Kanavi (gamer)

Seo Jin-hyeok (서진혁; born November 2, 2000), better known as Kanavi, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for JD Gaming of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL).

Throughout his career, he has won four LPL titles and one Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) title.

He also represented the South Korean national team at the 2022 Asian Games, earning a gold medal.

Kanavi's career began in 2019 when he joined LCK team Griffin as a substitute.

He joined LPL team JD Gaming on a loan from Griffin later that year.

However, after an investigation by Riot Games and KeSPA that revealed Griffin was in violation of tampering rules, contract length regulations, and undue pressure on Kanavi, he was released from his contract at the end of the year.

Kanavi signed a three-year contract with League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) team Griffin on February 16, 2019.

He did not play in any matches in the 2019 LCK Spring Split.

Kanavi joined League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team JD Gaming on loan from Griffin on May 22, 2019.

Griffin and their director Cho Gyu-nam received (US$503,975) for the transaction, and according to former Griffin head coach Kim "cvMax" Dae-ho, Kanavi's annual salary, originally set at ($167,989), was lowered for the first four months of the loan period.

He and the team finished in 10th place in the 2019 LPL Summer Split and third in the LPL 2019 regional qualifiers.

After spending several months on loan with JD Gaming, Kanavi was approached by the team's management, expressing a desire for the jungler to commit to a five-year contract, fully transferring from Griffin to JD Gaming.

In an interview with Kukmin Ilbo, cvMax stated that due to this direct approach by JD Gaming, Cho accused Kanavi of tampering and issued a threat to terminate his playing career unless he adhered to Cho's demands.

Consequently, Kanavi proceeded to sign a five-year agreement with JD Gaming.

This deal stipulated that Griffin and Cho would receive ($839,941), while Kanavi accepted the league-minimum salary.

On October 29, 2019, a committee formed Riot Games and KeSPA released a report indicating that Kanavi and JD Gaming were not found in violation of tampering rules.

However, the committee ruled that Griffin did breach regulations, specifically related to the maximum number of players loaned to other teams.

Additionally, Griffin was found to have violated Riot regulations by exceeding the maximum contract length of three years in Kanavi's contract.

A month later, Riot and KeSPA reported that Cho exerted undue pressure on Kanavi to enter into a contractual agreement while he was still a minor.

Furthermore, they alleged that Cho included a clause in Kanavi's contract when he was loaned to JD Gaming, ensuring that the time spent away with JD Gaming would not impact the overall term of his contract with Griffin.

On November 21, 2019, Kukmin Ilbo released a copy of the contract between Kanavi and Griffin, revealing several clauses that diverged from industry norms.

Notably, one provision allowed the team to terminate the contract if the player was hospitalized or faced a severe health issue and barred the player from contracting with another team for a year.

Another clause imposed a fine of ($42,900) and mandated the return of all paid salary if the player lost contact with the team for an extended period.

Shortly after, Griffin released Kanavi from his contract.

On November 28, 2019, Kanavi signed a one-year deal with JD Gaming.

Kanavi expressed relief following the signing, stating in an interview, "When I first heard about the contract that would transfer me to China's JDG for four years, five years, I felt stuck. I wondered if I could try hard for four, five years. Now, I've become a free agent, then made a new contract with JDG. It's a single-year contract and the package I'm satisfied with. I'm relieved."

Kanavi chose to sign with JD Gaming in 2020 and won his first LPL title that year.

He went on to win three consecutive LPL championships with the team from Summer 2022 to Summer 2023 and won the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational.

Kanavi's individual accomplishments include accolades such as a World Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, an LPL split MVP award, two LPL Jungler of the Year awards, an LPL Import Player of the Year award, and four LPL First All-Pro Team designations.

He also became the fifth jungler in the LPL to reach 1,000 kills.

JD Gaming finished the 2020 LPL Spring Split regular season in second place with 12–4 game record, and Kanavi was named the LPL MVP of the Split.

He had a total of 151 kills and 68 deaths throughout the season and led all junglers in terms of damage dealt.

He played a total of 11 different champions over the split and participated in 76% of his teams' kills.

He was also named to the 2020 LPL Spring Split First All-Pro Team.

Kanavi won his first LPL title in May 2020, after JD Gaming defeated Top Esports in the 2020 LPL Spring Finals.

In the 2020 LPL Summer Split, Kanavi was again selected to the LPL First All-Pro Team.

He reached the LPL Finals, for the second consecutive split, in August 2020, but JD Gaming was defeated by Top Esports and finished in second place.

On September 20, 2020, Kanavi extended his contract with JD Gaming.

Kanavi was named to the 2022 LPL Spring First All-Pro Team.

On July 18, 2022, in a match against Invictus Gaming during the 2022 LPL Summer Split regular season, Kanavi achieved his 1,000th kill in the LPL, becoming the fifth jungler in LPL history to do so.