NA’s most-promising LoL prospect claims the LCS mid lane throne—for now

Don’t blink, North American League of Legends fans, because you might miss the return to form for one of the region’s youngest rising stars.

Evil Geniuses’ mid laner Jojopyun might have suffered a downturn last season but has quickly become the best player in his role through the first half of the 2023 LCS Summer Split. The 18-year-old phenom has bolstered his skills and become a much more reliable carry for his teammates as they sit at the apex of the league’s regular season standings.

Over the last three weeks, Jojopyun has dominated his peers, leading all LCS mids with a 6.2 KDA and 655 average damage per minute, according to competitive stats aggregate Oracle’s Elixir. He is also top three for kills, kill participation, overall kill share, and damage share, making him a clear leader for his team’s recent successes.

_{^{Jojopyun is the future of the LCS. Photo by Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games}}

One of the biggest differences compared to last season lies in his destructive early-game stats. He has the highest averages for gold, experience, and CS difference at 15 minutes, while also wielding a whopping 44 percent first blood rate.

He has vastly improved his solo laning capabilities, while also finding time to roam around and help his team when able. This improvement can be attributed to Jojopyun’s bootcamp in South Korea, following the Geniuses’ early playoff exit at the hands of Golden Guardians.

In an interview with Ashley Kang, the young star said the postseason loss forced him to fix his underperforming ways if he wanted to qualify for the World Championship this year—and competing for three weeks against some of the best players in the world on a daily basis did just the trick. His mindset also changed during those three weeks, and made him “take [the Summer] much more serious than last split.”

With so many people doubting the Geniuses for the summer, Jojopyun’s resurgence couldn’t have come at a better time. He will, however, have to continue to elevate his game as the rest of the season rolls on, especially with teams beginning to improve and adapt to playstyles and League champion pools.