After a season of struggles, Huhi reflects on his team’s failures, his unique mid-lane style, and why he wants to be the best teammate instead of simply the best player.
SHANGHAI, CHINA — ORIENTAL SPORTS CENTER. The stage is consumed by the swarms of people surrounding it. Counter Logic Gaming square up into champion select for the first game of MSI 2016 and find themselves in a pretty common spot: counter picking for their mid laner Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun. For the first time in the game’s competitive history, mere months since the champion’s release, Huhi debuts Aurelion Sol to the world.
Jatt’s straightforward response to the pick just about sums it up: “Oh my god.”
While this game would not end in a CLG victory, their eventual run to the Finals of the tournament would prove that North America had what it takes to at least threaten at an international tournament, and more importantly, it would solidify Huhi not just as an Aurelion Sol player, but the Aurelion Sol player.
In many ways, Huhi’s affinity with the champion defines him as a player: it’s creative, unique, and speaks to a specific style and willingness to stray off onto the beaten path when searching for roads to victory.
As a French-born Korean who has lived in South Korea, Dubai, and now the United States, he grew up at least speaking the local languages of those countries, and this diversity also became a defining characteristic of his play.
When it comes to beating up enemy laners, Huhi sees the surprise factor as an edge he is willing and able to exploit.
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“I like putting the enemy in an uncomfortable position, where they're less familiar, and then abusing that advantage.”
Tied for the most unique champion picks among mid laners in the 2018 Spring Split, with a champion pool that’s significantly less dense than any other player in his position, Huhi’s creativity and willingness to stretch his limits to extremes is what has moulded him into one of the NA LCS’ most enigmatic threats.
His champion pool reads like a laundry list of lost mid lane toys: Vel’Koz, Zilean, Zoe, Taliyah, Aurelion Sol, Twisted Fate, and even Jayce — and that’s only counting Spring 2018.
This trend originated from his Solo Queue adventures, where he often plays fill and actively seeks experience in other lanes, especially with new champions to quote “not get bored.”
His enjoyment in playing new champions and trying things to alleviate some of the monotony that comes with the rigorous practice schedule of a professional player isn’t just a stress reliever but something he’s converted into a competitive advantage as well.
In the NA LCS, mid lane is defined by the technically excellent and precise play of two talented Danes: Bjergsen and Jensen.
While both have subtle differences in style, they are known for exceptional lane control, raw near-unrivalled mechanical talent, and game-defining playmaking.
They embody the superstar, selfish carry image that we have come to associate with the role at the highest level. They are both known for the crushing impact they have on a game when they are given the lion’s share of gold and the freedom to dominate the map.
If the team enables them, they will carry the game. This is an idea almost inverted by the team-centric mindset and roaming playstyle that’s become synonymous with Huhi.
While I think both these styles have merit, mid lane’s overall trends do lend itself more to playing greedier and trying to leverage your farm and gold leads into bigger opportunities for your team. In some ways, Huhi is doing more work than necessary by enabling his teammates over himself.
For me, his best look is when his laning and roaming pressure converts into self-made playmaking that in the past he accomplished with champions like Ahri, Taliyah, and of course his signature astral dragon. Huhi’s style is on average, higher risk, but high reward, as he looks to get more total wins on the map by playing to side lanes rather than just for himself.
Though he is good enough to win in a more traditional style, it would be most typical of Huhi to just keep playing his own way and prove everyone else wrong.
LIKE MANY OTHERS TEAMS, CLG have moved away from a traditional team house and have separated their practice space from their living space. While players and teams are starting to recognize the benefits that come with the separation, Huhi seems genuinely sad that he doesn’t have as much time to spend around his teammates outside of the game.
As a veteran member of CLG, Huhi’s leadership within the team has come quietly, yet naturally, and it all stems from his want to see them succeed more than anything else.
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“I'm not biased towards anything. I always try and think about the best and easiest options we have available. I won't always just do what's best for me or my lane.”
