Ace
2017-03-03 10:49:54
Right before the LCS weekend, we got to catch a quick interview with FlyQuest's jungler, Galen "Moon" Holgate where he talks about the current jungle meta, international competition, SKT and KT, as well as this upcoming weekend.
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Hey Moon, how are you and the team doing after the recent break? Was it impactful on your practice?
I would say the break helped us a lot, just being able to have that rest from scrims and LCS for a few days, everyone got to go out and get that mental reset that helps a lot. As soon as Monday started we were practicing really hard again, so I’m expecting to do really well this week.
Did you watch any games during IEM last weekend?
I watched the finals and I think that’s it but I know the Korean teams did poorly there. I mainly watched the Flash Wolves games since I’m a Flash Wolves.
How did you feel about the Flash Wolves’ jungler Karsa? Do you ever talk to junglers from other regions as well?
I think he is a really solid jungler but I have not had the chance to speak to him. I do speak to a bunch of Korean junglers, whether in LCK, LCK subs, or even LCK challengers all the time about the game. I even recently started talking to the Vietnamese jungler for Snake Esports in the LPL, Sofm. I love to talk to junglers from other regions because the meta can shift a lot in between regions and they play a ton of different junglers and use different styles. It’s really nice to talk to other junglers and get a fresh take on the meta in other regions.
Recently we’ve been seeing a ton of Elise being played in Korea and Europe and you use to be really good with Elise on the LCS stage. Do you think she’ll be arriving on the NA LCS stage?
I think that the next tier of junglers just rose in priority due to the Rengar Kha’zix Graves nerfs. I know those junglers are still really good and don’t think those junglers are dead at all, but we will definitely be seeing more Elise on stage.
Did you get to watch the KT SKT series yesterday? How do you think the series will go on Sunday?
I was watching the whole series yesterday and thought game 3 was wild. I saw that KT had a massive gold lead early in that game and then saw that there was like an hour left on the timer and was just like “This just doesn’t seem right…” I do think that KT will take it but I also really want them to since I’m also a KT fan. I think KT played much better around their jungler Score and that he completely shut out SKT’s Blank in that third game. He had a really good series but also had winning matchups in every game so it might be a bit biased, but I do think KT can take it this time.
Do you think that with enough time, Flyquest can stand up to them as well as perform internationally?
I actually think that we have a really good chance on the international stage since we have so much experience in our players. That would be a huge advantage already. I’m sure we can step up with Hai and everyone and do pretty well.
So coming back to regional play, you have gone through a break and seen tons of games with a big weekend ahead of you. Last time we saw you pull out the Shaco against TSM. Do you have something spicy prepped for the LCS this weekend?
That’s something that viewers will find out during the weekend ;)
Speaking of this weekend, you have a rematch against an old teammate in Impact who once said that you are the best amongst all NA amateur junglers, and now you are in the running for BEST performing jungler in North America. Did you ever think you would vie for that in the beginning of the split?
Definitely not. These past few weeks I didn’t play too well, but early on in the split I didn’t expect to do that well. My mindset was that, since this was just a random offer and I haven’t played much with the team, I thought that I would just work really hard and develop myself by the end of the split. I actually like that I didn’t play so well recently since I was developing a bit of an ego since I was rolling over everyone, so I got that mental reset and start performing really well again.
Now that you are getting your rematch after the nail-biter of a series back in Week 4, do we see a Flyquest win at the end of the Cloud 9 series?
I haven’t been thinking about how the series will be too much since I like to take the game day by day, match by match. I’ve been thinking about it too much since we have our first match against NV.
If so, would it be a 2-1 or 2-0? How do you think you will perform against Juan “Contractz” Garcia this time around?
I think it will be a 2-1 in our favor. I think I’ll do pretty well and be in control against Contractz this series just like last time. I just hope there is no hour long pause and remake this time because that kind of affected my focus that game. The series was really long and it was pretty tiring.
For the other series this week, you match up against EnvyUs, a team you 2-0’d back in week 1. Thing is, they have their full roster and this is the first time you will be playing against Tae-yoo “Lira” Nam on the LCS stage. Envy is constantly brought up as a strong early game team, and had a decent week last week, even 2-0ing Echo Fox and dismantling Akaadian. Do you think you can keep it up and 2-0 them yet again?
It is a totally different match and this will be my first time playing against Lira on-stage. He’s actually a pretty good friend of mine and told me “Even though we are enemies, we talk well about the game and I like talking to you.” I was like, "awww!"... I thought it was pretty cute. I think he is a really smart guy and a really good jungler though, just from what I’ve seen against them and with their whole roster. I think we can do it but I do think that it will be a really good match as well.
Recently there has been a lot of talk about 5 bans in solo queue, and although personally I feel that it doesn’t matter below diamond 3, do you feel that it should be implemented in at least Challenger and Masters?
Thing is that I queue up on my masters account and get Platinum 1 players on my team, so I don’t know how that would fix this problem. I don’t think the extra bans will matter much in solo queue. I know Lemon wants it to be implemented, but I really think it doesn’t matter much.
It’s common knowledge that you love to play champions like Evelynn and Shaco, but outside of those champions which are your favorite to play in Solo queue?
Recently I’ve actually been playing a ton of Nidalee and Elise, just getting better at them and other skillshot champions.
Lastly, in the past you’ve said that you think of Flyquest as a family, so what’s your favorite thing to do together after a long LCS weekend?
We usually don’t do that much as 5 after the games since we’re usually pretty exhausted, but we all just go home and then will hang out with our friends or go to dinner or something. Something I really like about this team is that you aren’t forced to be with your team after a long weekend -- like a coach on another team would make everyone go to dinner even after a 0-2 weekend as a bonding experience, but we don’t really need that since we’re all pretty close with eachother.
Do you have anything you’d like to say to your fans ahead of the big rivalry rematch?
Thank you to all my fans for supporting me, especially my old fans who have been around and supported me even through my NRG days since I would usually get railed on by reddit all the time. Seeing the positive comments about me actually helped a ton. Thanks to all my new fans as well, your support really means alot to me and helps me do well.
Interview written and conducted by: @AlbertPCoh
Images coursey of Riot Games and Lol Esports Flickr
For more on Flyquest’s jungler Moon, follow him on twitter and check out his stream!