MKOI Jojopyun: “Make sure to count me and KOI as also NA representatives for MSI”

Interview conducted after MKOI vs KC, June 7, 2025.

Q: That series was crazy, what was that??

Jojopyun: Yeah, I mean, it was a crazy series, I don’t know. To me, I stopped getting too excited for wins [when we’re] two down for losses. I think that makes me play better. So I’m not really soaking it all in right now, but I probably will — especially because we have a game tomorrow, so I don’t wanna celebrate too much. But I know for sure after tomorrow, I’m gonna go crazy.

Q: That was three first time champions in a row for you, on stage. Kassadin, Smolder, and Cassiopeia.

Jojopyun: Oh, yeah. I was first timing champs because it’s Fearless, so I just tried it out, what’s good versus their comp. I haven’t played Kassadin, like, I don’t know the last time [I played it], but it was just so good against their comp, so I picked it.

Q: Have you been scrimming with these picks?

Jojopyun: There’s a thing; I’ve been convincing my coaches for like, a month or two, to play Kassadin in scrims, and they’re like, “No, no. This champion’s so dogsh*t. Blah blah blah blah blah.” We played it one time against G2 [in scrims]. Finally, I got my redemption. I think we lost the game in 15 minutes, 20 minutes, complete stomp, so I knew my Kassadin ticket was over.

But today, I mean, they picked, like, Viktor, Rumble. They had no CC. Vladi’s not good at laning, so I knew I’d be able to scale. So I knew that, bro, just pick me Kassadin, and I’ll carry the game. And luckily, they gave me Kassadin.

Q: It felt like all five games you were just on today, like peak Jojo performance. What do you think?

Jojopyun: I have to review the games. I still felt… I think I played good in some moments, I played bad in some moments. I was overgrouping at times, or I wasn’t as focused on the map at times. So my teamfighting — some moments were off too, but I’d say, overall, today was a pretty good day.

I still made so many mistakes. I haven’t shown my potential yet, I think I can play so much better. Of course, today it’s a playoff match, it’s important, but still, I could’ve shown so much today. So I would say I played well, but I don’t think I played well enough where it’s like I carried the series, you know? The whole team played well, I tried doing my job, everyone did well individually, and yeah, we all did our thing and just won.

Q: You’ve developed a sort of friendship and reciprocal banter with Vladi this split. What’s it like beating KC and Vladi, and how well do you know them now that you’ve been in EU for longer?

Jojopyun: I think they probably hate me because I trash talk on stage, so it’s probably annoying, which is understandable. But with me and Vladi specifically, it’s just banter, I think we both know. I respect him a lot as a player.

Coming to this series, I know his strengths; I know his weaknesses as a player. So I just try to capitalize on his weaknesses and not play to his strengths. When he gets to play to his strengths, he’s gonna pop off and just carry the whole game like he has this whole year if you see his good games.

So I think he’s a very good player. He’s very young. Him and I both have a lot of improvement to do on our weaknesses, but when we play to our strengths, we’re definitely at the top of the league with Caps.

Q: You calling a player young is really funny.

Jojopyun: Yeah, it is kinda crazy. I don’t know if he’s younger than me…

Q: He is younger than you, but by less than a year.

Jojopyun: Bro I’m f*cking washed, it’s crazy.

Q: Last time you said you aren’t keeping up with LTA much, but FLY vs C9 with your ex-teammates starts in half an hour — are you going to tune in?

Jojopyun: Yeah, I’m keeping up a bit with the playoffs. I know C9 and FLY are playing today. Of course, C9 has all the old players I played with and FlyQuest has — I guess it’s only Inspired that I played with from FlyQuest. So it’s gonna be a hype matchup.

I’m supporting both, I don’t really have a favorite. It’s kinda hard you know, I played with them, I have good relationships with all of them, and I like them a lot, so I’m just gonna enjoy as a spectator. I think I’ll just zoom in and out ’cause it’s five games; I have a game tomorrow, so I have to focus on tomorrow too, but I’ll probably just watch the highlights or something.

Q: Again, you have one night of prep before playing vs G2. This time, did you or the coaches spend some prep time before today for G2?

Jojopyun: We were very confident going into the series, so we prepped a lot for G2. I think we knew that we could easily win this whole weekend, so we prepped for both teams because we didn’t wanna make the same mistake as last time. Also, we improved a lot in what we have to improve on versus G2. We made a lot of mistakes in some specific areas that — it showed us that it’s a weakness. Other teams didn’t really exploit [those weaknesses], so then we realized [after facing G2]. So I think tomorrow will be much closer.

Q: Have you ever been to Vancouver?

Jojopyun: Probably when I was, like, a baby or something, but I don’t remember going. Maybe I was in elementary school, but I don’t have any memories.

Q: Are you looking forward to anything there outside the games?

Jojopyun: I don’t even know what’s in Vancouver, to be honest. Of course, I love that it’s in Canada. It sucks it’s not in Toronto, but I’ll take Vancouver, of course. I don’t really know what’s in Vancouver, but I think my family will come and everything. So I’ll just have to see.

Q: This is gonna be your first international since Worlds 2022. What are your personal goals for the level you want to be at?

Jojopyun: I just wanna prove I can compete with the top. I think I was too… I wasn’t grateful enough for my experiences when I was a rookie and how blessed all this is because it came so easily, right? Like, I won my first split, I went to MSI, I went to Worlds like that, so I thought it would be so easy.

And then I haven’t been to international in two years, right? The first split [of 2023], it was the EG roster. We got COVID, playoffs, boom. And then the summer split, it was the new roster, and we almost made it to worlds that time too. And then the C9 incidents happened, right?

So it’s been two years since I actually vs’d the best mids. And I know I improved so much when I was versing in the best mids in my rookie year, and I really matched the level of the gameplay, so I just wanna see where I’m at. So I’m just gonna come in as a student, try learning as much as I can again, and then come back for summer split, come back for Worlds, and be even stronger. I’ll take this MSI as really just being a student and trying to improve as much as I can again because I haven’t gotten this experience in two years, right?

Q: NA lost a seed at international tournaments this year because of the LTA merger. What do you have to say to NA fans who want to claim the the MKOI roster, or at least you, as our NA second seed for MSI?

Jojopyun: Of course, I want the NA fans to still support me. So you guys better make sure to count me and KOI as also an NA representative. I mean, I’m of course really proud to come from NA. So it makes me feel happy that they wanna represent KOI as NA too.

Q: Any final message or trash talk for Caps for tomorrow?

Jojopyun: I realize when I sh*t talk, it’s… I don’t really know, I’m just locked in right now. I don’t really care. Like, I’ll just play my best. I hope Caps plays his best. We’ll see who wins, you know?

I’m really confident that we can take this whole weekend. We already did 50% of it, we have 50% more to go. Job’s not finished. And then I’ll lift the LEC trophy, and that’ll be pretty nice.