Interview with the NARLI 2 underdogs

Flyquest: “We always do well under pressure”

July 13, 2018 - 17:19
Rocketeers / Interviews /

With NARLI 2 approaching, we wanted to take a look at one of the bubble teams that managed to qualify for the $50.000 dollar prize pool in Toronto. Flyquest might not be among the favorites, but given their last season they must feel pretty confident. Flyquest made an impressive run through the RLRS and qualified for the RLCS.

NARLI 2 is the perfect playground to get a feeling for the competition that awaits them in RLCS S6. But obviously the three players AyyJayy, Primethunder and Wonder show the world that they deserve that RLCS spot. We reached out to Flyquest and did a group interview.

“I don’t feel like we’re the underdogs”

NARLI 2 is about to begin, and you guys managed to qualify. So, first of: Congratulations on making it into the final stage of the tournament. You defeated teams such as Splyce, Evil Geniuses and Spacestation Gaming. Out of 8 qualified teams, you’re the only one that didn’t play in last season’s RLCS. Do you feel like you’re the underdog because of that?

AyyJayy: I don’t feel like we’re the underdogs, because of our good results, and we always do well under pressure.

Primethunder: This being all of our first seasons in RLCS, people may think we’re going to be an underdog because of that, but I don’t feel like that at all. We have just as good of a chance as any of the other teams in league play.

Wonder: I feel like the only thing making RLCS did, was to put us more on the map. I don’t think any teams feel that we’re underdogs – including myself.

Your last season was quite fantastic. You managed to play your way into the RLCS. Does that give you a lot of confidence going into NARLI 2 or is there perhaps also the danger that you might be overconfident? 

Primethunder: We definitely do have a lot of confidence going into NARLI 2, but I don’t think overconfidence will be a problem, we definitely know that the caliber our opponents are at isn’t going to be an easy one to top.

AyyJayy: I wouldn’t say we’re overconfident either, but making RLCS has definitely helped us out.

Wonder: Yeah, we’re definitely confident, but we keep ourselves level-headed. We know what we’re capable of, but we know we can only show up if we put in the work. Never confident without the work and results to back it up.

“We keep ourselves level-headed”

In how far do you see this tournament as a way to prepare for RLCS Season 6? Is NARLI 2 a way to check out how tough the competition will be?

Primethunder: NARLI 2 is definitely a good preparation for RLCS S6. It’s a really good opportunity to get more practice against the EU teams, and just in general it will help us better ourselves as a team.

Wonder: Any LAN is a great opportunity to further prove and improve ourselves. Definitely outstanding practice for us, especially against these EU powerhouses.

Your first match at NARLI 2 will be against Flipside. How are you preparing for these guys?

AyyJayy: For Flipside we don’t know what to expect fully, so we’re gonna play normally and may have to adapt mid-series if it doesn’t work out.

Wonder: We know a lot of teams from EU prefer passing the ball instead of solo plays. Being quick to challenge these passes and turning it into offensive opportunities is one thing we’ve been working on. As long as we can keep the pressure on them and avoid silly defensive mistakes, I think we’ll have a good chance.

“I definitely want to play Dignitas”

Is there a team that you definitely want to face over the course of the tournament?

Primethunder: I definitely want to play Dignitas in a series, they’re an EU team, so we’re never able to play against them in a tournament setting, which would be a good experience for us.

Wonder: Dignitas for sure. We’ve improved a lot since forming our team, and I want to see how we fair against the back to back to back world champs.

You managed to gather a lot of fans this past season. Any words for your fans out there to conclude this interview?

AyyJayy: Thanks for inspiring me to keep playing and doing well!

Primethunder: Thanks to all the fans, hope to see you all at Season 6 LAN.

Wonder: Thank you for cheering us on and sticking it out since RLRS, we hope to bring our fans a LAN title soon.


Who is going to win NARLI 2? Head over to our Rocket League Discord server and discuss the event with our community.

Dorian discovered Rocket League when it first came to PS4. He stopped playing after he saw the RLCS for the first time and became discouraged from trying any more miserable Aerials. As a journalist with more than a decade of experience working for many of the biggest German media companies he now lives out his Rocket League passion as Head Editor for Rocketeers.gg