Oliver “IzpAH” Steer was trapped.

The then Fnatic manager was headed to Korea ahead of his team, who had sponsorship commitments in America. They were supposed to head to Korea for a bootcamp to prep for their Season 4 World Championship run. But IzpAH’s bank had no branches in the country, he had no grasp of the language, no money, and no contact information for friends in the vicinity. His arrangement with Fnatic was that he would get everything ready for his team, but he was not exactly set up for success out of the gate. Standing alone in Incheon International Airport, luggage in tow, IzpAH’s situation reflected just about any traveler’s worst nightmare.

Then, Yun “JoyLuck” Deok-Jin showed up.

IzpAH's Fnatic T-shirt and foreign look tipped JoyLuck off. JoyLuck had previously communicated with Fnatic through Elroy Pinto, a former Head of Content and WarCraft 3 General Manager. IzpAH and JoyLuck, through their limited communication, started to realize IzpAH’s predicament, and find solutions to the situation at hand. JoyLuck accommodated IzpAH for the entire week while Fnatic was away, buying him food, letting him crash in his office and even giving him the grand tour of Korean League of Legends.

JoyLuck may not be a household name in the West, but he is responsible for many of the names that you may be familiar with joining the LCS. From this past year alone, Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook, No "Arrow" Dong-Hyeon, Jang "Looper" Hyeong-seok, Lee "Flame" Ho-jong and Kim "Ssong" Sangsoo are just some of the players and coaches he helped bring to the Western professional scene. As teams clamor for talented Koreans to add to their roster, he is contact number one for securing their services.

The Great Korean Exodus

Korean League of Legends has always been dominant in the international scene, but Season 4 was a particularly crushing year. On home turf, Samsung White dropped two whole games across all of of the 2014 World Championship, allowing the region to repeat Worlds victories. But, after that event, the landscape in Korea changed. Riot Korea and KeSPA abolished sister teams in Korea. That, along with the Interregional Movement Policy created a mass exodus of Korean players to China, Europe and North America.

This collection of policies could create a situation where imported star players could theoretically dominate for a couple of years, and then become residents of country, allowing their team to absorb more international stars as imports. Teams immediately went all-in on importing Korean players, which seemed to be the go-to strategy for an eventual winning team.

Even before these changes were made, one of the first players to make the switch from Korea was Choi “inSec” In-seok in the middle of Season 4. His impact wasn’t necessarily immediate, with Star Horn Royal Club stumbling at first, but the team eventually cruised to a final against Samsung White while avoiding the remaining Korean teams. As NA sent a whole team of imports via LMQ to Worlds, and the 2014 World Championship finals featured more Korean players than any other nationality, it was apparent to Riot and the teams that the future of League of Legends would heavily feature imports.

No longer would they be unique and interesting quirks of a system wholly dedicated to its region, like Edward "Edward" Abgaryan's stint on Curse Gaming in Season 3, or the acquisition of Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg for Team SoloMid. Instead, Korean imports became the norm. Chinese money broke apart Samsung and scattered them amongst many organizations, and former world champions found homes away from home. For JoyLuck, this was an opportunity: make Korean players happier and get them the best conditions to perform and be successful.

“JoyLuck thinks I love him so much because of Huni and Reignover, but I actually love him because he saved me”

“I remember we were on a subway from the airport and I just told him, ‘One of my dreams is to go to OGN,’” IzpAH said. “He immediately takes out his phone, he is only speaking Korean but the only thing I understood was ‘Fnatic Manager.’”

JoyLuck arranged extra seating for the pair to attend OGN that week. They sat next to Faker's aunt, watched Najin White Shield defeat SKT T1 K and prevent them from defending their Worlds title, then got to meet everyone backstage.

“I told him after, 'I have a week here free, take me to as many gaming houses as you can,’" IzpAH said.

JoyLuck took him to three houses — Xenics Storm, Incredible Miracle (now LCK champions Longzhu) and Samsung, home of what would be the Season 4 World Champions.

At the Samsung house is where he would meet Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon.

When they went to the Samsung house, the only person able to greet them was a solo queue player — called “Ddonghuni” at the time — who was part of a Samsung practice squad used to train the main teams. IzpAH, striking up conversation with the player while waiting to enter the Samsung house, asked Huni what he asked everyone who he met in Korea: "What do you think of Fnatic's chances at Worlds?"

"Well, maybe you guys get out of groups… sOAZ could maybe get to Diamond 1 in Korea," Huni said.

This less-than-savory answer threw IzpAH off-guard, as people who were asked before had tried to be polite and give an optimistic prediction. Huni's was anything but.

