane. The NA LCS Academy League only permits one import slot per team, and we wanted to give Shrimp the ability to hone his skills in this vital time. Because of this, Isaac “Pekin Woof” Marconis will be holding down the midlane as our substitute until we sort out Fly’s visa complications. We felt it was necessary to try and mitigate the changes to both rosters, and we’re confident this is the best play.

While this may seem like a setback, we’ve got an incredible staff in place to mitigate this transition. RapidStar and Robert Yip will be working lock step, as they have been since franchising was announced, to ensure every player is prepared. Their dedication and ability to prepare talent is one of the main reasons we are confident in this temporary solution. Keane is no stranger to the NA LCS stage and we are thrilled to cheer for him, and the rest of the team, as we start this new era. I am personally excited to watch him body Bjergsen on Sunday.

I know that was a lot of information to digest but we wanted to be as transparent with you as possible. But now, it’s time for the good stuff. You may have seen that we’ve recently welcomed two incredible partners to the FLYFAM in Snickers and 5-Hour Energy. We’re extremely excited to have two partners on-board who are committed to adding value to our fans and the community through original content, fan experiences and unique promotions. I think you all can expect big things ahead as these partnerships come to life over the course of the year.

We’re also pleased to announce that throughout the split, we’ll be hosting live viewing parties at different college campuses around the greater Southern California region. These parties will occur on Saturday or Sunday each and every weekend. We wanted to provide you, the fans, with a fun, communal viewing experience where you can enjoy food and drink, earn some FlyQuest swag, and interact with fellow FlyQuest fans while watching our team compete on stage. This will also give FlyQuest the opportunity, as an organization, to interact with the awesome, passionate, people who support us.

Finally, we are extremely excited to announce that our merch store will be going live in the next couple of days. The storefront has been completely overhauled with killer FlyQuest gear that we hope you guys will absolutely love. Be sure to follow us on any of our social channels to stay plugged-in to when that goes live.

There’s a ton of awesome stuff to come and we’re excited to clue you in on all the upgrades happening here at FlyQuest. As we outlined in our letter to all of you at the end of last year, we are committed to bringing you, the FlyQuest Family, exactly what YOU want.

Good luck to all the teams competing in the NA LCS this weekend. But come on, #FLYWIN.

Much love, FlyFam.

Ryan Edens

CEO, FlyQuest Sports