It took NA rising star one official game in the EMEA league to exude confidence in claiming the LEC trophy and for good reasons. After a dominating win against Fnatic, Movistar KOI’s new mid laner, Joseph Joon “Jojopyun” Pyun, is ready to face any regional powerhouse.
Once hailed as a rising star in NA for his bold playstyle and rapid development, the mid laner reportedly left his previous team for some internal issues, but shared he moved to Europe because of three main factors: growth opportunities, Spanish fans, and KOI’s ambition.
“When I talked to KOI, especially Elyoya and Melzhet, I felt like they were very passionate, had the same drive that I did,” Jojopyun shared. He also cited the allure of facing top-tier competition, particularly G2 Esports’ Rasmus “Caps” Winther, who he regards as the best Western midlaner and who he often gets compared to.
G2 was not the only team Jojopyun was excited to go up against. Fnatic—who he faced his first day of the split—were also up on that list. While he was confident in his team’s ability to defeat the historic European team, he was surprised by how “low” Fnatic’s level was during the official match. Saying they played “a lot worse than I expected,” the mid laner expressed his befuddlement at his team’s scrim schedule and wondered why they were scrimming so much against Fnatic in the weeks leading up to their match.
“It’s kind of weird. I think we scrimmed them the most actually out of any team and I’m not sure why because I’m like, ‘wait, we’re against them the first day and we’re scrimming them this much?’ But I mean, I guess it worked out,” Jojopyun said.
However, Jojopyun emphasized that his primary focus during scrims was not on studying the enemy’s weaknesses but on improving his own team’s playstyle. He pointed out that KOI was making mistakes they typically wouldn’t, so he focused on fixing his team’s bad habits, ensuring they wouldn’t fall into a predictable, one-dimensional playstyle. But when analyzing Fnatic’s apporach, Jojopyun pointed at Humanoid’s “greedy,” needing a lot of resources, as a “double-edged sword” kind of strategy that can easily backfire if the player is not able to carry his team to victory.
KOI and its mid laner didn’t have much time to relish the win as they began preparing for their following match against KarimineCorp on the second day of the LEC Winter Split—but Jojopyun is not too concerned.
Looking ahead to KOI’s match against KC, Jojopyun displayed confidence and a bit of playful banter. “Vladi is my son,” Jojopyun quipped, pointing at KC mid laner. “If my son gets too excited, too emotional, I’m going to have to calm him down.” As for the famed Blue Wall of KC fans, Jojopyun brushed aside any intimidation, saying he views the fan fervor as part of the entertainment, not a source of pressure.
With the addition of Jojopyun, the first NA import in the EMEA region, this year KOI might just be the team to challenge G2 Esports’ reign in Europe — but many have already tried, and almost no one succeeded. Fans can tune in on Twitch or LoL Esports’ official website to watch Team Vitality go up against Fnatic at 12:30pm CT.
