MSI 2025 Blog: 7/2 (FLY vs AL)
The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational is in Vancouver, Canada, approx 3 hr drive from where I live, so it’s time for more blogs! I’ll try my best to keep these going, but I'm sure some of these days will be quite tiring like today (fun but tiring). So don't expect the highest quality writing- this will probably be more like journaling to preserve the memories.
Overall, my family drove up and we’re making this a family trip, so on some of the days in the middle I won’t be at MSI but i’ll be going around with my family. I have tickets for 2-5 and 10-12, and possibly 9 depending on if I want to watch the matchup. I’m excited about this week’s matches since I get to watch FLY and MKOI twice. I didn’t originally have a 7/5 ticket but I just got one today from oomf who happened to have an extra, which was awesome! I’m stoked to watch MKOI twice!!
FlyQuest players as iconic champions from this year
I have also been absolutely grinding out the past few days because of a really tight schedule. I had some irl obligations too, but I really wanted to finish drawing all of flyquest. It was just taking longer than I would have liked. I am proud of the outcome though. My favorite is of course Inspired not just because he is my favorite player, but also because my favorite champ is in fact Kha’Zix which I never thought he would bring out on stage.
I spent a really long time on Bwipo’s because I couldn't get myself satisfied with it for a long time. Then everything sped up from there. I felt my brain expanding even as I was genuinely losing it from drawing these all in less time than I normally would, and all back to back with barely any downtime in between. Kacper took me like 2 days, but then Quad was like 1 day. And I legit speedran the bot lane in the span of a day.
In between working on these, I was printing out my freebie stickers and preparing gifts for various friends and pro players… I was doing so much I hardly had time to really plan out things like where I should eat and places to visit. So I probably should do some of that in the coming days. It’s not our first time in Vancouver but it is for many people. So I definitely wanna hang out with friends who are coming.
Whew…
I got last second tickets to today’s match thanks to oomf. They offered me a below face value front row seat, and although it is hard to see the screens from the front row I thought this might be a one time opportunity. I figured I can see the players up close just like at the LCS studio before but it must be a different vibe in a big arena.
So as I said, I got up at 8:30 am, finished packing the last of my stuff, and printed out my flyquest players as champions art at home after fighting my printer alignment.
Also can I just add that the jojo and inspired jersey swap dropped while I was eating breakfast and I was completely losing it… that’s my two favorite players. Even though I love their current mid-jungle relationships respectively (Jojo/elyoya and quad/inspired!!), I miss them so much as a duo. But it makes me really happy that they’re still good friends.
https://x.com/flyquest/status/1940462998017257879?s=46
I put on my Flyquest 2024 MSI Inspired jersey and left around 11:30am. I hardly had time to work on a new fan sign for this day, so I brought some of my old Inspired signs (which I didnt end up showing anyway) and I decided to make a ‘quick’ new one for all of FlyQuest. I was determined to make this, even if the timing seemed impossible. I simply started sketching in the car, which turned out better than I thought it would.
We entered Canada and had lunch somewhere halfway. Back in the car, I saw we had 30 minutes to the airbnb. I said screw it and got out the paint markers. I started outlining the clothes because I was less concerned about messing up there. My mom was in the backseat like ‘I can't believe you did all this in the car’ and tbh I can’t either.
We got to the airbnb. I sit down at the kitchen table and start outlining the faces like a madman, staining the entire right side of my hand with markers in the process. I was lowkey panicked when I smudged a significant amount on Busio’s face but then I got the idea of just placing a sticker there. So that saved it a bit. I wish I could have done better but I was really rushing this sign.
And yeah this is lowkey why I was late to the game… I really wanted to finish the sign, but in hindsight I should have just finished it in the venue. But it's really hard for me to focus on multiple things at a time like that, so. But i’m gonna call it worth cuz it turned out nice overall (given the constraints). I especially love how Quad and Inspired turned out and well, I mean, they are my favorites on this roster… (i truly love them all but biases exist!)
Coming in, I'm super nervous for flyquest because we're against the first seed of China, ‘Anyone’s Legend’. As an NA fan, I am already bracing myself for the worst possible outcome ever since the bracket was confirmed. It's not that I don't believe in fly but come on, I was present at Worlds 2022 group stage. I'm used to this mess.
My friends are messaging me in the car that the game is going bad so I brace myself. Well I finally get into the venue, and as I’m running to my seat I immediately see FLY winning a team fight, and I start screaming as I sit down and set all my signs on the floor haphazardly. Wow, the game screen view was really scuffed from this angle, I had to tilt my head and I could barely see it. But at least I was in the perfect spot to see Inspired and Quad’s faces. They're still kinda far away but you can definitely see them. That felt a bit like when I went to LCS, but cooler.
After the game ended in a massive dub, the two guys on my left asked me if I drew the sign and I said yes and asked if they wanted the stickers/ they both picked Busio. They were really nice so it was nice to meet them and talk a bit.
Then Daysie found me. She led me out to buy water since you can't bring bottles in. Outside the seats area, where a bunch of people were milling around, I immediately noticed Mihir. So like a complete goofball I yell ‘lolmihir’ and waved at him. I knew he wanted stickers, so I gave him Jojo red panda (which he was like ‘is this jojo cat’ and asked for it) and I Don't even remember the other one I gave him and I don't want to say something wrong sorry. I got a bottle of water for 5 canadian dollars. When we returned, we saw Basil in that same area as well. Basil gave me a signed Inspired pc and Daysie a Quad pc; I gave her Busio stickers.
