The first week of the LEC 2023 Winter Split was dominated by Vitality, who closed the weekend undefeated. Much of their success was attributed to their new jungler, Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo, who debuted in the league after over a year without playing.
His map presence and mechanics impressed LEC players and fans alike, making Bo’s debut even more impressive than everyone thought. Hey may even be “the one in a generation that somehow just breaks the game,” as said by Vitality’s mid laner Perkz in an interview with The Loadout. But before his first step onto the LEC stage, Bo has allegedly been bringing European solo queue to its knees with his active play style and terrific mechanics.
With Vitality and Bo keeping both their respective win streaks, there seems to be a gap in the skills of the former LPL player and the European junglers, but according to Bo it has nothing to do with his mechanics. “I feel like the junglers in the LEC lack a bit of aggressiveness and it’s something that I also experienced in solo queue,” Bo told Dot Esports after admitting that his mechanics are just “slightly better” than the rest.
Bo explained that the lack of aggressive (and therefore, proactive) plays from European junglers give them less opportunities to fully master their mechanics. Comparing the players in the LEC with the LPL, Bo said that in his former region all players are “always going for mechanical plays” because players there are “much more aggressive.”
Despite this, Bo is looking forward to facing off against one player whom he thinks is aggressive enough to match his skills.
“Yike left me with a really strong impression” said Bo, “especially because he was one of the first junglers I scrimmed against this year.” Vitality’s jungler then continued explaining that he believes Yike enjoys playing more aggressive picks like Kindred, a champion Yike showcased in G2’s match against Astralis.
On the prospect of battling Yike, Bo said that although he was impressed by the rookie he will not lose to him. The two finally going head-to-head should be an epic battle, with Bo impressing for Vitality and Yike leading G2 in kills in the team’s three wins so far this Split before being stifled by SK Gaming.
The two rising stars of the jungle are still to meet on the Rift, but their match is already bound to be one League fans will not want to miss.