The player left such an impression on the Fnatic General Manager that he immediately scheduled Fnatic scrims against Samsung; not Blue or White, but Huni’s practice squad. Fnatic got crushed, with sOAZ losing to Huni in lane every single time.

Fnatic ended up bombing out of the World Championship and the group stage — even worse than Huni’s pessimistic prediction. IzpAH then lost players to what would be the formation of Origen and Elements — and a whole host of sponsors left with them.

“Nobody really knows this, but when the four Fnatic players left, Fnatic lost three major sponsors immediately. Everyone at the company was like, ‘Oh my god, the company is dead,’” IzpAH said. “Honestly, I was sitting there, rubbing my hands and thinking to myself that this was my time to build a dominant team. I was actually really f--king happy.”

“I wanted to keep Rekkles, and I promised him that I would get him the best top laner, and the best jungler in the world, and then he left to Alliance anyway. So I called JoyLuck, and first we went for superstars. He brought me Spirit, Acorn, and they asked for $10,000-$15,000 a month which was crazy money back then. Chinese teams offered this, but we couldn't pay it. He brought me dade, CoreJJ, but it wasn't working.”

And then, IzpAH remembered Huni, and brought it to the attention of JoyLuck. With JoyLuck's help in connecting the Fnatic organization to Huni, and placating Huni's mother, Huni was locked in as the new Fnatic top laner after placing top 10 on the Korean ladder. Getting Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin was much easier, and he fit the metrics of Fnatic's need for someone with a strong grasp of English and League of Legends.

With the newly minted Korean duo, the team went 18-0 in the EU LCS and established themselves with a competitive, Top 4 placing at the 2015 World Championship. This was all much to the chagrin of the general public, who had lambasted Fnatic after their previous stars left. For IzpAH, the success of that roster came second to the discovery of the connected and kind Korean middleman. “JoyLuck thinks I love him so much because of Huni and Reignover, but I actually love him because he saved me,” he said. “I was standing in the airport with no money, and honestly I was f--ked... I went around, and I told everyone that JoyLuck was the person to talk to.”

With that, JoyLuck’s first western foray ended with massive success. Other teams clamored for talent hidden in the depths of Korean solo queue in a similar way, and all roads began to lead to the middleman.

Becoming the go-to connection

Born in 1985, JoyLuck came into a world without esports. As the 1990s crested into an age of heavy popularity for both StarCraft: Brood War and Warcraft 3 as spectator sports in Korea, JoyLuck tried his hand at casual commentary. This eventually led to his interest in League of Legends in 2012, and a position creating content for the game under NiceGameTV as he was higher Elo. He ended up casting NLB, Korea’s second tier League of Legends league. He also made deep connections to players during this time, forging relationships with high Elo players players such as Son "Mickey" Young-min, Huni, Kim "Frozen" Tae-il, Koo "Expesssion" Bon-taek and Nam "LirA" Taeyoo.

JoyLuck (Left) Casting Warcraft 3, 2007

JoyLuck is a facilitator, a man with many connections and the ability to get whatever player you want to talk to you. Barring that, he’ll also have recommendations about the next hot thing coming out of Korean solo queue. His work also blends into strategy, coaching teams such as Dignitas in 2015.

While it’s not widely known, JoyLuck was the mind behind Ever8 Winners, which saw performances from players such as Park "Cepted" Wi-rim and Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong celebrated during the early parts of the 2017 LCK Spring Split. Currently, he owns the team. His work is multi-faceted, but when it comes to connecting Western organizations to talented players, he stands well above the rest as a savvy matchmaker and provider of endemic industry knowledge.

The way JoyLuck conducts business is very simple. First, he coordinates with the foreign team to assess what exactly they’re looking for. They detail what kind of personality, playstyle, level of language proficiency and personal history they are seeking. He then creates a list of candidates and makes suggestions, going between the prospective player and the team. Afterwards, he sets up a point of contact between the player and their team if contracted, their guardians if underage, or themselves if they are free agents.

From the team’s perspective, Immortals CEO Noah Whinston found JoyLuck provided a wealth of context. “Anyone can look at official LCK games and see who is playing well, or who is playing badly,” he said. “What JoyLuck does is that he has a much more innate and behind the scenes knowledge of pretty much every player playing professionally in Korea, and many amateurs as well.”

After JoyLuck’s success in 2015 far outweighed his failures, he became highly-sought after by foreign teams. Securing JoyLuck’s services exclusively meant that the team would have an immediate advantage in the import market, so teams attempted to procure him before others did.

