MSI 2025 Blog: 7/2 (FLY vs AL), 7/3 (MKOI vs BLG, T1 vs CFO)
Note: I wrote this day’s blog on the night of 7/2, but I didn’t post till now because I was on my phone and couldn’t embed tweets… So I’m combining it with my 7/3 blog. Enjoy!
The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational is in Vancouver, Canada, approx a 3 hr drive from where I live, so it’s time for more blogs! I’ll try my best to keep these blogs 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.
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.
Why was sketching in the car a total vibe…
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.
A scuffed picture of the 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.
I could hardly see the game with this view but hey I could see Inspired pretty well
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 my lovely friend Daysie found me, what’s funny is I didn’t know what she looked like so I had zero reaction when she walked up until she said “I’m Daysie.” 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.
Yay, a white man photocard
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. 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 lolesports 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.
a picture with emily rand and daysie!!
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 last 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.
7/3 Blog: MKOI vs BLG, Meeting Jojopyun, T1 vs CFO
So if you follow my twt i guess you already know today’s been a HUGE day.
i got up a little before 10 am and started getting ready. I had a plan in mind: draw the MKOI logo real quick and tape it onto my “EG” Jojopyun jersey to cover up the logo. Sorry, not sorry. Also I wore a hood under my jersey, in honor of the classic jojopyun style. Gotta rep my fave well.
I didn't have time to make a sign in advance, so I brought my markers and the Jojopyun picket fan. I made this fan a few months back when hanging out with my irl friends around valentines, one of my friends bought these fans and we tried coloring on them with copic markers, which was super fun! I thought about being able to hold this up at an esports event someday, so I decided to draw Jojo! And it turned out that he made it to msi so I get to debut the fan!
This time I wasn't late, I was barely on time. I was sitting with daysie farther back than yesterday. We were fortunately on the mkoi side, the left, and I managed to get a video of the mkoi walkout!
As for game 1, it was rough. The boys were fighting hard, but it wasn't enough, they just seemed a few paces behind BLG. I was sad because they got a lot of good champs like Yone Maokai Varus, but they still lost.
I was honestly wishing that there were more mkoi fans here because it would have been so fun to be able to do the chants they usually do at LEC! I kept yelling “SUUU-PA SUUU-PA” on my own and feeling crazy😭. I know it's really far though for most of the fans though to travel to Vancouver.
During the time between game 1 and 2, I grabbed one of the sign papers from outside and started quickly drawing jojo on the left, while referencing a pic from flickr today (mirrored).
And omg, Game 2 was THE BEST ONE and i would like to live in that game forever. Jojo was frying on Azir. Supa was on Kai’sa, my favorite adc and a champ I love seeing him play. They were all doing so well and I screamed my head off.
Toward the end of game 2, my phone data suddenly stopped working. It came back after maybe 30 minutes. But that time was crazy, i was like, they’re silencing me i wanted to freak out! (Fyi there is no wifi in the venue as the ticket email says so if you're coming in the next week remember that!)
In the second draft though I had my ‘we missed you jojopyun’ sign featured on broadcast :D people seemed to like that one and it got posted to lolesports twitter!
And it turns out a Rioter, aripanda, sent me a message! They informed me that MKOI had approved Jojo to sign my sign after the games! And that meeting him would depend on how he was feeling after the games. Then i really started to freak out, like, at the possibility of meeting him at all. I didn't know it was even possible today, so I didn't even bring all the stuff I intended to gift to him. I scrounged together what I had- 4 of the shiny rainbow holographic jojopyun champ cards! (Sylas, Teemo, Ahri, Yone…) And about 2 of every sticker I have of him. And I put them in a small bag.
Raz said I could meet him after any analyst desk segment, so I went over after game 2 and gave him a bunch of FLY and Jojo stickers. Raz is awesome and mega chill like always. He asked how I’m doing and I said super great after that game 2. I don’t remember what else we talked about but it was a decent amount. He said he loved me putting an MKOI logo over the EG logo on my jersey. We got a pic too.
I went out to grab something to eat as I was getting hungry, it was maybe approaching 3pm. I tried out the venue’s nachos and they were pretty solid. This photo is maybe unflattering cuz I took it after we already ate a bunch.
Anyway Game 4, gosh i don’t even wanna remember it. The game looked so winnable, it looked like we would surely go to game 5. Myrwn had a champ he’s good at (Ambessa), Jojo was doing pretty well as Ryze. Supa was fed. Etc.
