FLY Inspired: "None of the LEC teams really impressed me"

FLY Inspired: "None of the LEC teams really impressed me" | Sheep Esports

"The difference is that we play without fear. Others are sometimes hesitant, but we never second-guess ourselves. That’s what you need to be the best in the world"

The kings of North America are ready to take the stage. After winning both the first and final editions of the League of Legends Championship of the Americas (LTA), the boys in green are heading to Beijing, eager to make a splash at Worlds 2025. In an exclusive interview ahead of the Swiss Stage, FlyQuest jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma sat down with Sheep Esports to discuss narratives, the team’s current form, facing Asian opponents, and his upcoming contract expiration.

How have your preparations for Worlds been so far? How was the travel to China, and are you excited to face the best teams in the world?

Kacper "Inspired" Słoma: "I'm for sure excited, the whole team is. Every time you play at Worlds, you have the opportunity to write a great story. The travel itself was fine. We came to Korea first to adjust to the jet lag, so we wouldn’t step into the tournament all tired and in raw form. Everything in China has felt pretty good, and I just can’t wait to see who we’ll draw and play against.

Last year, you called your team the “chosen monkeys”. Do you think this year you can move past that label and prove yourselves as one of the truly strong teams?

Inspired: As long as we make it to quarterfinals, I don’t really mind if we’re the chosen monkeys or the best team. From there, anything can happen. Once you’re in quarterfinals, the pressure on the day can get to any team. So we’ll get there and just try to play our best. If we have to be the chosen monkeys again, I don’t really mind.

Also Read: LoL - Worlds 2025: Who will be the monkey to reach quarterfinals?

Many fans, even in Europe, are saying FlyQuest is the best Western team right now and could do really well at Worlds. How do you feel about the team’s current level? Do you think you’re performing up to that standard in practice?

Inspired: From practice, none of the European teams really impressed me, so yeah, I think so. The difference could be that we don’t really care—we play without fear. I feel like other teams are sometimes hesitant. Bwipo (Gabriël Rau) and I, the way we play, we never second-guess ourselves. We just play very aggressively, and that’s what you need to be the best team in the world. If you make a wrong play, and it backfires, that’s sad, but you need to make mistakes to learn and make fewer of them later. I’m very confident in our team. We’re not scared to play.

Are you confident in your own level as well? Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek said on stream that his hot take was that you’re the best jungler in the world—even better than those in the LCK or LPL. Do you feel up to that level?

Inspired: It’s hard to tell; I rarely get to play against Asian junglers. I only face them a few times a year, so it’s difficult to compare individual skill, especially since we’re not laners. The job of a jungler is very different from that of a mid or toplaner. My environment hasn’t supported my growth as much as it does for Asian teams throughout the year. Am I the best? I wouldn’t say that. I’d need to play a full year against them to properly evaluate it. I’m not sure how good their individual levels are as junglers. As I said, I play maybe one scrim block a year against each of them, one official match at best. I don’t think I’m the best in the world right now, but maybe if I could practice against them all year, I could become that.

How has the environment been within FlyQuest over the past few weeks? Do you feel like the situation around Bwipo affected the team’s atmosphere?

Inspired: Everything that happened definitely affected us, but we try to focus on what’s important—playing the games well. Everyone came to Worlds with a professional mindset and just tries to focus on that. I think we handled the situation pretty well overall. It made winning the split a bit harder, but we pulled it off.

Is there any team you’re particularly excited to face at Worlds?

Inspired: Beating Gen.G would be really cool, right? But do I want to face them? Honestly, I’d rather avoid them. I guess I’d like to see how we’d fare against KT. They’re probably the weakest of the Asian teams, so I feel we’d have a good shot at beating them. Other than that, playing against Jojopyun (Joseph Pyun) would be fun.

When you say KT is the weakest among the Asian teams, does that include CFO as well?

Inspired: Honestly, I haven’t really watched CFO’s games or the LCP. I didn’t think of them when I mentioned Asian teams earlier. Still, I think they’re about the same level as us and KT. Maybe KT is still a bit better than both of us, but I think we can compete with them. It’s hard to say how they’ll show up this year—we’ll have to wait and see.

Bwipo, Alan "Busio" Cwalina, and yourself have contracts expiring this year. Do you feel like Worlds could be this roster’s last dance?

Inspired: Definitely. It’s very rare for a team to stay together for three or more years without roster changes. It could be our last dance, as you said. Still, I’m not sure what will happen, and I don’t really focus on that either. The only thing on our minds right now is our next games and Worlds. After the tournament ends, we’ll see.

Would you personally like to continue with FlyQuest in the future?

Inspired: I’ve really enjoyed my time on FlyQuest and the players around me, for sure. They’re one of my priorities, but I’ll also look at what other teams are like. There are a lot of strong players on other teams as well. I wouldn’t mind staying with FlyQuest next year, but I’m also ready to look at other options.

A lot of European fans say they’d love to see you return to Europe someday...

Inspired: Yeah, I mean, I never won Europe, so it’s definitely still on my to-do list before I retire. Who knows?

What’s your hot take for Worlds 2025?

Inspired: I don’t know what could be the hot take? I mean, I’d say Gen.G is gonna win Worlds, but that’s not really a hot take—that’s a very cold take. [Pauses] Then… T1 is not winning Worlds! They’re making it to the finals, though. Although, it’s Worlds, so they start dealing double damage—Keria (Ryu Min-seok) all over the map on Pyke and 1v9ing the game. At least in Fearless, he can only 1v9 one game on Pyke and then one on Bard, so that means they might lose. It’s a big nerf to T1.

Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans about Worlds?

Inspired: This year, I really believe we have the potential to beat the Asian teams. In the last few years, I think people were just coping when they said there was hope—I never really saw hope before. The gap was really big. But with all the work we’ve put in at FlyQuest this year, I feel like we can truly compete. We’re not scared to play our style, be aggressive, and squeeze all the potential from our champions. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some wins. Keep cheering for us—we’ll try not to disappoint."

Header Photo Credit: Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games

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