MKOI Jojopyun: "I don’t want a repeat of MSI [...] I’m still not satisfied, none of us are"

MKOI Jojopyun: "I don’t want a repeat of MSI [...] I’m still not satisfied, none of us are" | Sheep Esports

"This loss might be a good thing to motivate us to prep even harder in China"

Despite their momentum, Movistar KOI crashed under the dominating hand of G2 Esports at the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) summer finals in Madrid. Finishing in second place, the team now returns empty-handed, with their focus turning to Worlds 2025 in China and a chance for redemption on the international stage. In an exclusive interview, midlaner Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun spoke with Sheep Esports about their finals loss, his thoughts ahead of Worlds, and what Movistar KOI needs to work on to bounce back.

What are your thoughts and feelings after the 3-0 loss to G2? Do you feel the result was due to underperformance or G2 being simply better?

Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun: "G2 definitely played well today, but we really underperformed. Yesterday we showed some of the best League we played all year, and today we didn’t even do the basic fundamentals properly. After game one, I’m not sure if the team as a whole was able to recover.

They've been really good lately, so it was harder for us—they exposed our mistakes. If we played how we played yesterday, we would have won today, and it would have been a long and fun series. I’m not sure what happened today, to be honest. I felt like I was pretty locked in during the games, but I could have done much better.

I’m going to reflect on what to work on for Worlds. I felt like everything I did before the game—the prep, everything—was good. But there are always going to be times where you do everything right and still don’t perform on the day, both as a team and as an individual.

Did it feel like facing a stronger G2 than in Spring? Do you feel like they improved more than MKOI did?

Jojopyun: I'll definitely give credit to G2. They improved so much. Them and us are the only teams that really spiked up, maybe because of international experience or momentum. I can see their work ethic, and they’re a very hard-working and smart-working team. They deserved the trophy today. For us, we did a lot of things wrong this split as players. I wouldn’t say it was a bad split—we started fixing our shit at the end. But we wasted a lot of time in the beginning of summer, and that’s a disappointment compared to spring, where I felt like the whole split we were locked in. In summer, it took us a long time to lock in, while G2 was ramping up the whole time.

You’ve said this year was your biggest growth as a player, both mentally and in-game. Now returning to Worlds after three years, how do you feel about it?

Jojopyun: It depends on how hard and how well we prepare and improve, because we’re going to bootcamp in China in two days. The time we use there will be the most important before Worlds. If it goes well, I see the potential of our team—it’s very high. There are downs like what happened today, but it depends on how we practice in the bootcamp. This loss might be a good thing to motivate us to prep even harder in China, and in the long term, if we have a good showing at Worlds.

What level do you think MKOI is at heading into Worlds, especially against LCK and LPL teams, and do you feel today’s result truly reflects your potential given the struggles at EWC and MSI?

Jojopyun: Yeah, for sure. International events are the most fun you can have as a pro player. You play against the best teams from every region all coming to one place to play each other. It really is a blessing. We haven’t shown our potential today. Even at MSI, I don’t think we showed our potential, and I don’t want it to happen again. Everybody will work really hard during the bootcamp to put up the best effort we can, because no one is happy with getting beaten 3-0 today or with our recent international performances. The bar is still very high, and we’re not there yet.

How does it feel to represent Europe and potentially have to face North American teams?

Jojopyun: Yeah, it’ll be really fun. I really wanted to verse FlyQuest at MSI, but we didn’t get the chance. I really want to face FlyQuest and Inspired (Kacper Słoma). It would be a really fun match.

Some have said that FlyQuest is currently the best Western team. Do you agree with that statement?

Jojopyun: After MSI, when they 3-0'd G2, it makes sense that people would say FlyQuest is the best Western team. Still, even though they had improved and played well, G2 underperformed that day—they choked. That’s kind of how it went today as well. We underperformed, and G2 played very well.

Versing them and watching FlyQuest in scrims at MSI, I believe that MKOI, G2, and FlyQuest can all compete on any given day. There isn’t really a gap. Whoever’s locked in on the day will perform better. You saw in MSI, G2 got stomped, and then at EWC, they won—it was the complete opposite. Performance on the day is very important. The skill ceiling of all these teams is even. With MKOI, we haven’t shown our potential yet. We aim to compete not just with the best in the West, but with the best in the world.

After a full year in Europe, how do you reflect on your experience, and has it helped you grow beyond League of Legends?

Jojopyun: I moved away from Canada when I was 16, so I was independent pretty early. Living in LA, which is still closer to Toronto than Europe, was very different. Since joining Europe, MKOI has taken care of me really well, they did great. Winter was hard to adjust because I had just moved, but after that, it became much easier. Everything has been going very well.

Do you consider 2025 a success personally, despite today’s loss, given you won a split and secured a Worlds spot?

Jojopyun: I don’t want to say it’s a complete bummer because we didn’t win today, but I’m still not satisfied. None of us are. Worlds is the most important part of the year, so everyone's focus in on preparing well for it. I can’t give a full answer right now. I'm hoping that this loss, and the MSI losses, will help us perform better at Worlds in the long term. I’ll be able to judge the success of 2025 after Worlds.

Is there anything you want to say to Movistar KOI fans, especially those who came to the arena in Madrid?

Jojopyun: It’s very sad that we lost in Madrid, especially with everyone on our side. I really enjoyed the fans, the noise, and the atmosphere. As a team, we feel very disappointed not only because we lost, but because we got swept. We’re going to use this as motivation to improve as much as we can for Worlds."

Header Photo Credit: Gomez Visual/Riot Games