I wish I took a picture, but Basil offered me the choice of one of two inspired photocards, and Daysie goes “I thought these were the exact same.” The literal only difference is that in one of them he was doing a thumbs up and in the other he was pointing. Oh, this jungler…
In comparison Quad’s photocards were SO CUTE!!
Daysie was also sitting next to a guy with an MKOI jersey who apparently flew in all the way from Spain, so I gave him a whole set of MKOI animal stickers because I respect that.
Other than that, I didn't try super hard to ask people around me if they wanted stickers because the tiredness was really hitting honestly. I’ll probably try more in future days just to spread the love.
Game 2 was a total flop and it's only a blur in my head now. After game 2, three people found me for stickers. And, Kai and alkbattery showed up, cuz Kai had recommended a local place to print my mkoi posters and he offered to pick them up for me. They’re actually super nice!! I’m going to be trying to give them to the team. I may also see about giving some to friends throughout msi and maybe to mkoi fans if i see people with jerseys??
Daysie also came to sit next to me in the front row because there had been nobody on the seat to my right the entire time. She flagged down the cameraman who was walking along the front and requested if my sign could be shown. He said absolutely and that it was great. He also said I drew them prettier than they actually are.
“So are you saying they aren't pretty?” Daysie asked.
“Yes,” he said bluntly, with a smile though so you know it’s lighthearted.
I laughed, knowing that I do actually think flyquest is one of the best looking teams, but taking it as a compliment anyway.
We’re on flickr!!
The sign was shown on broadcast! Some people behind me asked to see it and complimented it, which felt nice. One guy even asked to take a photo of my sign and I gave him an Inspired sticker.
Game 3 had some moments where it looked winnable at least, but ultimately it was another loss. It was getting scary and sad now, but that's just the esports experience, I’m already super used to it. Being front row was interesting. I noticed Kacper linger at his PC for a long time after the game ended and his teammates already left, staring at something. During games I also could witness him chewing gum in 4k. We also saw Quad stretching at the start of game 4. That's the notable moments for me that I can recall atm.
Between games, me and Daysie walked toward the back and tried to call out to Emily on the analyst desk. I was holding up my FLY sign. She turned and said hi, but the desk is super high up so it was very hard to hear each other at that moment. We did manage to exchange words and have a brief convo while yelling super loud like this-
“Are you having fun?”
“Yeah, but well I just hope FLY brings it back cuz that was looking… the drafts were kinda…”
“The draft was just hard,” I think is what she yelled back at me.
“Yeah, I just hope they lock in.”
“You brought other art right?”
“Yeah, I have stickers but it’s hard to give them to you right now!”
“I hope you can give it to them somehow! It was nice seeing you!” (I think she misheard but the sentiment was sweet.)
On our way back to the front row, I noticed Basil and Mihir, so I said hi again and was like, soo how are we feeling? And she was like, this is horrible, they need to lock in, etc. She is so relatable😭.
Game 4 was ROUGH. Though the home crowd brought the energy all day for sure, which was nice, to hear people around me cheering when FLY made plays. In game 4, a let’s go FlyQuest chant started up twice.
However the LPL fans definitely showed up in force with passion!! When AL won the series, they ran to the front and started filming and screaming with excitement. I felt so awkward just sitting there but well I was already sitting in the front.
After the stage interview, we were about to leave but realized the analysts were coming down from the analyst desk. I wanted to give Emily the FLY stickers so I went over to find her and we talked for a bit. We talked about how unfortunate the game was and she told me I'm NOT crazy for wanting Massu on ADCs instead of Ziggs. And she told me MKOI unironically has a chance to win vs BLG tomorrow.
It’s always great getting to talk to Emily she’s so kind and also so smart and cool!! We got a picture as well together (ty to the guy who offered to take a pic of all of us!)
Me and Daysie then walked to a bakery recommended to us. It was delicious, especially since I had honestly forgotten to eat dinner at a reasonable time, aka probably after game 3 (i started getting hungry during game 4). I will try to remember that going forward😭.
And well, the day was pretty much over after that. I returned to my airbnb and everything’s been a blur. It’s crazy how during the games time kinda seems to fly and I really do struggle with focusing on multiple things at once, like I could barely respond to people on social media / messages. And right now I’m so tired, so I should sleep now, I’m gonna post this blog in the morning cuz I’m writing this on my phone and I realized I can’t embed tweets on my phone. but I really want to make an MKOI sign for tomorrow, I may just work on it when I get there. Now that I’ve learned from today’s experience, I know I can probably just work on it when I’m there and it doesn't necessarily have to be finished before game 1 in a bo5. And then im retiring from making signs (forever) (jk just for a few days cuz im tired)
Despite the losses, I have 3 big highlights of the day: game 1 win, sign on broadcast, and meeting Emily! I’m also just glad to experience this again cuz it has been almost a year since I last got to watch any live lolesports.
I need a win in my system so bad, I’m so tired, I know I’ve said this a million times but I’m just so tired. 😭I’m probably forgetting things that happened today. I still had fun today though and I hope the results go better for my teams in future days.
(Psst it is daysies bday now (7/3) so say hbd if u see this :3)
