The League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP)'s first seed has slain Europe's last hopes, taking down Movistar KOI in a 3-1 fashion. In a statement series, the CTBC Flying Oyster have made history and kept their dreams alive at the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). In an exclusive interview, head coach Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei sat down with Sheep Esports to discuss his latest victory, the match ahead against AL, the LCP's rise, and how he helped HongQ get to where he is today.

This is your region's first best-of-five win against a major region since 2012, which is a historic moment. What does this achievement mean to you personally, and how are you feeling right now?

Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei: "MKOI was a very tough opponent. We had to prepare our drafts and think about them a lot because their top and mid laners have very good counters and unique picks which we've never seen in our region. Like you said, we hadn't won a best of five since Season 2, so this is truly a historical moment for all of us and our fans. We had a lot of pressure on our shoulders, but we made it, and it's amazing.

Ling "Kaiwing" Kai Wing mentioned how MKOI and EMEA teams are difficult to prep for due to their unique picks and strategies. Today we saw that with the Irelia pick, which gave you some trouble in game three. Is this something you had expected?

Chawy: It was hard to prepare for them. In game three, we never expected them to pick Irelia and Poppy like that. By picking Poppy, it meant we couldn't counter the Irelia anymore—that was really smart of them. In the games we won, we just knew that if we put enough effort into securing strong drafts, we'd counter any of their unique picks.

You brought out Aphelios Thresh in the last game and completely shut down Kalista. Do you think Aphelios Thresh is a strong counter to Kalista Renata, or was it more of a skill-based matchup?

Chawy: We did our research, and we knew that in bot lane—particularly support—Alvaro (Álvaro Fernández del Amo) played very similar champions to Kaiwing. He focuses on melee frontline engagers, so we knew he doesn't play a lot of strong ranged supports. We were confident letting them have Kalista and Renata Glasc because we knew that with Aphelios and Thresh, if we played better than them, we would pressure them out of lane and win. If you lose lane with Kalista and Renata, you cannot win the game.

You mentioned earlier that MKOI was a tough opponent. But from an EMEA perspective, it's been a rough MSI. Some people are now calling EMEA the weakest region. As someone from a region that's often been underestimated, how do you feel about the current balance of power between regions?

Chawy: European fans should not be too disheartened. Because of fearless draft, the regional gap has closed more than ever. We brought T1 to five games, Europe took games from BLG and Gen.G—that was impressive. Keep your heads high. We've been the weakest region for a long time, so we know how that feels. Don't be discouraged, we know you guys will come back stronger.

The LCP has been steadily rising. Do you feel like this marks the beginning of a new era—something similar to the days of the Flash Wolves?

Chawy: We do not wish to be the new Flash Wolves—we want to be the Flying Oyster. When we formed this team, manager Kevin and I planned a lot, and we knew that this would become the best team in our region in a long time, and for times to come.

Tsai "HongQ" Ming-Hong has been getting a lot of attention—he just turned 18. As a former midlaner yourself, how does it feel to coach someone like him and help shape the next generation?

Chawy: When we scouted HongQ and talked about him, Kevin and I knew that I was the perfect coach for him. Since he's a rookie, we knew he needed someone who actually knows a lot about midlane—which was me. At first, he died so easily to mid ganks, in teamfights, and he didn’t know how to play side lanes. He was just some guy with crazy mechanics and insane skill. He’s super talented. Everything that the players and I teach him about the game, he learns so fast. If he can’t play Ryze, I’ll teach him and show him replays, and the next day he’ll already be as good as a Ryze main. It’s just crazy how talented this guy is.

Do you think HongQ has what it takes to become one of the best mid laners in the world?

Chawy: He's a really lucky guy to have such a powerhouse of veterans around him in his first year as a pro. He has JunJia (Yu Chun-Chia), Kaiwing, Doggo (Chiu Tzu-Chuan)... Everyone is very patient with him. Like you mentioned, the team atmosphere is super, super good. We actually have fun together. We do not pressure each other, we do not flame each other. If someone fails at something, we just laugh it off. It's a great atmosphere for someone like him to improve. He hasn’t let us down. We'll continue teaching him, and he’ll learn from all these international tournaments. Playing against Jojopyun (Joseph Joon Pyun), Chovy (Jeong Ji-hoon), Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok)—he has so much to learn from all of them.

Your next match is against Anyone’s Legend, and Cui "Shanks" Xiao-Jun—like HongQ—is a rising star. What are you expecting from this matchup?

Chawy: Tabe (Wong Pak Kan), Anyone’s Legend’s coach, used to be my coach in 2018. I’m going to do my best to take him down. AL is a really, really strong team—one of the strongest in LPL history. The way they play the game is really, really smart with Tabe’s coaching. So, we’ll do our best to beat them. And like we said, Shanks is something alike HongQ. He’s actually very, very talented, he improved so much. It’s very hard to catch him off guard, and he has an insane champion pool. We’ll do our best, and hopefully we bring an amazing game—a best of five—to all the fans.

Are you guys still underdogs for that match?

Chawy: Definitely. But we’ll do our best and we’ll try to take them down because we want to go into the top four and hopefully finals—and meet T1 again, you know.

You've been in the scene for over a decade. Are you proud of how far you've come and everything you've accomplished in your career?

Chawy: I started playing in "Season 0," at WCG 2010. It's been a very long way to get here for me. Still, I'm not really proud of my achievements. What I want is to focus on helping our younger generation get the best results possible. In the past, if I had better coaches and knew more about the game, I could have gone way further. My esports career as a player has been very sad—it’s a pity. I don’t want my players to go through that. I will do everything I can to help them get the best results possible, best contracts, and the most amazing of careers."