CFO Rest: “I just tried not to think about the first two games”

After almost making the reverse sweep happen, CFO Rest and HongQ sat down with the media in the post-match press conference. Here’s what the two solo laners shared.

CFO Rest & HongQ – First Stand Press Conference, Day 6

After game three, what was your thought process behind the top lane rotation?

Rest: [It’s] mianly because the top lane wasn’t about bruiser matchups, so we subbed in Driver. The usual OP top lane champions from previous games were no longer available, so we considered switching to Driver for this match.

CFO had an impressive run in the first stage, even being considered the dark horse of the tournament. How do you feel about your overall performance, and what lessons do you take away from this first-stage tournament?

HongQ: I’d rate my overall performance a 70 out of 100. The first two games weren’t played very well. But this international tournament gave me a lot of experience.

When you were subbed in for game three, the team was already down 0-2. What was your mindset and thought process when stepping onto the stage?

Rest: I didn’t feel too much pressure. I just went in with a normal mindset. I still felt we had a chance, and making it to the finals meant we still had an opportunity to win.

【𝐂𝐅𝐎 2:𝟑 𝐊𝐂】
Not the results we wants but no one expected us to make it this far. Thank you to all our fans for cheering, we learned a lot from this tournament and we will be back stronger next time. GG KC, good luck in the finals#FST2025 #MadeForThisLCP pic.twitter.com/7XMx4hGVcT

— CTBC Flying Oyster(CFO) (@CTBC_cfo) March 15, 2025

Can you summarize your feelings and takeaways from this best-of-five match? In the first two games, when you were at a disadvantage, how did you adjust?

Rest: I just tried not to think about the first two games. As long as the series wasn’t over, we could still keep fighting and prepare for the next game.

Now that your first stage has ended, how do you feel about the format? Would you prefer a different format? Do you think having just one team per region is enough, or should it be expanded to two or three teams per region in the first stage tournament?

Rest: Uh, I think the format is quite fresh and unique. It’s pretty interesting, but if you want to qualify for the finals, you have to play continuously for seven days. Since we played five matches in a row, it was really intense, and every day felt like a big challenge.

HongQ: I really like the fearless draft format because it’s fun to play with many different champions, but the tight schedule makes it very tough. However, overall, it was still a good experience.

Do you have anything you’d like to say to your fans?

Rest: Hmm, I want to tell our fans that even though we lost 2-3 today, it was really close. It’s rare for us to play this well, and looking back, I feel quite emotional. But this was just a short journey—this is only the first international tournament of the year, and we still have two more to go. We will give our best to qualify for them.

HongQ: It was really unfortunate today. But thank you to our fans for supporting us. We will try our best for the rest of the year.