Chovy (gamer)

Jung Ji-hoon (정지훈; born March 3, 2001), better known as Chovy, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for Gen.G.

Throughout his career, he has won three League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles and one KeSPA Cup title.

His career began in 2017 when he played for KeG Gwangju in the 2017 KeSPA Cup.

The next year, he joined Griffin.

He reached the 2017 LCK Finals in his rookie season, and at the end of the year, he won the 2018 KeSPA Cup.

Chovy began his career in December 2017, debuting with KeG Gwangju in the 2017 KeSPA Cup.

Chovy entered the professional League of Legends scene when he was scouted by Kim "cvMax" Dae-ho, the former professional player turned head coach of Griffin.

His journey with the team began in March 2018, at the age of 17, initially as a backup to starter Shin "Rather" Hyeong-seop.

Griffin participated in the Challengers Series, a developmental league for the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), where they finished the spring split with an unbeaten 14–0 record.

Following a victory over MVP, they earned a promotion to the LCK for the summer split.

In Griffin's inaugural LCK match against Hanwha Life Esports, the team lost the first game.

Chovy, initially on the bench, was subbed in for Rather, and Griffin secured victories in the next two games.

In the match, Chovy's had 14 kills, two deaths, and 12 assists.

From there on, he established himself as a regular starter, while Rather was later loaned to Flash Wolves.

Chovy's start to the summer split saw him win nine out of his first 10 games, with a KDA of 14.1, significantly higher than any other player in the league.

Additionally, he averaged nearly five kills per game, also higher than any other player.

Despite finishing the summer split regular season with a 13–5 record, Griffin faced defeat in the 2018 LCK Summer Split Finals against KT Rolster.

At the end of the year, Griffin competed in the 2018 KeSPA Cup, reaching the finals against Gen.G.

In the final best-of-three match, Griffin won game one.

In the following two games, Chovy played as Irelia and controlled Gen.G's mid laner, Song "Fly" Yong-jun.

Chovy's solo leads in the early game helped Griffin succeed, allowing them to win games two and three in 30 minutes, and giving Chovy his first major domestic title.

Chovy was named the MVP of the finals.

From 2019 to 2021, Chovy played on a different team each year: Griffin in 2019, DRX in 2020, and Hanwha Life Esports in 2021.

In that time, he made three LCK finals appearances and three World Championship appearances.

In 2022, Chovy signed with Gen.G.

In his first year with the team, he reached the finals in both of the LCK splits, winning the 2022 Summer Split, and reached the semifinals of the 2022 World Championship.

He picked up two more LCK titles with Gen.G in 2023, played in his first Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), and played in his fifth consecutive World Championship.

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

Chovy's individual accomplishments include accolades such as an LCK Season MVP award, an LCK Finals MVP award, an LCK First All-Pro Team designation, and an LCK Player of the Split award.

He also became the fastest player in the LCK to reach 1,000 kills.

In a January 2019 interview with ESPN, Chovy stated that he considered retirement after the 2018 season, citing challenges he was grappling with as a player.

Despite this, just before the commencement of the 2019 season, he opted to continue his career with Griffin by signing a three-year contract extension.

Through the first 10 games of the 2019 LCK Spring Split, Chovy reached a record-setting KDA of 104 — 44 kills, 60 assists, and one death.

His KDA peaked at 115, although this occurred in the middle of a game against Sandbox Gaming.

On the final day of the regular season, Chovy was tied with Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu for the most "Player of the Game" (POTG) awards.

Chovy claimed one more POTG award in Griffin's final match against Jin Air Green Wings.

This award was met with criticism, as in the game, he did not register a kill.

With the most POTG awards, Chovy was named the season MVP.

Riot Games Korea acknowledged the controversy and stated intentions to review the MVP selection criteria.

In the Spring Split Playoffs, Griffin one again advanced to the finals, this time facing SK Telecom T1 (SKT), but lost by a score of 0–3.