Since the inception of Rocket League eSports, Victor "Fairy Peak!" Locquet has established himself as one of the most prominent players in the world. Fairy Peak has been dominating the ranked leaderboards and major tournament scene since mid-2016, when he first emerged as one of the top 2s players alongside his friend and former teammate Courant "Kaydop" Alexandre.
He has several victories in weekly tournaments organized by organizations such as Nexus, Gfinity, and Mock-It, and a couple of high-placing finishes in majors such as the RLCS (such as his 2nd place finish against Northern Gaming in Season 3) to demonstrate his ability to compete against the world's top players. Fairy Peak, on the other hand, continues to be one of the most dominant players in the world when it comes to 1v1 matches, despite the absence of tournaments and majors centered around the 1s scene.
Following his recent 2nd place finish in the Twelve Titans II tournament, Fairy Peak has risen to the top of the 1v1 leaderboard, and Rocketeers. gg jumped at the chance to speak with him about his success in 1st placeRocket League Tips. The following is what he had to say:Congratulations on your decision to join Vitality! I'm sure you're giddy with anticipation. Given that you are consistently in the Top 20 and are currently ranked 1 in Ranked Solo Duel, how often do you play 1s in order to maintain your position at the top of your game?
Thank you so much! Of course, I'm ecstatic! It was the first organization I ever watched while playing Call of Duty as a child. I was a little envious of these CoD pro players, such as "Gotaga," who were playing under the Vitality banner. Being in the same organization as them is a huge pleasure now that I'm in it! To be honest, I don't play 1s very often, but when I do, I make a concerted effort at the beginning of the season to secure the top spot and then I simply wait for someone to pass me. Then I play and reclaim first place.
What methods do you use to prepare for 1s? Do you put in a lot of effort into your practice?
I don't do a lot of 1s practice. Strong 1s players will occasionally ask me to scrimmage with them, and we'll play a couple of games, probably around 6 or 7, and then I'll be out for 3 to 4 days. They employ their own strategies rather than the basic ones of dribbling and flicking the ball, which allowed me to become familiar with a wide range of playstyles. However, I believe I play between 15 and 30 games of ones per week on average.
In a one-on-one match, how do you balance your offense and defense? What would you use to describe your personal style?
When it comes to 1s, I really just go with my gut instincts. I'm not sure I can describe my playing style; sometimes I'm passive, and other times I'm aggressive – it all depends on who I'm playing against. I simply strive to make as few errors as possible. After experiencing every possible playstyle, I am well-versed in which strategies work best to counter each one. When playing a series, I simply try to adjust in the first game, which is generally why I lose the first game the majority of the time.
When attacking, I try to be unreadable and random so that the defender never knows what to expect. That works extremely well against more aggressive players, but a lot of it comes from instincts and playing time on the court. The same is true in defense; I tackle early and late depending on the situation. Generally, I just try to stay as close to my opponent as possible (shadowing them) so that it's harder for them to predict when I'm going to tackle them – I believe this is the most effective way to defend.
When it comes to show matches, you've made some impressive comebacks. How do you maintain a positive frame of mind in order to turn a game around? How do you keep from becoming "tilted"?
Between kickoffs and general play, there is a great deal of opportunity to score in 1s. In terms of speed, kickoff goals are the most efficient, but if you play intelligently, you can score at any time. So even if I'm trailing by five goals with two minutes left to play, I can regain the initiative and attempt a comeback. Anyone can theoretically score every three seconds with strong kickoffs and a positive mentality – so why not give it my all and try my hardest? It's preferable to waiting until the next round. When I play a stronger player, I try to remember that if he beats me, it's because he played better than me, even if I played poorly. Perhaps it wasn't my day, but I'm confident in my ability to defeat him, and I intend to exact vengeance against him in the next match.
How do you make use of aerials in your first-team game? Would you believe that having a strong aerial game is beneficial for up-and-coming first-team players?
I don't do aerials very often in 1s, but when I do, I try to turn quickly and quickly launch to a ball in order to catch the opponent. It is important for me to recover quickly when I see that my opponent is also going for an aerial. This is something that could easily happen to you if you miss your own aerials. Aviation isn't that important in 1s, but if you're quick and able to land them, you'll get an A+.
You are exceptionally good at 50/50s, as evidenced by your 73% win rate in the Twelve Titans II tournament. What exactly is your secret? What advice would you give to new players who want to improve their skills at 50/50s?
Even though it's difficult to explain, I provided a portion of my strategy above (turning the Batmobile 90 degrees and flicking in the direction of the ball) that, once mastered, works nearly every time. The most important thing for me is to play the 50/50 in such a way that, even if I lose, the opponent will never have a good opportunity to score afterward. I don't play a 50/50 to win it; I just play it to keep it under control. Maybe that's why I'm so successful most of the time? In order to become better at 50/50s, you must simply play it smart: enter only the 50/50s that you know you can win, and avoid entering the ones that you know you will lose in order to avoid finding yourself in a really bad position.