Busio takes pride in FlyQuest’s performance at Worlds 2024 despite losing to Gen.G

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Dexerto sat with FlyQuest support Busio right after his team dropped out of Worlds 2024 in what was almost a massive win for a team everyone except FlyQuest themselves doubted.

It was hard not to root for FlyQuest when they were up 2-1 in the series, on the cusp of pulling off a win against one of the best LoL teams ever devised. Gen.G put together a group of the best players in the world with the intention of winning it all, and a team from a “dying” region almost took them out.

It was so close.

Their set against Gen.G felt like it existed in isolation, if only for a few games. A small moment where regional rivalries and team allegiances were set aside as everyone watching realized they were witnessing a match that would go down in history.

And, sure, FlyQuest didn’t quite make the miracle run at Worlds 2024. They fell at the last hurdle, but in a match where most people didn’t expect them to take a single game.

Despite this result, Busio was in good spirits when he sat with us. He was proud of what his team had accomplished, with him and the rest of FlyQuest playing their hearts out in a last hurrah for the LCS as we know it.

FlyQuest Busio leaves Worlds 2024 with his head held high

Let’s start with the Game 5 Baron call? Do you regret trying to make a big play and going for something that could really open the game up instead of playing safe?

No. I mean, we have no regrets there. We would do it again. The situation was good, you know? Me and Quad were contesting Drake, and we had a pretty fast and healthy Baron. We definitely caught them by surprise.

FlyQuest had to face Gen.G, a team that has dominated Korea for most of the year.

You know, the game was also not in the best position. We had Kalista into Ziggs and we were losing objectives. It was pretty hard to play in terms of… they just slowly progressed. We needed to force fights by either starting objectives or finding something creative, and that seems like a pretty good situation to start an objective. So… It happens.

Do you feel like a lot of the reason teams fail internationally is because of being too afraid to try and make something happen in games?

Yeah, but that’s, like, all teams. When they play on stage, they play more scared than scrims, or just more reserved because they want to take less risk. But it’s all about balance, you know? You don’t wanna also be on the opposite side of the spectrum, take too many risks, play crazy.

But, what I do think is a big problem for teams is being too afraid to lose. If you’re too afraid to lose, then you’re not gonna take an 80% opportunity because you’re waiting for 95% or 100% because you’re too calculated or too safe. Teams that are willing to lose make more aggressive plays, take more space, and have an easier time playing the game than teams that are afraid to lose.

Regardless of the result, Worlds has been a very different look from MSI for you guys. Clearly some big improvements. I mean, do you think that’s at the core of where FlyQuest improved, being bold enough to take risks and do things teams aren’t willing to?

Hmm… I wouldn’t say so. I mean, I feel like we are a more calculated team, a very safe team. We just improved as a team, you know? We had good meta reads, and we had good strats with the swaps and, you know, creative picks. And, I think we also had really good teamfighting, everyone knew their job and role in different scenarios. I don’t think it’s that we were just like… I mean, we were playing with less pressure than Gen.G, of course, but I don’t think we played wild, you know?

Bwipo always plays wild. That’s just how Bwipo plays. That’s how he makes so much space. And that has nothing to do with the opponent, or it being Worlds or something, but that is one of those big strengths. He doesn’t need the perfect moment to make something happen. He will just make it happen.

Bwipo left the stage smiling and waving to fans but was in tears backstage after the loss

Yeah, I had a wonderful conversation with Bwipo about his mental health and improving as a player, and I wanted to point to him, you know, really finding his identity as a player. I think that’s something you’ve done, too. Remembering back to 100 Thieves where you were playing, like, Azir support. I was like, ‘What is Busio cooking?’ But, I mean, you look great now on engage. What do you think is the biggest place you’ve grown as a player since joining the LCS?

