With the Play-In Stage at MSI 2025 concluded, FlyQuest’s jungler Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma is preparing for his opening match in the tournament’s Bracket Stage.
The winner of the LTA North Split 2 will face off against LPL’s Anyone’s Legend in a best-of-five (Bo5) series on July 3rd at 1 am BST. Despite this being his third MSI and seventh international tier-1 event, Inspired is heading into this year’s MSI with profound respect for his opponents and the high level of competition.
“I don’t think I have anything to prove,” shared Inspired in an interview with Esports Insider. “I never really play for ego. […] I will try to play as a team and, hopefully, it’s going to be enough to beat the teams that are at the tournament.”
Following the FURIA’s elimination in the Play-In Stage, FlyQuest will be the only team representing the Americas region at MSI. The North American squad will compete against two EMEA teams (KOI, G2), two LCK representatives (Gen.G, T1), two rosters from the LPL (AL, BLG), as well as the LCP’s CTBC Flying Oyster.
With over eight years of experience in League of Legends (LoL) esports and countless global encounters in his past, FlyQuest’s Inspired remains excited for every possible match-up at MSI.
“The European teams are going to be very, very exciting to play against because of the rivalry between NA and EU,” commented the jungler when asked who he’d like to face in the competition. “But also, all of the Asian teams are going to be very exciting, too. You can actually see if we’re able to beat any of them.”
FlyQuest Competing Against Eastern Teams
Inspired further sheds light on the ever-persisting debate surrounding NA’s and EMEA’s struggle against Eastern teams on international League of Legends stages. Teams outside the Eastern leagues play very differently and are, therefore, accustomed to the common gameplay approach within their region.
“And then you come into international, and you have just a little bit of time to adjust. So I think that’s why it’s always very tough to play against them,” explained the FlyQuest player.
According to Inspired, Eastern teams play very aggressively and without any fear of dying. Moreover, they excel at macro gameplay, creating a lead on the opposite side of the map whenever their opponent manages to slow down one of their lanes or players.
Interestingly, Inspired and FlyQuest have already met one of this year’s MSI competitors, Gen.G Esports, during the Knockout Stage at Worlds 2024. Although the series ended in FlyQuest’s elimination from the World Championship, Inspired has learned an important lesson from the encounter.
“The last Worlds showed me that any team is beatable,” emphasised the pro player. He added that while mechanically excellent, Gen.G were more cautious and seemed less confident on stage compared to their performance in scrims. This can give their opponents windows for impactful plays.
MSI Preparation on NA Servers
Before his move to North American League of Legends, Inspired spent several years in Europe competing for the likes of MOUZ and Rogue. This has allowed the jungler to directly compare the League of Legends solo queue experience on NA versus EU servers — a topic that Inspired has been vocal about in the past.
“People think that it’s not as serious as maybe I say,” shared the player with Esports Insider. “But if you’re here for as long as I am at this point, it feels like solo queue is affecting me a lot because the only way of practising is scrims.”
However, scrims follow Fearless Draft, only allowing players to practice new champions one game per day. Meanwhile, the uncontrolled competitive environment provided by NA’s solo queue, even at high levels, makes it challenging for Inspired to practice champions reliably.
Inspired has been in NA for nearly four years and acknowledged that solo queue might not affect players as much who stay in the region for shorter time frames. However, FlyQuest’s jungler still recommends preparing for tournaments such as MSI by additionally analysing the VODs and champion usage of other pro teams.
“I think watching VODs is just a better way of practising in NA,” concluded Inspired in the interview.