Then suddenly we did a soul for baron trade which would be fine but Myrwn got caught?? And then Jojo was zoned off from recalling and returning to base by ON. So BLG went for a massive ending push with baron and actually succeeded. I was dumbfounded. I was depression mode. I couldn't believe it just ended like that after we were leading for most of the game and had gotten dragon soul.
I knew the Riot staff would come get me soon so I went toward the front near the staff entrance. They led me inside and the press room area was like right there. And right there was Jojopyun sitting on a chair looking at his phone or something. The Rioter got his attention, saying “hi Jojo, I have Elaine here.” At this moment the words in my head left and I was lowkey blanking.
I immediately started saying “that was so sad, that last game dude,” since that’s what was on my mind I guess.
“Yeah, we could have won,” Jojo said, sounding dejected and drained of energy. “I can sign this.”
As I was completely fumbling trying to take my marker out, the Rioter said she would grab the social team and led us to one of the press booths up front so that we could have a backdrop. I could legit see a BLG player doing an interview across and diagonal from us. Wild.
“But I’m really glad you made it to Canada,” I told Jojo.
“Yeah,” he said, speaking quietly and like there was a lot weighing on his mind. “I sign this, right?”
“Yeah, you can sign both.”
“I’ll sign both.”
He signed both signs with my black marker while i tried to think about when would be a good time to hand him my gifts. The Rioter then said we can take a picture and we did!
When about to pose for the photo, he started smiling, and I’d like to believe it was genuine… it didn’t look fake, though I wouldn’t ever blame him if he faked it because… it must have been a really tough moment right after the loss.
And right then as the staff was positioning my phone for the photo, Jojo said a bit lightly, “I mean I’m sorry I just lost but...”
“No you’re- no you’re good it’s fine!”
“Thank you,” Jojo said, I think to the staff, so politely.
I was stumbling over my words here, but I quickly said to him, “I didn’t know I was gonna get to meet you, but I have some stuff for you…”
“Oh sh*t,” he said, clearly not expecting it as I handed him the bag of goodies.
“I’m gonna have more stuff tomorrow, I didn’t bring it ‘cause I didn’t even know I was gonna get to meet you,” I explained.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Thank you so much!”
“Yeah, of course!”
And this was all over in less than two minutes- of course I shouldn't take up too much of his time, so that was good. On my way out, I realized all of the MKOI players were in the initial waiting area… in hindsight, I should have said good luck, but I literally ducked my head and started running out like I felt like I shouldn’t be there since it was backstage 😭😭. It was more weird for example seeing Alvaro existing in real life than Jojo because I’ve already seen Jojo before, but I’ve never seen any of these EU players and they always felt so far away from me.
I want to extend another huge thank you and shoutout to Jojo for meeting up like this even though he just suffered a brutal loss. He absolutely made the highlight of my day. Thanks as well to Riot and MKOI for setting it up!! You’ll bounce back Jojo!!
(This even got posted on lta north account which is crazy to me, i am glad jojopyun is still loved by north america)
I returned to my seat and it was time for T1 vs CFO soon. We swapped seats with the friends of the guy on my right so they could sit together.
After the game 1 draft of the 2nd series, Laure said we could meet up in front of the analyst desk (same situation as raz and emily from before)! She came down and greeted me. She was amazing, absolutely a gem and so kind! I gave her a bunch of MKOI stickers which she said she’ll put on her ipad, and i brought one of the MKOI championship posters to give her too! Shaky selfie, pardon me…
I basically zoned out for all of game 1 and 2. I was still mentally processing what just happened, and still sad over that MKOI loss. I can tell you that T1 fans were super loud though, especially when good plays happened it got SO loud, I’m certain louder than anything I heard the first series. By game 3, i was starting to pay some attention to the screen. It was wild, CFO wound up leading 2-1 in the series and their ADC got a pentakill on Caitlyn that game. Their mid laner HongQ is super young, he turned 18 two days ago and he brought out some less common picks like Swain mid which was interesting to witness.
Daysie is a t1 fan so without any personal stakes in the teams, I was rooting for t1. So i was hoping they would bring it back so she could watch a t1win on her birthday.
I am writing this in the middle of game 4 just to be efficient with time. Currently, i feel pretty sleepy. Like I keep yawning at random points😭. It’s been a long day for sure.