“After [2015 Worlds], Fnatic and some other big teams offered me positions, but I needed to choose other options because of my situation. I helped many Korean players to foreign teams already, so I considered spending three years in foreign teams at first. However, I realized that I need to come back to Korea for my own dream and marriage. At the same time, I started the 2015 Worlds bootcamp with Fnatic, Origen and CLG. It was the first time I was co-working with Ever8 Hotel. Fnatic and Origen made it to the semi-final, hopefully because of my help. After this success, many teams asked to me for consulting and I recommended more players.”

“[There is] maybe only one instance across every team has someone that JoyLuck recommended not worked out,”

Whinston first connected with JoyLuck in late 2015 or early 2016, he recalled. And though he does not now remember exactly when they were introduced, “I knew who he was by reputation of his transfers as well as some of the bootcamps,” Whinston said.

Today, they are so close that Whinston was invited to JoyLuck’s wedding.

JoyLuck, and others like him, are seen as a vital service to connect Korean players with foreign teams. This is mostly due to a lack of desire for Korean esport agents, Whinston said. “Right now in Korea, if I'm not mistaken, there's a cultural thing that is not super friendly about agents. I don't know why. In North America it's more common but I haven't dealt with a Korean player yet that uses an agent.”

As a result, JoyLuck toes a fine line between being the go-to consultant, a team owner, and being a players’ representative. At no point does he represent a player during the process of negotiation. Teams therefore are exclusively using his knowledge of esports in Korea, and are not bound to his particular choices.

“I do think that when JoyLuck helps teams and helps players, he does so from a more authentic place of wanting to help. It's less about, ‘This is how he makes his money,’ or, ‘This is his livelihood,’ and it's more about, ‘Hey, this is in all of our mutual interests to create a good relationship.’ One that helps not just JoyLuck and not just the team but also the players and the overall ecosystem,” Whinston said.

Proof of this mutual interest is laden in his ability to select players that are good fits for team. “He's someone I know I can trust. He's not going to mislead me about a player, he's not trying to put me in touch with his friends who are not actually the best choices. Whinston said. “I don't think there's been... maybe only one instance across every team has someone that JoyLuck recommended not worked out, and I think that was not really his fault. He just has a stellar track record.”

As a team owner, consultant of multiple teams, facilitator of bootcamps, and the pre-eminent individual to get teams Korean players, all signs point to a potential for abuse as the figurehead of a monopoly. Whinston and IzpAH, however, don’t seem to think so, because the monopoly isn’t necessarily one that is abused or crafted with malicious intentions to corner a market.

“There are at least three others around there that do this, but I don't give a shit about them. There's no one else as good as him or as kind as him, that’s why it seems like it’s only one person,” IzpAH said.

“JoyLuck doesn't decide where players go,” Whinston says “He doesn't control a player. he just makes recommendations that can be different from team to team, but ultimately it's up to the player. Plenty of people use other 'JoyLucks' in Korea. I think they're dumb for using other people in Korea, when there he is clearly the best option available”

And though that “best option” seems to have cornered the market, Whinston noted, “Anybody can enter that space and try to do that thing that JoyLuck does, you just have to be good at it … theoretically when there's a monopoly and there's no competitors on the market, the one person or company can jack up prices and reduce the quality of goods. What he does is reasonably priced, reliable, and trustworthy.”

From Fnatic to Red Bulls and beyond

Today, IzpAH is the Head Coach and Co-Founder of European Challenger Series team Red Bulls. The situation he was put into when forging his new roster sounds similarly precarious to his first Korean dilemma. Ready to bootcamp in Korea, the team was still short a top laner and jungler, so JoyLuck stepped in to help complete the roster for his friend. The whole thing was done in the 10 days that the team was there, where the incomplete roster was supplemented by many different interviews and scrims with promising players.

Some of those players have moved on to greater success, such as Ui "Untara" Jin-Park and Kang "TheShy" Seung-Lok . Once they ran out of known names, JoyLuck worked his magic to find Park "Thal" Kwon-hyuk and Kim "Moojin" Moo-jin, who ended up terrorizing the European solo queue ladder. Once the deals were done, the team was sorted and started to practice for the EU Challenger Series qualifier. They would make it into Challenger without missing a beat.

It’s February 2017 and IzpAH is once again standing at the Incheon International Airport. This time, however, he has everything he needs. Money, the right players, a slightly better grasp of the language and most of all, the favor of Korean LoL’s most famous middleman.

Gabriel Zoltan-Johan is a news editor at theScore esports and the head analyst for the University of Toronto League of Legends team. His (public) musings can be found on his Twitter.