Joseph “jojopyun” Pyun is coming.
Towards the end of 2020, it didn’t feel like much of a conversation. The team would announce that Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro would be staying with the team for the 2021 season. A few days later, Evil Geniuses would announce their three team system. Building talent through an amateur line-up and an academy team. Instead of keeping on a very respectable mid-lane prospect in Ahmad “Giyuu” Charif in their academy team, EG would take a shot on the Fortnite kid who emerged onto the amateur scene in the second half of 2020.
2021 would start off slow for the academy team – finishing tenth in the spring academy split. Yet a second-place finish in the Giant Slayer Gauntlet, ignited conversations about EG’s development system. The team would spend most of 2021 constantly being competitive against line-ups that may not have had the same developmental focus but were stacked with talent. More importantly for the point of this piece, it built the case for Jojopyun as a future franchise player. Given the context that he might be replacing a player in the conversation for MVP of the 2021 season, that’s a significant thing to consider.
Jojo’s Circus Experience
It wouldn’t be an immediate competitive success for the 16-year-old. As previously mentioned, the team wasn’t performing well in the Spring Split and he was still developing his competitive legs in League of Legends. But with the new format of second-tier competition, he would get the time to play against both amateur and academy teams to qualify for Proving Grounds.
It started coming together.
Watching Jojopyun play is truly like experiencing a rollercoaster ride. He would stomp in lane at LCS Proving Grounds 2021 Spring – averaging a ridiculous 508 gold lead at ten minutes, 556 experience lead at ten minutes in fourteen matches. But this would be paired with him making up 24.5% of Evil Geniuses Academy’s deaths. Continuously pushing his limits as a player, his aggression would be praised by his coaching staff, admiring his confidence and mechanical ability. At times, he would make the critical play to kill his enemies’ hopes and dreams. But at times, it would cost the team.
After a strong spring finish, expectations were high for their Summer Split but others teams were ready for Jojopyun. With a new marksman on their roster, the team would have a better academy split and make it to the academy playoffs however they would bow out of the LCS Proving Grounds 2021 Summer early. Jojo would see weaker laning statistics in his eight matches but all eyes would be on him in every single game.
The Similar Situation
Jiizuke would experience similar highs and lows at the professional level. His outstanding laning with his aggression made him such a valuable player to Evil Geniuses. Configuring the team around his playstyle worked – growing into one of the best teams in the region. Whether it was bringing in another marksman that could mechanically match him or bringing in a jungler that could match his pace, the “Italian Stallion” was free to do what he wanted. At times, it would showcase his brilliance. Other times, it would showcase the need for something more contained.
Evil Geniuses’ end of the 2021 season was surprising as the team looked to be in a prime position to represent the North American region at the 2021 World Championship. Most of the criticism was pushed in the direction of the coaching staff for a poor read on the meta and severe lapses in game-to-game judgement. Yet some of the blame probably should go onto their MVP candidate for not necessarily playing like an MVP candidate player. Their final series of the season saw a struggling Luka “Perkz” Perković completely outclass his fellow import counterpart.
If Jiizuke was able to lead the team to Worlds, it would be tough to argue against him as their 2022 starter. But suddenly, it’s more complicated.
The Complicated Part
Jojopyun more than likely is not LCS ready. However, he is in a position where teams may be willing to entertain the thought of bringing him onto their LCS team with an LCS paycheck and developing him. The excitement of him as a prospect given his mechanical abilities and his confidence makes him incredibly valuable. While it could be argued there are better mid-lane prospects available, the hype around Jojopyun is simply more captivating.
On the other hand, it is still a risk.
One side of the argument is that his Summer Split continued to show his ability to make plays across the map and continue to showcase his skill as a mid-laner. You’re buying into his potential. However, another argument could be made that he really needed to showcase some restraint as a mid-laner and didn’t do so, costing his team at times – a similar issue to what Jiizuke has displayed throughout his career. It’s a fair criticism to the Evil Geniuses coaching staff that they only look at the positives and downplay clear points of concern with some of their members.
EG must make a tough decision. Do they go with the established veteran? Do they go with their prospect that could be something special? Or will they even get the opportunity to make that decision themselves – what if a team like Dignitas drops a load of cash to sign Jojopyun?
It’s a decision that costs people jobs or makes them a beloved organizational figure for life.
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