T1 is thankfully in a winning position this game overall, but I would say they look pretty messy. I’m no analyst so I’m not sure where these two teams rank in comparison to others, but they feel kinda close to each other in skill level this series?
And they just lost a teamfight 1 for 5, which is insane considering they were up a lot of gold at this point in time.
Update: they just finally won the game and we’re getting game 5. It is 7:22 pm here.
I went out to use the bathroom. At the sinks a girl told me “I like your jersey!” I said thanks and asked if shes a jojo or mkoi fan ad we were walking out of the bathroom.
“Yeah! I mean, look at my boyfriend’s jersey!” She pointed the guy out, he was standing nearby. He had the exact same jersey as me, EG 2023. Apparently he's a big jojo fan.
I asked if they wanted stickers, she gasped and was like, “You have jojo stickers??” And the guy said he recognized my art style. I gave them 3 of the jojo stickers. They really loved it.
“Oh, do you have Vulcan?” The guy suddenly piped up. “She loves Vulcan!”
I apologized saying I don't have Vulcan at the moment but i did back for 22 worlds. And that I'm also a Vulcan fan!! Now, i am sad I didn't bring more of my extra player champ cards, but she said she’ll be here again so I will try to give her one of the gold foil ltart cards I brought. I did the Vulcan art after all! shoutout #ltartcollab
So we parted ways and I returned to watch game 5.
Update: it is 8:12 pm, T1 just won, faker and guma are being interviewed, daysies life is saved. There is a massive cluster of excited t1 fans crowded at the front of the stage. I am chilling (and sleepy).
An hour later, we have been waiting outside this whole time with other t1 fans, a huge crowd gathered in hopes of cheering for the players as they exit the venue. I’m just chilling here. Daysie met a couple and started chattering with them in Korean, and they invited her to a haidilao reservation they have, and she explained shes with me. They said they have two spots. I said i don’t mind coming and so we have somewhere to eat now!! Which is great cuz we hadn’t decided on a place yet.
This couple is super nice! I was kinda standing behind the line of fans and Daysie pointed at me and explained I’m her friend. “Shes not a t1 fan,” Daysie said.
“It’s okay we wont bite you” the girl, Skylar said. “You don’t have to stand away from us.”
Later the guy, Dan, asks who I am a fan of. CFO?
“No", I said quickly, turning around to show my jersey.
“Ohh jojopyun, my korean boy,” he says approvingly. “MKOI!”
I also showed my sign, my jojopyun fan. He kindly helped hold my stuff (my arm was honestly starting to strain from carrying the stuff) and said the art poster is rly good.
We continue standing around and waiting for the squad. It is super anticlimatic as they merely exit in a shaded black vehicle and cannot be seen through the windows. Everyone disperses.
We go for hotpot together. A bunch of other T1 fans are spotted in the restaurant (based on jerseys) including one of the haidilao staff lol. Like when leading us to our table he went “T1 number 1!”
It was truly delicious and not even too expensive because of the late night discount and the canadian currency difference. We spent the whole time yapping about lolesports mostly. It was awesome. It is hard for me to type more now because it is late at night, but we really talked a lot and had a great time even though we legit only met them that same night. I really felt touched and moved. At how beautiful the lolesports community can be in times like this. The 4 of us all residing in NA but repping different regions (I am the LCS/ LTA North fan, Daysie the LEC fan with a side of T1, the couple being mainly T1/LCK fans), and still able to converse so wholesomely over basically the shared love of the game.
In fact, Dan has been watching T1 ever since starcraft days, so 20 years he said. He legit watched Faker win his first worlds live and is still watching. How crazy is that?? Skylar wasn't into LoL before meeting him but she’s a T1 fan now and their relationship is so sweet.
It’s Daysie’s birthday and it’s fun to have a bday at haidilao because they sing for you at the end. We even got bday ice cream! What a treat this has all been. We exchanged ig with them so we can stay in touch a little.
I am so happy that daysie wound up having a great birthday.
And now, I am super tired again, wow. Today i wanted to get more sleep than the past two days, but then the whole hotpot thing happened and i only got back after midnight. but hopefully I can still have enough energy for tomorrow which I will surely need for FLY vs G2. Please, please tell me that tomorrow I can witness one of my teams win :( please, please flyquest, I beg.
