20-year-old Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon enjoys a special reputation in the League of Legends: He practically led his team Hamwha Life solo to the Worlds LoL 2021. His fans in the West and some experts refer to the team as “Church of Chovy” – which seems to please him quite a lot.
This is Chovy:
- Chovy is a young LoL player who came out of nowhere. He was a protégé of the controversial yet brilliant coach cvMax, who had an eye for young LoL talents and found and shaped several stars of the future. With cvMax, Chovy made it to the LoL Worlds in 2019 (Griffin) and 2020 (DragonX). Both were teams whose players cvMax had largely found and developed himself.
- In 2021, Chovy will play at the Worlds again: He is the only notable player from “Hanwha Life”, a team that does not belong to the top tier of Korean LoL.
- Chovy is considered an absolute midlane star in the Korean league LCK. He is known for practically always winning his lane, meaning he kills more minions than his opponent. His favorite champs are Zoe, Orianna, Azir, Sylas, and Galio.
Bow down to our lord and savior before he solo-kills the unbelievers
What’s special: Chovy’s fans in Europe and the USA call themselves “The Church of Chovy” and refer to his team by the same name. The analyst and content creator, Nicholas “LS” de Cesare has claimed the title of religious leader for himself. Overall, Chovy is a favorite among professional western casters of the Korean league LCK. He is someone who is a fan favorite.
When Chovy was asked in an interview about his fans in the West speaking of the “Church of Chovy”, he said:
“I had never heard of it until just now, but I am unbelievably happy that I receive so much support.”
He is pleased about the great support from overseas. It feels very significant and fulfilling.
Apparently, the “Church of Chovy” has also reached his team by now (featured image).
How 2021 went for Chovy: The spring season went quite well for Chovy and his team, Hamwha Life. He had switched to the team,after DragonX fell apart after the LoL Worlds 2020. In the Spring Split, Hamwha Life finished with a 12-6 record, placing 3rd in the regular season and playoffs.
However, the “Spring Split” in LoL is not worth much, as no spots for the Worlds are awarded.
In the Summer Split 2021, the team showed to be weaker. In the end, they only managed a 7-11 record, placing 8th in the league. Thus, there was no playoff spot available.
Chovy then had to qualify through the “last chance”: via the Regional Finals. Here, Hamwha Life was actually able to secure the fourth and last spot from Korea at the LoL Worlds 2021 at the last minute.
Hamwha Life will now play in the “Play-Ins” of the LoL Worlds 2021 and is expected to massacre every team that has the misfortune of crossing their path.
The dominance of Chovy can be seen in his stats at the Regional Finals. There, he played 12 matches with a KDA of 8.3. LoL legend Faker managed only a KDA of 4.3 across 5 matches at the Regional Finals.
What can we expect from Chovy at the Worlds? In 2021, we will see some of the strongest midlaners in the world at the Worlds 2021. Besides Chovy, Showmaker (DAMWON Gaming), Doinb (FunPlus Phoenix) and the legendary Faker (T1) will also play.
For Chovy, it will be the third Worlds, and probably it won’t be enough for the big run in 2021, but Chovy can continue to build his legend.
Chovy might become a world champion if Faker retires and T1 urgently searches for a new midlaner.
Perhaps T1 will find someone in a church.
One of the most exciting new supporters in South Korea is Keria (T1), with whom Chovy played at DragonX:
