FLY Apollo: "We’re capable of beating [TL], but it's not a 100% thing because we're currently somewhat inconsistent."

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how you start the race, but how strong you finish. No team in the 2026 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Summer Split Playoffs embodies this description better than . , their opponent in the First Round of the Playoffs, just handed them a defeat in Week 5 of the Regular Season.

However, FlyQuest demonstrated how important it is to focus on the present rather than the past as they advanced to Round 2 after a 3-0 victory. After their victory, Apollo “Apollo" Price had an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports. FlyQuest’s Assistant Coach shared his thoughts on Kalista and Renata’s rise in priority, Ibrahim “” Samet Bulut’s incredible series, and why FlyQuest matches better against than their next playoff opponent, .

Apollo “Apollo” Price: “I guess his opinion is that he wanted to face LYON. Honestly, both teams are pretty strong, yet I wouldn't know. I’m not sure if I have a clear favorite between the two. Maybe we've done a little bit better against them recently. I guess that's more of a solo Gakgos opinion.

Apollo: We match up a little bit better against LYON, so maybe that's why I think he [Gakgos] feels that way, compared to Team Liquid. We did well against Sentinels, but we're still not at the level to consistently and confidently beat TL or LYON. Not that we couldn't, but it’s an on-the-day thing, and we must play really well. That being said, I give us a good... Let's see, versus LYON? I don't want to go below 50% because that's not really doing my team a favor. I would say if we faced LYON… probably 60%, and against TL it would probably be 55%. It’s a little bit higher against LYON, but not by too much.

Apollo: Yeah, it’s because of gameplay factors. In terms of lane matchups, our players have done... We’re slightly better at reading them. Obviously, I don't want to say too much, but we match up better to the LYON players. We understand how they play, and that helps us read them. They're a really strong team, so it's not a walk in the park, but we understand them slightly better. That's mostly it.

Apollo: Most of what we've been working on, and continue to work on, is respecting enemy timers. We get a little bit antsy sometimes where if we see an opportunity, even if they are the ones forcing it, we believe that it's also our time to do something. We're young and aggressive, so we always take those opportunities because we think it's a play, but sometimes we have to zoom... We need to zoom out and recognize if they're making a mistake, or if we have to accept the situation as it is and either trade or play more defensively. Last playoffs, when we played against TL, I don't want to speak too much about it, but in terms of drafts, we didn't have as clear of a... Not an unclear plan, but we needed to better adapt during our series. We need to do that this week too.

Apollo: I think we looked the strongest [in Spring Split]. We have improved, but we still have our bad tendencies. There’s also a... I don't want to say a false narrative because we played most of the stronger teams first; it felt like a skewed perspective on our team, as if we weren’t playing as well. Realistically, we had to play the top four teams, and then we played Sentinels; we should have done better against them. This was a slight misconception of how we should have rated ourselves. That said, some of the games we played this split haven’t been as good as our games in the Spring Split. It's a semi-fair assessment, but I think we’re a better team, though we haven't shown it yet.

Apollo: I feel like we only showed 65 or 70%. We had these really insane moments that, as a coaching staff, we're like, “Wow! We actually are doing really well.” Then we just... It comes and goes, you know? We're very inconsistent. I don't think we've shown FlyQuest’s highest ceiling yet.

Apollo: We're at the level where we can beat Team Liquid, but in terms of consistency, I don't think we're there yet. We’re capable of beating them, but it's not a 100% thing because we're currently somewhat inconsistent.

Apollo: I don't think it requires much more. It floats around 15 to 20%. It sounds like a lot, but it's doable, you know? We have a stage buff, and built confidence leading into it. We played well versus Sentinels, though we had some flubs. Overall, we did really well. I'm confident we can get there, but we need a little push- that little extra to go into the TL match with confidence.

Apollo: We've worked with Gakgos throughout the year, but I wouldn't say there was a big shift. He just hadn't really had great performances on stage. We didn't think it was a problem because he was performing well in scrims and showing up in our stage games; it wasn't really clicking. This time around, he was much more comfortable. We gave him good matchups, which helped. We also match up pretty well against Sentinels, because (Jeong Eon-young) isn't necessarily a lane-punishing top laner. He will do well, but he won’t press his advantage like someone like (Park Seung-gyu) or (Park Ru-han) would, which helps. We still worked with Gakgos rigorously, but it wasn't anything necessarily different. As a team, we had to level up, and he was a part of it.

Apollo: It’s both… Morale was a big element, but it was also a relief to know that even though we didn't do very well against the top-tier teams, we are meant to be in the top 4 or 5. We weren’t ecstatic that we beat SR, but if we lost, it might have meant we weren’t good enough as a team to make a run in the playoffs. It confirmed that we’re not that bad, but we needed to level up to compete.

Apollo: First off, back in the day, Kalista and Renata were a counter pick. You would see the opponent lock in Vi, and they're playing a Nautilus, Rell, or some melee support, and then you slam Kalista and Renata. Teams started to tinker with Kalista and Renata against ranged support matchups because of nerfs to other ranged supports and a Guardian buff that was decent for Kalista and Renata’s playstyle. Plus, as a champion, Kalista doesn't need to snowball as much anymore.

Some people have a misconception… Well, I had a misconception early on when playing, or playing against it: if we don't let them stack drakes, and they don't win by 25 minutes, then Kalista and Renata will fall off. However, in Kalista and Renata’s current state, they’re too powerful. The build with Rageblade, Shiv, and Terminus makes her very tanky, and even if you fall off compared to a Crit AD carry, it’s not nearly as much as she did in the past. Also, Renata helps Kalista scale. Overall, the pair’s strengths have changed from what we have seen in the past.

Apollo: We drafted a composition that we thought would excel against them. I don't think they responded appropriately, although the game was somewhat scary because of how much gold we gave Viktor. In the end, our team comp was really strong and what we played towards when we drafted it. We did decide to ban both Ezreal and Caitlyn against Rahel, two champions he was winning and performing well with. We didn't want him to get them.”