FlyQuest and Cloud9 (C9) just had a scrim that reached impressive numbers, and fans want more of these from pro teams.
Early into 2025, professional esports teams in League of Legends are still figuring out what this year’s meta will be like. With major tournaments like Worlds still months away, the earliest parts of the year are a great time to practice. Typically, competing teams will practice in secret, to not give others publicly available knowledge.
When FlyQuest and C9 agreed to stream their practice scrims together, two of the top LoL teams in North America, fans were immediately interested. While some expressed doubts about its potential viewership, others just wanted to see a more casual environment for these hyper-skilled teams to compete in.
To the surprise of many, the scrims got impressive numbers.
The FlyQuest vs C9 scrim reportedly peaked at 50,000 views across official channels. While its long-term retention isn’t guaranteed, there’s no denying that a reported 50,000 viewers is impressive. The official FlyQuest channel stream was featured on Twitch’s homepage, which boosted the numbers significantly.
WE LEAKED OUR SCRIMS??? | FlyQuest Scrims vs Cloud9
In addition to Flyquest, the individual streams from Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau of Flyquest and creator Christian “IWDominate” Rivera also roped in thousands of viewers for the scrims, giving fans an exciting evening of pro- level play. While there were none of the typical competition stakes, both teams still gave their professional best, with minimal interaction with the chat.
That said, a casual game by pro standards still proved exciting for many fans. C9 started strong, netting two wins over their rival team in a row. Although lost in the early goings, FlyQuest got its act together to snatch victory with three wins in a row.. FlyQuest notably uploaded the stream on their official channel and even reviewed it for fans. Cloud9 did not do the same.
Despite the high viewership, many fans online were split about streaming scrims. FlyQuest GM Christopher “PapaSmithy” Smith explained his thought process on streaming the scrims with a short video. He specifically pointed out the low viewership of the LTA, especially compared to their record-breaking viewership at Worlds against Gen.G.
A love letter from one of us to all of us. This is OUR TEAM.
PapaSmithy proclaimed his desire to have more fans connect with the human element of pro-LoL play. In addition to the streams, FlyQuest would have edited highlights and VODs, some even with commentary from the team themselves. Many fans liked seeing their favorites stream scrims, especially with how rare it is these days. Others believe the competitive tradeoff of having public pro-level matches could adversely affect the competitive scene.
In response, PapaSmithy believes that public scrims will only make teams practice even better off-stream. He also hopes that it will help Tier 2 teams and below learn more about the highest levels of the game. The FlyQuest social media account took the criticisms in stride, making memes about the situation. If these strims can sustain good viewership, then it could change how fans interact with their favorite pro teams in the Americas.
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