FlyQuest Busio: “We just, like, really griefed it. It was pretty bad.”

FlyQuest lost to Team Liquid in game five of their series against the defending LCS champions, and we sat down with support Alan "Busio" Cwalina to talk the series, Fly's lane swaps, the future, and more.

It's a battle of three teams against Team Liquid in the Summer split 2024 playoffs, it feels like. After a 2-3 loss to Team Liquid in the first round, FlyQuest have fallen down to the penultimate loser's bracket position. Over this weekend and next, Cloud9, FlyQuest, and 100 Thieves will slug it out to earn the right to face Team Liquid for the LCS title. We spoke to Busio after FlyQuest's close, but unsuccessful, attempt against Team Liquid in the upper bracket.

Esports.gg We're just coming off of a 3-2 series against Team Liquid, very back-and-forth, very swingy. How are you feeling about the series?

Busio: "I thought both teams weren't playing very good. Like, I think we were making a lot of mistakes, including me, many times. We were lost, and stuff, but Team Liquid also seemed like they weren't playing their best. So it's a really crazy series, there's big leads, throws would happen, so yeah, as you said, a very swingy series."

Do you think that both teams played badly because Team Liquid's or your form has declined, or was this just a bit of a scuffle on the day because the teams are closely matched?

Busio: "For sure I think we'll be more refined the next series we play. Like, we got contested way more in this series. Now, we can see what we need to focus on when we're playing on stage. I'm glad we got to play five games. This series is really good for me to go back and watch. Personally, I feel like I could be doing a lot more, just thinking in the game. TL, also, in the regular season, when they play bad teams, they stomp. When they play a team that's on their level, more mistakes come through. I think the next time that we play them, it's still going to be a banger because the teams are very similar levels, so mistakes will happen."

We saw a pretty unusual lane swap in Game 5 in terms of just in how it played out. Yeon got out with like half second before he was warded, CoreJJ wrapped on your three-man push onto bot turret and cut wave. It felt very chaotic. Is practicing lane swaps into TL something you've been doing, and what went wrong with this one?

Busio: "I mean, I think we hard-griefed the swap. We just, like, really griefed it. It was pretty bad. The Kai'Sa got fed, we didn't even get ahead — it was really bad. It was a disaster, especially for our bot matchup. In terms of preparing for the TL matchup, I think we're also really good at swapping — we just reacted poorly in this Game 5. We will swap when it's good for us, and I don't think swapping is a TL-specific thing for us. It's just part of the game now. Swapping is just part of the game that you need to consider when you're loading into the game, with the champions and all that."

Touching on lane swaps just being part of the game now, I've talked to tons of coaches and players this season about the return of lane swaps. One thing I've noticed is that the reasons and logic behind the swaps change between teams, but almost every team is willing to swap in a way that's been more wide-spread and longer-lasting than the last lane swap meta. Does this lane swap different feel more like people abusing an OP mechanic like at MSI, or is this a wider strategy change? Do you think Riot should try to fix lane swaps, or is it too hard to try and disincentivize them now without just adding snowballing gold elsewhere?

Busio: "I don't know what they should do to remove it because during MSI, the top turret actually took a reasonable amount of damage. So, when you swapped top for bot, you'd actually get plates top, and you wouldn't have to end the swap early. Now, top lane turret doesn't take any damage. It's super hard to take plates. So now, you have to swap back so they don't take your whole tower. I don't know what more they can do because the system is in place, the person on the bottom side of the map gets more plate gold. I don't know how much more Riot can do without scuffing the game in another way."

Unrelated to the split, I've been asking players and coaches their opinions on Fearless Draft as a format, with the addition of the new Fearless Draft international tournament in 2025. What do you think of the format?

Busio: "Fearless Draft, um, I can see it being fun. There will be more variety, more picks. I honestly think the games will be more explosive, more random because a lot of the times, matchups are traded and players are super practiced on the same matchups on the same trades. So as soon as Fearless Draft gets introduced, there's going to be a lot more variety in picks, which means there will be a lot less practice on the picks. It's not worth practicing the matchups if it's just going to be one game, you know? Seems like it could get crazy, but yeah, seems fun."

Any final thoughts to sign off with as you look ahead to playing C9 or 100 Thieves for a chance to get the rematch?

Busio: "Yeah. Just gotta review this series, have a good week of practice. This was a nice warmup, and we're probably going to have to beat C9 again. But who knows. Maybe 100 Thieves will beat C9, but it seems like C9 will have the momentum. So just, yeah, just need to play well in the next two series."

FlyQuest and Busio will play the winner of the Cloud9 vs 100 Thieves matchup next weekend, with the winner of the FlyQuest match facing Team Liquid in the Grand Finals. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more mews and updates.