Jojopyun joins the LEC – First ever NA import to EU seeks to end all memes

Joseph “Jojopyun” Pyun becomes the first NA import to Europe in competitive League of Legends’ history. At KOICON, MAD Lions KOI announced its rebranding as Movistar KOI from next year, as well as the arrival of their new star midlaner. Jojopyun even got the chance to showcase his game in a BO3 showmatch against Karmine Corp, the first match of MKOI’s new LEC roster. 

In my opinion, he has been rising as one of the most promising players on the Western scene.

How the turntables..

Only a few years ago, North America was meme’d on by being the region that imports European and Korean players on the regular. Jojopyun has a chance to make history, and turn the meme on its head next season. 

The midlaner has already won himself the favour of Spain’s biggest fanbase with this slight taste of his talent. Having played a perfect game on his Azir, he nailed the first round with a grandiose Emperor’s Divide that soon made the headlines. In any case, the player’s talent was no longer in need of proving: he had even reached rank 1 in the soloqueue of his native country, before moving to Europe last weekend.

JOJOPYUN ESTÁ COMPLETAMENTE LOCO

EL PRIMER MAPA ES NUESTRO. pic.twitter.com/ljwsdM0qJD

— Movistar KOI League of Legends (@MovistarKOILoL) December 6, 2024

At just 17 years of age and in his first Tier 1 split, Jojo had already won the LCS trophy and had also reached the semi-finals of the MSI before qualifying for the Worlds, alongside Evil Geniuses – in 2022. Jojopyun’s time in the spotlight has been a little more turbulent since that stunning start. Although he was MVP of the Summer Split in 2023, his team was no longer functioning collectively, mainly due to internal problems. EG even ended up being disbanded at the end of a disappointing year in which they failed to qualify for any international events.

An opportunity to breathe new life

Jojo ended up joining the supposed Cloud9 superteam alongside other big names on the American scene and one of the most eagerly-awaited Korean rookies: Park “Thanatos” Seung-gyu. Once again without success, the team didn’t do better than top 3 over the year and didn’t qualify for any international events. The midlaner was also fired from the team before the end of his contract – apparently for “tardiness”.

According to the sources cited by IWillDominate, Jojo is said to have accumulated more than 43 late arrivals to training sessions, match days, etc., which would have led to his contract being terminated for cause just after the end of the Summer Split 2024. The player will therefore have to prove his worth once again in terms of seriousness at Movistar KOI, in order to avoid being permanently ousted from the professional circuit for a reason as ridiculous as laziness.

In terms of talent, there is no doubt that KOI has snapped up one of the biggest gems available on the international market and he should make a far greater impact than his predecessor Bartłomiej “Fresskowy” Przewoźnik on the midlane. From now on, it will be a matter of him redeeming his credibility with a fresh start in a new region and establishing himself as one of the very best midlaners there. 

Everyone is aware that he has ample ability to do so, although other young talents such as Vladimiros “Vladi” Kourtidis and Adam “Jackies” Jeřábek will be vying for that spot. The LEC midlane has a bright future ahead, with the reign of Rasmus “Caps” Winther and Marek “Humanoid” Brázda more contested than ever.