I mean, I’ve grown in so many ways. It’s been a long year, many games, many internationals, many scrims, so I’ve grown in all aspects of gameplay and also just how I mentally see the game. How I feel about the game. There’s still so much room to grow. But, one of the biggest things is, as you understand the game more and more, you know what’s important, you know what’s not. That also allows you to, like—when your teammates are telling you to do something, I know to say no.

One of my bad habits is, when someone tells me to do something, I just, like, do it, you know? And then I int. Because, for an angle to be good, the person doing it has to see it. So, a big thing I’ve been doing, especially when I’m playing Rakan, like, sometimes people are telling me to go in, I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, just let the carries hit first.’ And once the fight starts brewing, then I’ll go.

If you understand how the team fight’s gonna break out, especially with many of the comps we had today, then it just makes everyone’s job easier. We don’t need to fish for an engage. It just feels more natural, the fights are easier to play out, and that’s because it starts with the understanding of how the team fight should be played. Then that gives me the ability to say, ‘No, I don’t want to do this. Let’s fight like this,’ you know? And that was a big growth spot for me.

Man, you seem like you’re in a good mood. I mean, what were your expectations coming into the series? Are you proud of having brought it to game 5 even if you didn’t win?

This is the best way to lose. There’s no better way to lose than game five, almost winning it against one of the best teams in the world. But, at the same time, I’m very sad. I wish we won. It’d be so nice to be in the Semifinals, to show that we could beat an Eastern team and face T1 next. That’d be great. I’m very sad we lost, but this is one of my happiest losses.

Busio alongside Massu FlyQuest Worlds 2024

Busio alongside ADC Massu

That’s a good way to think about it. I mean, there’s nothing we can do about it now, there’s always next year.

Yeah, it’s impossible to be happy after a loss, but you can be less sad than after other losses.

Do you think Gen.G is a frontrunner for Worlds at this point? Like, did you go in thinking you might be facing the best team in the World?

Yep.

Yeah…

I think they’re potentially the best team in the world. I’ll say T1 looked pretty insane against Top Esports, they’re on form. I don’t know about BLG, I’m not sure. T1 just has hype and a narrative right now, you know? It’s T1 at Worlds. They were full asleep and now they’re, like, absolutely smurfing.

It’s hard to say which is the best team in the world, but Gen.G easily could be.

Do you feel like North America is really that far behind the rest of the world at this point? I mean, people love to give us s**t, but you’ve clearly proven that we can play against the best.

On average? Yes.

But I think, when a team, all five players, are locked in and they know what’s going on, they’re confident in playing, then it’s just a normal game of League of Legends. It’s anyone’s game, as we showed today. But, in general, obviously the East is stronger. They have better practice, they have more players, better solo queue servers. They must be better in some regards.

Busio celebrating FlyQuest’s LCS win with his team

But, at the same time, we have some advantages. Like, we’re a bit more open-minded in draft, we get a big advantage there. And we used that advantage this tournament. You just need to even things out and then it’s anyone’s game.

I noticed that FlyQuest went immediately back to VoD review after the game even though the season’s over. What’s the biggest thing you try to learn with your team after a loss like this?

I mean, even if you lose, like, if you’re gonna keep playing next year, there’s always something to learn. And you learn the most in a series like this, you know? It’s the highest level of competition we played at all year, probably. So, you’re really pushing yourself, and that’s when you can learn the most. It’s really good to rewatch these games and see what we can do better.

Picture, five years from now, you look back on 2024. What do you think is the biggest thing you’ll remember?

Winning the LCS championship. Just… winning. I’d never gotten first place in my career. Never in academy, never in the LCS, never in an international. So… winning. Winning probably felt the best.

But, this Worlds tournament is going to be memorable. Two super close series against great Korean teams. This arena today was super cool. It was completely packed, the noise was unreal. Hearing yelling through my teammates mics, I couldn’t even hear what my coach was saying in draft.

It’s an amazing experience, and I just hope to win in an arena like this soon.

Note: This interview has been edited for content and brevity

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