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“Warded.”
That’s what FlyQuest support Kim “Wadid” Bae-in’s nickname is supposed to sound like. He came up with “Wadid” in classic Korean fashion, by taking a “boring” English word and tweaking it slightly to make it his own.
“I just chose random [letters] that sound like ‘warded,'” Wadid told Dot Esports. “Because I love to be support and going to ward.”
Wadid’s choice to main support made him a prime target for a FlyQuest squad looking to contend at the top levels of the LCS. After getting turned away in the semifinals last spring by Liquid, FlyQuest are putting their hopes of making the summer final on Wadid’s shoulders.
“Needed to change”
Wadid is another in a long line of Korean imports to come to North America. But the weird thing is, he doesn’t feel like a Korean import at all.
The first difference is his silky smooth English. He speaks with an elegant European accent that sounds better than most European imports, never mind the Korean ones. He has the exact type of voice that a team would love to dominate their comms.
Wadid’s grew up as a professional League player in Europe. It’s where he became serious as a professional, and had his biggest success, making it to the semifinals of Worlds last year with G2. There are a lot of reasons why, in a previous interview, Wadid called EU “home.”
“EU gave me the chance to play,” Wadid said. “I was for sure interested in NA or Korea, but if I had a chance to play in EU, I would prefer it.”
Wadid’s time with G2 didn’t last. The team dropped their duo lane in a grand experiment that just resulted in an MSI championship, the first for EU. Getting traded by G2 wasn’t a big deal for Wadid at first. But going from a first-place team to a struggling one was a big adjustment for the veteran support.
“I really didn’t care [about getting transferred] because I am so confident in myself,” Wadid said. “But it was unexpected, it was kind of hard for me to deal with the new environment. The experience at Rogue gave me tons of lessons. After that awful performance in the LEC Spring Split, we needed to change something for sure.”
That change came in another unexpected trade. Since coming to Europe in 2017, Wadid’s never experienced free agency—his contract has simply been transferred from team to team. “It’s complicated,” Wadid said.
Rogue gave Wadid the option to go to FlyQuest in a deal that made sense for both teams. Wadid accepted, and off he went to a new home.
“Comfortable”
Wadid described his introduction to FlyQuest by using words like “easy’ and “comfortable.” He didn’t know any of the players super well—his only contact was playing against mid laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park last year at Rift Rivals. But he liked that this was a veteran team that knew how they wanted to play and had already been together for a split.
So far, the integration has gone well, especially with new lane partner Jason “WildTurtle” Tran. WildTurtle is an NA legend, one of the best ADCs to play in the region. Getting to play with Turtle has been huge for Wadid. Before this year, Wadid was best known for his long partnership with EU ADC Petter “Hjarnan” Freyschuss. And his relationship with Hjarnan already seems similar to his current duo with WildTurtle.
“We just knew what’s gonna happen,” Wadid said. “We didn’t need to put effort on small stuff and always think about the team. I feel the same way with Turtle, it feels nice and easy to play League.”
For Wadid, building chemistry within a duo lane starts long before the game does. First, it’s easier to play well when the personal relationship is strong. WildTurtle is known as one of the most affable players in the region, and Wadid agrees with that assessment.
He and WildTurtle also talk constantly about champions and comps. To Wadid, having the same ideas about champions and matchups is crucial to actually executing the lane well.
As for what he brings to the rest of the team in its goal to make Worlds, Wadid thinks he can bring a European flavor to the team’s macro play. He wants to help FlyQuest improve with rotations, side lane play, and objective setup.
“Every time I watch LCS, I feel like they have worse rotation ideas compared to EU,” Wadid said. “I don’t want to be the team that goes ARAM every game like other teams, haha.”
On paper, Wadid’s partnership with FlyQuest is a fantastic match. He gets to play with a veteran duo lane partner, the team overall was missing a strong voice at support, and there’s potential to contend for the top spots in the league. It’s an environment set up for an import player to thrive, and Wadid is confident in FlyQuest’s chances.
We’ll see how well the paper tigers stack up when LCS play starts again on June 1.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
