Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun has been named the MVP of the LCS Summer split. He won the award in a landslide ahead of Blaber of Cloud9 and River of Golden Guardians. The Evil Geniuses midlaner is coming off his second full year in the league. Furthermore, he impressed voters with his consistent performances and highlight reel plays. Jojopyun helped guide Evil Geniuses to a 12-6 record during the regular season, good enough for third place in the standings. However, things help apart in the playoffs. Evil Geniuses were swept 3-0 by Cloud9 before falling to Team Liquid 3-1 in their do-or-die match with Worlds qualification on the line.
Jojopyun finished the split with a 4.2 KDA, 72.4% kill participation rate, a 9.1 CSM rate, and a 31.4% damage contribution rate. Furthermore, the young mid laner was named to the All-Pro First Team. However, not everyone is happy about the choice made by the voters. According to the LCS, "the awards are voted on by the LCS broadcast team, third-party media, and the pro teams themselves."
Read More: LEC Summer split tracker
Did Jojopyun Have An MVP Split?
Jojopyun is definitely one of the best North American players to debut in many years. However, did he have an MVP-level split in Summer 2023? His KDA mark of 4.2 was only 16th best in the league. Furthermore, three of his teammates (UNF0RGIVEN, Armao, and Eyla) performed better in the statistic than Jojo. Additionally, his 4.2 was also almost half the league leader, Cloud9's Berserker (8.2). Meanwhile, his KP% was 17th in the league, his CSM 11th. Granted, he was second in the league in DMG% but elsewhere, his numbers were well below where you would expect the overwhelming MVP choice to be. It's very much a "vibes" win.
Then there are the playoffs. Granted, voting was done between the end of the regular season and the playoffs. But regardless, Jojopyun and Evil Geniuses won just four of their 12 playoff matches. After beating TSM 3-2 in the first round, they were swept by Cloud9. Then they were stomped 3-1 by Team Liquid in the series that had the last chance at a Worlds spot on the line. Jojpyun had a 2.5 KDA in those 12 games. His ability to dominate and make an impact was completely solved and neutralized by better opposition. While congratulations are in order for Jojopyun, questions remain about the voters
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