words that Levi wants to say to his fans

Having added Flawless and Levi, the 2019 iteration of JD Gaming is not surprising to many LPL viewers. They had always been a solid mid-tier team, struggling to get into the top 3 while the other members of the same hierarchical category fended off the lower-tier teams. Having overcome all these hurdles, JDG ultimately decided it was worth the gamble to once again present this Jungler onto the competitive stage.

Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh was put into his very first game against Rogue Warriors, a team mostly made up of LDL players glued together by their support player, Killua. Rogue Warriors just came off of a loss from FPX earlier this week and was hungry for their first win as much as they wanted to avoid becoming the first 0-2 team. Although Levi said that his first time on the LPL stage was just like any other, his first game against RW showed a different story. Levi went for a gank in the midlane at 2 and a half minutes despite having opted to go for the Hail of Blades Rune on Rek’Sai which ended in both YaGao and himself getting killed.





Levi: “My goal is to win more games and make fewer mistakes”

Levi has said in an exclusive interview that the most important thing in this patch is to minimize mistakes to win and this 0-2 start just before the 3-minute mark proved his point exactly. Having sat on the bench of the 100T academy team for a year and making such a big mistake on your first game on your new team in the new region will take a toll on anybody and although Levi claims his first time on the LPL stage is the same as any other, perhaps it was because this early falter that the dominos representing his form had started to fall. The result of this game 1 ended with Levi with 4 deaths and 0 kills on Rek’Sai and would be the worst start of anyone’s debut in a new region. Flawless was subbed in for games 2 and 3 in which JDG was able to take back the series and claim the victory of their opening match.

Having realized it wasn’t the best of showings, especially for his opening game, Levi has been deeply apologetic and it was obvious in his mood during this interview. Due to not having studied Chinese in the past, the language barrier and communication issues may have played a critical role in this blunder. As a professional player, especially in the LPL, having to take time out of your practice to learn a language will be taxing for anyone.





Levi: “I am learning Chinese from my team through the game and through the translator. His favorite Chinese saying is “I'm coming!”

After the game, JDG Midlaner YaGao posted on Weibo, saying “Due to the communication issue, we lost our first game. hoping everyone can give Levi some time, he is trying really learning Chinese”. The official JDG Weibo Account responded, saying that everyone was nervous as it was their first game and that Levi is unquestionably a great player. Despite coming from a different background and still in the process of learning Chinese, Levi has shown to have a very good relationship with his new teammates, receiving a lot of support for underperforming in his first game of the LPL.

Levi: “I am getting along well with everyone. Since I play ranked with Zoom the most, we interact more often”

The pressure will always be there for players in positions with a substitute role and for Levi’s first game in arguably the most competitive region, that pressure may double down. It boils down to the way this pressure will be handled that determines how strong the player’s mentality is. Whether the mental and social support of JDG from team members are enough for Levi to bounce back will become evident in their next scheduled match against FPX on January 23rd.

Images: JDG

Written by: Benson Cheng @1337sn1per

Edited by: YM Chen