C9 Jojopyun interview: A new journey with Cloud9

Jojopyun on his first game with his new team, How it feels playing and where he ranks himself as a mid laner

Jojopyun Week 1 LCS regular season 2024 - Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

"It was a pretty slow game, but I think we played pretty well as a team"

So you just played a match against NRG, What are your thoughts on the game?

Jojopyun: I mean it was a pretty slow game, I think we played pretty well as a team. Obviously, the pause sucked.
It was a very long pause but, you know, I guess it was lagging so it makes sense. We couldn’t really do anything but overall I think we played really clean, we didn’t really make too many mistakes.

How does it feel to play for a different team for the first time?

Jojopyun: It's definitely a different feeling, you know, seeing new faces everywhere, like the staff, the players, everything, but I think C9 has been treating me really well so far and I'm very comfortable so it hasn't been an issue at all.

How is playing with Vulcan again?

Jojopyun: I really liked playing with Vulcan on EG and I really wanted him on C9, so I’m happy he is here.

So far, how has the meta felt for you?

Jojopyun: I think the mid meta is not completely solved yet, whenever I watch LCK or LEC everyone has different priorities on mid. So I dont think there’s like a set meta, there’s a few very good champions that everyone knows is good, but other than that it’s kind of diverse. You can really pick almost anything.

How are you feeling about the map changes around mid and jungle in general, how does that impact your gameplay?

Jojopyun: It’s definitely different. I think it's harder to gank mid so I like that. With the Jungle changes, I guess it's refreshing seeing new changes to the map because we haven’t seen big changes to the map in forever, so it's definitely nice to play something new.

Jojopyun and Blaber W1 D1 LCS - Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

How are you feeling going into this first week of LCS, your form/gameplay?

Jojopyun: I’m feeling pretty good. I dont think I'm near my peak at all, but I dont think I'm in a bad form. I think it's just the start of regular season, so my form is not the greatest, but it just matters what happens in playoffs. I will just keep improving my form.

Where do you think you would rank yourself against the other mid laners in the world coming playoffs or Worlds and MSI? Scale yourself against the other international level mid laners.

Jojopyun: I’m not sure to be honest, because last time I went international was like my rookie year, so I wasn’t that good compared to now. So It’s kind of hard to say. I definitely think I am the best in the west, or at least one of the best.
Against the eastern mid’s im not too sure because I haven't played against them in a long time, but I definitely think I can compete with them.

So on paper Cloud9 is one of the best rosters in the LCS and a lot of people are predicting Cloud9 to win the split. Do you feel any pressure from this or are you just playing your own game?

Jojopyun: Not really pressure, LCS isn't my main priority, of course it's important to win, but I want to be a competitive team internationally. So right now even if we are not at our greatest form, it doesn't really matter as long as we keep improving. So if we lose right now it doesn’t matter, it just matters how we receive the losses. If we keep improving, then that’s all that matters.

Your next matchup tomorrow is 100T, do you have any specific thoughts about the mid matchup?

Jojopyun: I think Quid’s pretty good. I 1v1’d him alot in practice, but I definitely think we have an advantage. It's kind of us versus ourselves, if we play well as a team I don't think we can lose.

Any message to any of your fans and Cloud9 fans?

Jojopyun: I appreciate everyone supporting me and the team. I know Cloud9 has a lot of fans, so it's great to be here.

What's next?

With a good first win Cloud9 is looking to play against 100T next. Another team who won their first game. There will be alot of eyes on this match as Jojopyun will face two new hyped rookies coming into the year: Rayan "Sniper" Shoura and Brandon "Meech" Choi.

Sunday 21st, 13:00 PST - C9 vs 100