Just hearing Huhi talk about his teammates and the things he does in their day-to-day practice all point to the sense of care and brotherhood that he and CLG have cultivated. In scrims, unless he feels very strongly about a counterpick he’s practiced, he’ll stick to more standard stuff to not waste his teammate’s time, despite the many different things he’s willing to experiment with in Solo Queue.
During the season, he 1v1s Darshan almost every day in top lane matchups to keep them warm mechanically while also exploring different champions. But mostly, he’s just trying to help his top laner out.
And when he sees his teammates just hanging out after practice when people have left, he’s the first one to ask if they want to go chat about the games and grab some dinner.
CLG’s head coach Tony “Zikz” Gray says it best when describing his mid-laner, “To me, Huhi is the glue of the team. He’s always bringing people into conversations and speaking up when needed.”
Every good League of Legends player has realized that to be a complete player, you are required to be a great teammate. But like a lot of things in his playstyle, Huhi takes even that to the extreme.
As CLG struggled through the 2018 Spring season, his team-focused mentality would evolve into real in-game responsibility, as Huhi was designated as the team’s primary shotcaller. While it’s noble for Huhi to want to own as many of the team’s problems as possible, this overload in responsibility would lead to the team’s first ever postseason miss.
While the growing pains of adding new faces to the roster and the need to adjust to an ever-changing game formed part of the issue, Huhi describes the core of the problem as being rooted in their inability to communicate. Whether it was with each other in-game, or battling with their coaching staff to decide how they should be playing the game, each instance of contention just compounded until they had more problems to solve than time left in the season.
Even though they rallied and ended the split on a high note, CLG’s extended spring strife would leave their season cut short.
“What felt most frustrating was that I felt like we all knew what the problems were, but we just couldn’t figure out how to communicate effectively enough to solve them. I’m glad we did and even though it feels better now, I do feel like in some ways we wasted a split trying to solve everything,” says Huhi.
As a player that wants to be able to play every style, Huhi knows that he’ll need to defy his own nature in order to advance as a player.
He may not want to be more focused on himself, but he’ll be a reliable carry for his team if he starts trying now. After all, there is a selfish, brash confidence in the game’s greatest carries, and as much as it pains him to play more for himself, doing the best for your teammates might hurt your chances more than help.
As his exploration and study of the game deepens, so does his efficiency in recognizing when that’s appropriate. For the league’s most daring explorer, even he eventually hit uncharted ground.
And with all the untilled strategic earth that’s been strewn across the Rift in the meta recently, it’s safe to assume that Huhi is right at home with how many viable champions have been shown off in only the first week of play.
Against TSM, Huhi showed off some unique stuff, willing to take Renekton mid into the fearsome Irelia, using a Solo Queue counterpick to try to pressure Bjergsen — even if they ultimately fell. In the next game, he returned to a more standard mage by falling back onto Syndra, and CLG picked up their first victory against 100 Thieves.
While the game’s current “weirdness” will settle in one way or another, Huhi can always rely on his own curiosity and willingness to try stuff no matter the state of the game.
Huhi’s relentless study of League is what keeps him among his peers while continuing to provide an edge of ingenuity and unpredictability. As he absorbs more and more knowledge about the game, his leadership becomes sharper and more confident.
While the total time taken to fix the core of their problems was far too high for the team’s tastes, Huhi is confident that they’ve started the Summer with the structure in place to be better, more resilient, and more efficient in how the whole team operates — even in the face of adversity.
I asked Huhi what he wanted for himself other than simply winning the Summer Split and making it to Worlds once more.
He says, “Ultimately, I want to prove that we’re the smartest team and because of that, the best team.”
It’s hard for someone like Huhi to get away from what he knows. There will always be Aurelion Sol. There will always be some creative new counterpick he’s just dying to play. Even when pushed to ask what he wants for himself, his answers always circle back to his team.
There’s a real grandeur in winning it all. In being the MVP. In showing the world that you’re one of the best in your role. And in representing the strength of your team on both local and international stages.
Huhi would be happy with all of this, but I know at heart, he first wants to be the best teammate.
Shoutcaster and Commentary Scientist @ Riot Games. Australian. Coffee worshipper. All one word, no capital 'T'.