After trading Mehdi "Boukada" Lahlou for SK Gaming's Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem, Karmine Corp Blue was quickly forced to search for a new jungler. An indefinite personal break for jungler Can "Closer" Çelik meant GIANTX needed a new jungler — the team decided to pay a buyout to secure ISMA, who will play for KCB in the EMEA Masters 2025 Winter tournament before rejoining the LEC.
KCB, then, had to find their third jungler in as many months — eventually settling on rising North American jungle phenom
Johnny "Yukino" Dang. The behemoth French organization also considered BK ROG jungler Enes "
Rhilech" Uçan, but they would've had to pay a buyout to secure him. Yukino, on the other hand, has been a free agent since leaving DSG at the end of 2024, focusing on grinding solo queue and streaming.
A solo queue prospect
Last year, Yukino hit rank 2 on the EUW server during the Worlds bootcamp, considered one of the strongest solo queue ladders of the competitive year. In the same split, he hit rank 1 in NA. Before competing in Tier 2, Yukino was a solo queue phenom, predicted to be one of the next great NA junglers — he lived up to his reputation in two regions last year.
After promoting to the NACL with CCG last year — a roster that featured Bilal "Crimson" Shoura, brother of Rayan "Sniper" Shoura, Yukino saw middling results on Disguised. After similar results in his NACL debut with 100T Challengers in 2023, his two-split relegation to Tier 3 didn't earn him better results. Still, as an individual player, he stood out — now, he's headed to the best team in the LFL, ready to finally prove himself worth of a Tier 1 position.
From the Americas to the LFL
Liyu "Cody Sun" Sun, a North American ADC who played for Mirage Elyandra in the LFL in 2022, was the first-ever NA import to the LFL, the most prestigious ERL — unfortunately, the team ended up with mediocre results. This wasn't even the first time that KCB has considered importing an NACL talent for their LFL roster. In the previous offseason, KCB considered picking up Ganbat "Yuuji" Ulziidelger, who was lauded as the best player outside of the LCS last year.
With growing uncertainty in the NACL scene, it makes sense for top prospects like Yukino to look to the ERLs, where teams like Los Ratones, Karmine Corp Blue, and Movistar KOI Fénix have built massive fandoms. Each of these teams on their own has more fans than the entire NACL, and the LEC has more teams than the LTA North.
The ERL scene has more stability, better pay on top teams, and superior competitive prospects than the NA development pipeline. Yukino, who could make history as the first-ever North American LFL champion, joins players like Joseph Joon "Jojopyun" Pyun and Humzh "Humzh" Aborati in the exodus to Europe.
