Player profile: CoreJJ

CoreJJ´s career began with Bigfile Miracle as an ADC. With the team he competed in the 2014 Champions Korea, where he never got past the group stage, unable to win a single game.

After this brief episode in Korea, Dignitas hired CoreJJ for LCS, where his roster underperformed by finishing in the second-to-last position. It could have been worse for Dignitas considering that they were saved from demotion thanks to a miraculous reverse sweep.

CoreJJ´s second year with Dignitas, in 2015, was not noteworthy; CoreJJ and his teammates positioned at the middle of the table for the split, and during playoffs Dignitas did not advance past quarter finals.

After ending the year, the South Korean returned to his native region, this time with Samsung Galaxy, where he competed as ADC but later changed role to support; the roleswap turned out for the better, as CoreJJ went from being a middle-of-the-pack player to an elite one. The reason behind the swap was due to the arrival of Ruler, a brilliant marksman alongside whom CoreJJ would end dominating the bottom lane for years to come.

Yet CoreJJ had to spend some time adapting to his new position inside the team. The first few matches he played were all defeats, and it was not until summer that Samsung began to work like a well-oiled machine. They positioned fourth in their split, but when it came to the Worlds playoff they were came in strong, earning their qualifying spot. It was the first Worlds CoreJJ participated in, and fortunately he proved himself fit for the challenge. Samsung Galaxy advanced to the final, losing to a powerful SK Telecom T1.

With such good showings the team remained as it was for the next year. CoreJJ kept perfecting his new role, and by the middle of 2017 he was widely regarded as one of the best supports in the entire world.

After getting close to earning the LCK title in both splits, with a third and fourth spot in the spring and summer splits respectively, Samsung again qualified for Worlds in third place. During the tournament Samsung´s play impressed and they quickly became favorites to win. 

And so it was meant to be: Samsung got payback on SKT by breaking their hegemony by a 3-0 score (SK had won the previous two titles).

With such a tour de force here was CoreJJ, a powerful player that had gone from competing for the ninth spot in North America to winning the world championship in South Korea within a mere two-year time span. Still, the LCK was a title that resisted him.

Unfortunately, in 2018 Samsung Galaxy lost its identity; it went on to rename itself as KSV, then changing name again to that of Gen.G, and in the process the roster lost most of the distinctive leadership aura they had boasted of in the previous seasons.

Gen.G achieved two fifth places at the LCK playoffs. However, Gen.G still managed to secure a spot for Worlds, though this time the roster fell during the group stage, with only one victory and five defeats.

The loss was a hard blow for CoreJJ and the rest of the Gen.G members, who watched how their options to obtain a new title in Korea vanished. CoreJJ promptly decided to join Team Liquid in North America.

The bot lane that starred Doublelift and CoreJJ revolutionized the NA region in 2019. Team Liquid won two consecutive LCS titles with ease. In the MSI they fell in the finals to G2. CoreJJ, by then a common sight at Worlds, did not manage to carry his team past the group stage once again.

In 2020 Broxah arrived in the jungle, relegating the departed Xmithie and causing Team Liquid to end second to last in the spring split. The European jungler was not comfortable, and the team did not resume its march until summer, when Doublelift got replaced by Tactical.

Team Liquid sealed a great regular season with 15 victories and 3 defeats. Sadly, they finished third in the playoffs after a disappointing encounter against TSM, and, despite reaching Worlds, the team fell during the group stage.

2021 kicked off with a victory at the Lock In tournament of the LCS, a new preseason event created after a change in the North American league format.

In the spring split CoreJJ and his teammates finished second at the playoff, losing 2-3 against Cloud9. In the summer split they qualified for Worlds, this last one becoming the sixth competitive event he participated in; Team Liquid did not advance past the group stage.

CoreJJ would show good results with Liquid during 2022, winning the Lock In event at the LCS and the Spring split with a 14-4 score. During the playoff the team would fall against EG, getting a third place, and the same would happen during the Summer split. Sadly, CoreJJ and Liquid would not qualify for Worlds.