Heading into the 2023 season, the Overwatch League was full of changes, across both the Western and Eastern division. From massive roster changes, role changes, and even teams changing divisions, it was hard to predict who would finish where, and the Guangzhou Charge were in that boat. Fans didn’t have an Eastern Pro-Am to judge their new team before the regular season began on April 29.
However, as the season started and the opening matches came and went, two things quickly became clear: the Guangzhou Charge are the team to beat, and Lei “Jimmy” Yujia is the hottest player in the East.
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The Chinese DPS player was mostly known for his time riding the bench on the Chengdu Hunters from late 2020 to early 2022, and his move to Guangzhou didn’t attract much attention due to his lackluster performances on his previous squad. He grew in popularity, but as a meme, thanks to caster and analyst Scott “Custa” Kennedy and his Twitch chat.
After one particularly bad performance where Jimmy would hit a shot on Widowmaker and his team proceeded to get no value from it, fans saw their ranked performances through this Chengdu player. They then would berate Custa into watching Jimmy’s performance, speaking highly of him while knowing that he didn’t perform well. One particular phrase became popular: “Jimmy fucks.”
Now, the meme is still alive, but under new context, because Jimmy has actually been amazing to start the 2023 season. So far, he’s helped Guangzhou reach a 3-0 record with a perfect 9 maps won and no maps lost. Their opposition was against some of the tougher opponents in the region as well, starting with 2022 champions Dallas Fuel, the Seoul Dynasty, and Hangzhou Spark. In those three matches, Jimmy was the best player in the lobby two times, against the Fuel and Spark.
Jimmy has traded in his meme Widowmaker for an unstoppable Hanzo, hitting tough shots and building up some unbelievable stats in his recent series. In his game against the Charge, he had an average of 13.7 critical hits per ten minutes. Alongside 8.7 final blows per ten minutes, it showed how Jimmy was hitting headshots consistently and getting kills to win team-fights.
It is early on in the season, but considering how he was memed on for a majority of his Overwatch League career, Jimmy and the Charge are making everyone eat their words. And for those fans who loved the guy who hit crazy shots and then did nothing, he’s evolved into a completely different player.
People can still spam “Jimmy fucks” in Custa’s Twitch chat. But now they’re undeniably correct.
Published: May 8, 2023 01:10 pm