MSI 2024: FlyQuest vs PSG Talon was a game of nerves

The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024 has now begun! LoL MSI 2024 opened with a match between FlyQuest and PSG Talon.

Both FLY and PSG are in the play-in stage of League of Legends MSI 2024. To advance to the group stage, teams must win two matches, and two losses means elimination. After the FLY vs PSG match, players from both teams pointed out that nerves and stress were a factor in their performance.

After the match, Betty talked about their performance, the lane swaps, and the nerves going on stage. "The nerves may have affected our in-game performance," said Betty. "Personally, before getting on the stage, I feel a little nervous. But, after starting the game, it starts to feel natural and all of [the nerves] disappear."

"We still have the time to fix our problems," he reassured his fans afterward. "I like to show my best performance and I'm very happy to play on a big stage."

On the other side of the matchup, FlyQuest midlaner Jensen also pointed out the nerves, especially from the rookies. "I think [nerves] were a factor, especially in Game 1," said Jensen. "People were saying 'Sorry, I was a bit nervous' after Game 1." Jensen also gave advice to their rookie bot lane to be more comfortable and "play the game the way we always play."

The picks for the inaugural game of MSI 2024 were quite ordinary. Bwipo chose to play Urgot, and JunJia got his iconic Jarvan IV.

FlyQuest opened up with a lane swap to compensate for their lesser experienced bot lane duo. This strategy of swapping the side-lane champions also emphasized Bwipo's strength.

PSG Talon navigated around the lane swap well, and FlyQuest ended up at a disadvantage. After the laning phase concluded, PSG put pressure on their opponents.

Eventually, PSG Talon's team composition scaled beyond what FlyQuest could handle. The range of the Senna and Azir was too much, and PSG opted for front-to-back teamfights that kept them in safety. The PCS representatives ran over the LCS team for the first game of MSI 2024.

PSG Talon drafted a Kalista-Ashe bot duo to gain lane dominance. This was answered by the Lucian-Nami pair from Massu and Busio, which ended up being their first times on the champion on a professional game this year.

FlyQuest once again opted for a lane swap to evade the Kalista Ashe duo. This nullified the potential lead that PSG could have earned by winning through bot lane.

While Game 2 was another neck-and-neck game, FlyQuest pulled ahead after Inspired stole a dragon which caught PSG off-guard. Soon after, it was JunJia's turn to steal an objective and it ended up being Baron Nashor. Despite his efforts, PSG could no longer get through Bwipo's wide and fed Urgot.

PSG Talon decided that they had enough of Urgot and finally banned him in the draft phase. FlyQuest chooses Olaf as their top pick instead.

This time, no lane swaps happened and we finally got a standard game of League of Legends. Like the previous games, this one also had a close early game. There were a handful of kills, but the ones by FlyQuest were more valuable.

The FlyQuest carries got the gold from the early kills, which they eventually snowballed into map control and more kills. While the PSG Talon mid-jungle duo underperformed, this game was won by FlyQuest thanks to their good usage of their team composition.

The LoL MSI 2024 is currently ongoing, culminating on May 19, 2024.