After not playing a single post-season match in 2021, FlyQuest have qualified for the 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs.

FlyQuest qualified at the same time as Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians as all three teams finished the Spring Split with a record of 9-9, but as a result of Tiebreakers, FLY settled for the 5th seed.

This means that next weekend, FLY will play the loser of 1st seed Team Liquid and 4th seed Evil Geniuses — who play this weekend — in a lower bracket elimination series.

After the conclusion of the 2022 LCS Spring Split and subsequent tiebreakers, FlyQuest jungler Brandon Joel "Josedeodo" Villegas spoke to Inven Global about qualifying for the post-season for the first time in his LCS career, developing synergy with mid laner Loïc "toucouille" Dubois, and the importance of support Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black in FlyQuest's success.

You have qualified for playoffs for the first time since you joined FlyQuest. How are you feeling?

I feel good about getting to playoffs, but I don't feel like it was the best for us because we expected to finish in 4th. We would have been 4th with one more win today, but obviously I'm still happy that we made it to playoffs. It's a much better result than our results last year. It showed that we improved in certain ways.

This has been your best split in a FlyQuest jersey. Would you agree, or do you think that simply having a stronger team than last year is just allowing you to shine more from an outsider's perspective?

I think it's a combination of both. I think our team is a lot better because aphromoo is a really good component to our team. He makes the game way easier. I also am pretty sure that I have improved because I've been drawing two bans in all of our games, so I think that's really good for us. I'm preparing other stuff right now because I know if I can play other champions at the same level as my Lee Sin and Viego, the opponent won't be able to ban against me.

I think I should be ready in the next two weeks to pick everything. That's what I'm aiming for. We played Volibear today, for example, because I think he's OP, and I'm happy I was able to play well on him today because the weekend before, my Volibear was terrible. *laughs* I've improved a lot, but more than anything, it's because of our team improvement.

FlyQuest has been open about you wanting to play with toucouille before the start of the season and he has been one of the best mid laners in the Spring Split. How has it been developing synergy with him? Do you think his level of play has helped you showcase a better level of play as well?

The way we solve problems now is a lot easier to reach after games. For example, when we finish a scrim, we talk about what we've improved on and what we still have to improve on, you know? Last year, it was like we lost...and that was it. Nothing. We didn't learn anything in scrims or on stage, so more than anything, it was frustrating.

As a duo, toucouille and I are improving because we tell each other what we think the other should be doing, and it's the same thing with aphromoo. For example, this past week in practice, we were focusing a lot on fights. It didn't show in this loss against EG, but I do think it showed in the other two games this week. I'm happy that we tried to send it and fight even in our loss, and I think that's really important coming into playoffs in the next two weeks.

It sounds like this version of FlyQuest communicates much better with each other than last year's roster. What role would you say you have in the team in terms of communication, whether it be on or off the rift?

My role in game is saying every objective that we can play for how we adapt to those situations. I'm more likely to pose it as a question, and then if everyone wants to do it, they will follow. Sometimes, I will make the call without giving options, I'll just say, 'We will do this' and that's it. However, the other times, I'll ask, 'Yo, can we do this without losing anything?' etc.

Outside of the game, I've been learning a lot on how to solve problems. Last year, I was really bad at pointing out people's mistakes, including my own. We would lose the game, and I could see things that would happen that would contribute to our loss, but I wouldn't tell the person.

What changed for me this year is that I trust my teammates on everything they do and I tell them what I think we should do or try. For example, after we just lost to EG, I told toucouille that I played a lot of fights really bad and that if I played things slower, we could have won, which was a mistake I made.

Do you think that your experience in playing in the LCS last year put you in a position to be more comfortable and improve individually this year?

This year has been a lot better for me than last year. I wasn't as good at saying things last year because in my home region nobody cares if you do something wrong or says sorry if they do something wrong. In LCS, if you do that, you apologize and admit that you failed.

In terms of expressing my feelings, I didn't want to sound rude because I was lacking some of the right words. I know a lot more about how to express myself here now and that makes it easier to communicate with my team. I try to use kind words instead of saying something like, 'Yo, you're inting lane.' *laughs* I don't want to sound like that.

Thanks for the interview, Josedeodo. Is there anything you want to say to the FlyQuest fans before your first match of the 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs?

Thanks everyone! I know these weeks have been crazy. *laughs* We'll lose all of our games, then beat TL and C9, then lose to EG in 20 minutes. We've just got to work on our consistency. I'm really happy that FlyQuest fans are happy that we're in playoffs. They always cheer for us, make memes — they're ready for anything and everything. I'm really excited for our playoff matches.