FlyQuest earns their rematch date with Cloud9 in the LCS Summer Championship after dispatching the former summer champions 3-1. It was a series to remember for NRG, with some harsh words from one of the FLY players following the series. Here’s everything that went down in the first round of the LCS Summer Playoffs between FlyQuest and NRG.

How FlyQuest took down NRG

There wasn’t much anticipation leading into this first-round match in the playoffs. Many had counted NRG out before stepping back onto Summoners Rift. This isn’t the same team that took the world by storm as they stomped G2 Esports into the ground at Worlds, even if four out of five players are the same.

For FlyQuest, many were looking at them in the context of their expected rematch against Cloud9, who dispatched them 2-0 in the final week of the regular season.

FlyQuest got the better of NRG in the end with a 3-1 victory. NRG did put up a stellar performance in game two, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tides and cause what would’ve been an upset victory. Although the series had concluded, the roasting of NRG had not. Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau took to X to flame fellow top laner Niship “Dhokla” Doshi.

The FLY top laner was not impressed with how Dhokla played Rumble in their series, and he told him about it. It’s uncertain why Bwipo lashed out at Dhokla post-series, but it does fall in line with the LCS’s talk about the split theme they had for the 2024 summer split. Dhokla has yet to respond to Bwipo’s roast but check back on this article in the future to see when he does. Perhaps this is a way of Bwipo boosting up his own confidence as he prepares to right the wrongs of the Cloud9 series, where he had a particularly poor showing, especially in game two on Nautilus in what was considered a free win for FlyQuest.

Closely contested in the first two games

Game one was about as good as it could’ve gotten from the FlyQuest perspective. FLY initiated a lane swap and garnered over a 2k gold lead very early. Against the likes of Cloud9 and Team Liquid, the teams are fairly equal regarding the lane swaps, but against lesser quality opponents, they don’t stand a chance against the top three. The game was rather comfortable for FlyQuest, they didn’t make many mistakes and was eventually able to close out the game.

It could’ve been cleaner, but perhaps this team is under pressure. This was not in the sense of facing NRG, but during the summer split, the team made many mistakes during the mid-to-late game, which cost them. This was the case also in game two against Cloud9.

Game two saw NRG fight back, and in a big way, the question was always, will this team keep their lead or eventually throw? This was echoed by the casters in game two for good reason. NRG has had a terrible 2024, and even if they were once an incredible team, they weren’t the same, and the throw was always on the cards. There were some suspect moments in the game, but NRG was able to remain firm and close out the game to tie the series up at 1-1.

Agony for NRG

Game three was one-sided, with the biggest surprise probably being Bwipo bringing out Darius. FlyQuest was in control from start to finish and looked poised to wrap up the series convincingly. Quad continues to prove an excellent addition to the FLY roster with another impressive performance, this time on Azir. The fourth and final game was rather heartbreaking for NRG, who were at one point in a considerable lead. The game turned on its head around the twenty-minute mark.

FLY was able to win a fight pretty comfortably, and NRG lost control of the game entirely. FLY closed out the game and ended NRG’s upper-bracket run at the first hurdle.

NRG will now take on Dignitas in the lower bracket, while FLY has a date in the books with Cloud9. FlyQuest will have to play a lot better than they did today if they are to book their ticket to Worlds at the weekend. For NRG, it wasn’t a horrendous showing, and they have a good chance of taking down a bruised Dignitas following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of 100 Thieves.