CTBC Flying Oyster kickstarted their participation in the 2023 League of Legends World Championship in style ‘ defeating Japan’s DetonatioN Focus Me in a resounding 2-0 series. In a best-of-three affair that ultimately lasted approximately one hour and a minute, the PCS second seeded team cruised their way to the second round of the upper bracket in their group despite a shaky start in Game 1 where it was on equal footing.
One of those who stood out in particular for CFO was mid-laner Tseng “JimieN” Hao-Chun, who made his international debut by finishing with a cumulative KDA of 12/5/14 with Jayce. JimieN, who was a part of the 100 Thieves Academy roster for the 2022 season and competed in the tier-two scene in North America, took a major leap once he joined CFO by leading them to a second successive Worlds appearance and a possible run towards the Swiss stage to boot.
Following CFO’s victory over DFM, BLIX interviewed JimieN about how he and the team made the result possible, how he looks back at his time with 100 Thieves Academy and more.
Pedro Romero, BLIX: Congrats on the win over DFM at the start of Play-Ins, JimieN. I want to start by covering your initial thoughts on taking down your opponents in the first obstacle in the event.
Tseng “JimieN” Hao-Chun: Frankly speaking, I wasn’t that happy after our win because we made too many mistakes and we did it in our best shape and hopefully against BDS, probably tomorrow, we can be better.
BLIX: About the mistakes that you mentioned, what exactly were those mistakes that you feel you made in addition to the rest of the team?
JimieN: It’s mostly on our lane manipulation in the mid game. We sent the wrong person to the wrong side of the map and got caught a lot of times. And also, our team fight election was that perfect.
BLIX: With that considered, you still put up a good individual performance for both games on Jayce. It’s a performance that continues your particular dominance with that champion this year where you are 10-2 throughout this entire year. What about playing Jayce makes it such a good champion for you to use not just in Worlds so far but also for the entire year?
JimieN: Actually, I hate Jayce before I became a pro, but this spring, Jayce was a meta champion so I spent the whole season learning this champion. I put a lot of work in this champion and I think I have played over 100 games in solo-queue just to play Jayce. So after a season of training, I think I have gotten familiar with the champion and become better.
BLIX: At this point in time, after playing that champion for so long, do you feel you’ve gotten fully used to the champion?
JimieN: I think I will give myself a seven out of 10 if I have to give a grade. I still have a lot of room to work on with this champion.
BLIX: Another thing to consider for you is the fact that this is your first time appearing in Worlds as a player. How are you taking in this experience of playing alongside the rest of the world’s best teams?
JimieN: I came here like a fanboy because, previously, I always watched Worlds at home and I idolized a lot of world famous players and now I am able to be here and play alongside them. It feels like a dream come true.
BLIX: Out of curiosity, have there been any players that caught your attention throughout your stay in Korea for this event and if so, who are they?
JimieN: We have scrimmed with fnatic when we came to Korea and I think Humanoid [Marek Brázda] is very very good especially in mages so after playing against him, I think I can learn a lot of things from him.
BLIX: One other thing that I want to cover when it comes to your career is how you were part of the 100 Thieves Academy team last year and was playing within North America. How do you look back at your time within that team and how has that helped you with your current stint in CFO
JimieN: I learned more about outside of the game as in English and communication of course. I also learned about how much work you have to put in to create a team and let the team work normally. That’s the biggest takeaway I learned from my experience in 100 Thieves.
JimieN has come a long way in his road to Worlds 2023. Such events saw him travel to NA to play with 100 Thieves Academy in 2022. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesBLIX: If you could compare one thing that you focus on the most between your time in 100 Thieves Academy and your current team, what would that be?
JimieN: Because of the language barrier, I was focused most of the time on my mechanics in North America, and after I came back to Taiwan, because there’s no language barrier, I put a lot of effort to communicate better with my teammates and try to get better coordination [in matches].
