Keeping in line with the classic NA (Near Airport) meme, FlyQuest’s loss at the hands of defending world champs T1 at MSI 2024 was so one-sided that they set a new record for fastest BO3 at an international event.
Considering T1 just won Worlds in 2023, it’s unsurprising that FlyQuest lost to them. LCS teams don’t exactly have a stellar track record against LCK teams, and that definitely hasn’t changed at MSI 2024.
However, the dismantling of FlyQuest was noteworthy for all the wrong reasons: They lost so fast that they speedran their way to the fastest international BO3 set ever.
With a combined game length of just over 45 minutes, they handily beat the previous record set by Golden Guardians just last year at a 48-minute set.
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— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 3, 2024
The first match was where things really went wrong, as is made clear by the look on Bwipo’s face as he was crushed under the pressure of T1’s topside. The match ended at a staggeringly fast 17:31, less than a minute ahead of the infamous MAD Lions match that was also at the hand of T1.
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This was only a minute and a half longer than the fastest BO3 match in international LoL history – T1’s loss to Invictus at MSI 2019 clocking in at 16:01. They haven’t been able to win fast enough to scrub their record on the losing side of history just yet.
FlyQuest had a chance to escape setting a new record if they held out longer in the second match, but it was similarly one-sided and ended at the 27:52 mark. So, while they didn’t have the fastest single-game loss in international history, they did break the record for the whole set.
With a final total time of 45:23, this series was done and dusted and NA set the sort of Near Airport record the region has become infamous for. That said, FlyQuest isn’t out of the event just yet. They’re still in with a chance to qualify for the Bracket Stage if they can beat whichever team gets sent to the lower bracket to face them.
Though FlyQuest was one of North America’s most promising teams this year, they’ve got a long way to go if they want to make a dent in international competition against the world’s best teams.
