LoL - LPL: Kanavi Breaks 6-Year Dry Spell with First-Ever Pentakill

After six years and more than 600 professional games, Seo “KANAVI” Jin-hyeok has finally accomplished the one milestone that had consistently eluded him: his first career League of Legends pentakill. The Top Esports' veteran jungler achieved this long-awaited feat on Wednesday while playing Trundle during the first game of the 2-0 TES win against FunPlus Phoenix.

Kanavi’s professional journey began in 2019 with Griffin... but the Korean jungler didn't play a single match. His career took a pivotal turn mid-year when he joined JD Gaming on loan. Over the following five and a half years, he would establish himself as a foundational figure within JDG’s roster. Alongside midlaner Zeng "Yagao" Qi and other prominent teammates, he helped guide the team to numerous domestic triumphs, including four LPL championships (Spring 2020, Summer 2022, Spring and Summer 2023) and a gold medal from the 2022 Asian Games.

In 2023, Kanavi almost achieved the Golden Road, also winning the Mid-Season Invitational and reaching Worlds semifinals, being eventually defeated by T1. These accomplishments cemented his status as one of the most decorated junglers in LPL history. Yet despite his consistent success, the elusive pentakill achieved by eliminating all five enemy champions in rapid succession remained a glaring omission from his otherwise illustrious record.

At the outset of 2025, Kanavi departed JD Gaming to join Top Esports, marking the first time in his career that he would compete for a team other than JDG. The signing was widely regarded as a significant acquisition for TES, which secured one of the LPL’s most accomplished players. TES sought Kanavi not only for his championship pedigree but also for the leadership and consistency he brought to the jungle role. Upon joining, Kanavi quickly reunited with familiar colleagues and wasted no time in bolstering his legacy, playing a key role in TES’s capture of the Split 1 2025 LPL title, his fifth domestic crown.

His transition to TES has been closely scrutinized by fans and analysts alike. While his legacy at JDG was firmly established, the move to TES presented an opportunity to pursue new ambitions, particularly the still-unclaimed World Championship. His performance in Split 1 offered immediate validation: he ranked among the top junglers in both kills per game and overall damage contribution. More importantly, his presence revitalized expectations around TES, positioning the squad as a frontrunner among Chinese teams on the global stage.

To top it all off, today was, quite literally, a day defined by pentakills. Over in the LCK, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk made his own statement by notching the 10th pentakill of his professional career during Gen.G’s match against Hanwha Life Esports. This milestone came on the opening day of the Summer Split and was earned against one of the league’s strongest rosters, a team considered a top contender alongside T1 and Gen.G itself. With both Kanavi and Ruler delivering standout performances on the same day, fans were treated to a remarkable double showcase from two of the most revered players in competitive League of Legends history.