FlyQuest is the team that's dominated the NA
League of Legends for the last two years. So, this offseason, when the coaching staff and many star players left, questions were in the air over what the future of FLY could possibly look like. Now, that new FlyQuest is here, and the departing players have been swapped for extremely fresh talent, making FlyQuest the new youngest team in the entire pro
League scene.
And, to lead them, FLY brought in a head coach with years of experience working with veterans and rookies alike:
Thomas “Thinkcard” Slotkin, remembered for his role in leading unproven underdog like NRG and Counter Logic Gaming to the very top, will head this new project. To find out about the new FLY and his perspective on its roster and its trajectory,
Sheep Esports sat down with Thinkcard ahead of the season.
With a roster full of rookie, will this team be able to reach the expectations of success that have been built up around FlyQuest?
Thomas "Thinkcard" Slotkin: "That’s definitely the long-term goal. We have the next generation of stars that are gonna, hopefully, take Western League of Legends by storm. So, we’re very confident in the talent that we’ve acquired; it’s just a question of "how much time is it gonna take?
How soon do you see these players competing at internationals?
Thinkcard: Yeah, I think it depends.
Gakgos (İbrahim Samet Bulut) just arrived a few days ago, so we haven’t had a scrim set with him yet. I'd have to see how the team performs as five against other LCS teams before I really comment too much on that one. But, if we want to put some context on it, when I was coaching CLG, it took us like a year and a half, and then we made just one-to-two roster adjustments, and then we were able to win a championship. And then, on FURIA this past year, once again, a pretty rookie squad, with some young players, and we were able to win a championship in Split 2. Every team’s different: kind of have to see where the team’s at, once I see us scrim a little bit more.
Having faced Johnson "Gryffinn" Le last year with FURIA, what kind of strengths did you glean in his play, and how do you think working with him will go?
Thinkcard: Yeah, so, when
he was on LOUD, honestly, I was impressed with his fighting mechanics, but I wasn't super impressed with his gameplay. But after I interviewed with Gryffinn for the jungle position,
going into 2026 with FlyQuest, he really impressed me. He's a perfectionist, he's a straight-A student. He views the game in a very good way, and it's clear that the way he played on LOUD was put into a box that LOUD kinda made him play. So, I'm really excited to see Gryffinn play, and I think he's gonna surprise a lot of people, and I think he's gonna be one of the best junglers in the league, right off the bat. I'm really excited to see him play.
The addition of Michael "Cryogen" Luu as the new support shocked a lot of people. He's a real unknown to many fans, with only a few games played even at the Tier 2 level. Who is Cryogen as a player?
Thinkcard: I've had my eyes on him for probably about two years now, starting with scouting combines.
He's an up-and-coming support, not a ton of experience, but he learns very quickly and has very good mechanics. I think him and Massu (
Fahad Abdulmalek) are gonna make a really good duo once they become more comfortable with each other, and they’re able to feel each other out, how each other wants to play. Gryffinn and Cryo, to kind of talk about them both in the same light, I think they’re gonna be really really good at skirmishes, theyre gonna fight really well, and it's gonna give us an edge in a lot of teamfights, just because of how good their hands are.
So, Gakgos is the youngest player on the team, now the youngest-average team in the world. What kind of energy does the team's youth bring to the environment?
Thinkcard: He's a super chill guy. He was able to kinda vibe with the team, I was able to talk with him in person for the first time, and I was just excited to see him when we're able to scrim with five players. But, overall, the energy's really high, with Gryffinn and Cryo. Quad (Song Su-hyeong) is like, "Oh my god, how do they have so much energy?" Now Quad is one of the older people on the team.
One addition that you have history with is Apollo "Apollo" Price, who's joining as assistant coach, and who you also coached with on CLG and NRG. Do you think the combo of you two can bring the same underdog magic those teams had into the new FLY?
Thinkcard: Yeah! I think Apollo's really good. He was one of the first names I thought of when I got the FlyQuest head coach job. I think he complements me really well. He has really good work ethic, he sees the game in a very similar way to how I see the game, and he's a specialist in botlane. So, it's gonna be really good for Cryo to be able to work with Apollo, and he's gonna be able to really bring out his gameplay and elevate him to the next level. I think Apollo, in general: very smart person, super good work ethic, super excited that he decided to join the coaching staff."
