From being foreign at the top of Rocket League Esports seven months ago to having his name chanted so loud at the Copper Box Arena it reverberated, Joe "Joyo" Young takes the ninth spot on our Top 20 players of 2022. The young gun had begun his career as a competitive freestyler for Pulse Clan in 2019, while occasionally attempting to qualify for A-tier events such as DreamHack Dallas and DreamHack Valencia. However, with little to no success (except for farming weeklies), Joyo would continue to fly under the radar come the third quarter of 2021. With making the grand finals in three of the four RLCS events this year, it is safe to say Joyo has etched his name in this esport and earned a spot in this year's edition of the Top 20.

A rocky road to success

Joyo: “I'd say my career truly started with Howard in RLCS X. I had some 'pickup' teams before, the most notable probably being JorJaJo with me, Jack, and Joreuz. I've been around the scene for ages and in the bubble since I was 12 years old. But nothing was really serious until Howard, where Calix and Polar both helped me a lot in becoming the player I am now”

Fast forward to May of 2021, when Finlay "rise." Ferguson, Joyo, and Axel "vatira." Touret played for the first time as a team under On Job. Their run in the Mediterranean Esports tournament 2 was dominant, beating notable teams such as Team Queso and Rix.gg. At this point, they were no more than a pickup team, but that changed when they officially became Magnolia on July 7th of 2021.

“I think rise and I were set on vatira from the start. We all knew we would team in that offseason. We did scrims and a few tournaments and we could tell it was the right thing to do.”

Quickly after formation, Magnolia won tournaments such as the EURAT July Showdown and Alienware Tournament Series Season 2. This gaged the interest of the organization Team Queso, who were willing to invest in the promising trio. Shortly after signing, Team Queso managed to win the Occitanie Esports 2021 tournament, making them a team to look out for entering the RLCS 2021-2022 season. Ultimately, Team Queso would fall short of the hype surrounding them, placing 9-11th in the Fall Regional 1, 12-14th in the Fall Regional 2, and a promising placement 5-8th in the last Regional of the Split. Despite the results, the unique and creative mechanics that Joyo brought to the top level of competition caught the attention of many.

Joyo at the RLCS 2021-22 Winter Major - Image courtesy of Psyonix

The beginning of a new era

Entering the Winter Split, Team Queso approached the regionals with newfound confidence and experience.

“In the Fall Split, we just weren't as experienced as we were in Winter or Spring. We had some good results, giving the major teams a good run for their money. But that Split was more of a learning experience and it definitely worked. I learned a lot from that Split, we always struggled to close out series and the Fall Split was pretty much proof of that. After that, a switch just flipped from that experience and we just started doing the opposite into Winter and onwards.”

Indeed, they turned it around during the RLCS 2021-22 Winter Split. As a more cohesive team with more confidence, Team Queso placed first in Regional 1, second in Regional 2, and first again in Regional 3. The true testament to Joyo’s playmaking capabilities came against Team BDS in Regional 1, the recent Major champions. With intricate setups that often confused the opponent's defense, he managed a goal participation percentage of 71.43%.

“With vatira and rise, we all just played off of what felt natural, and I think just by the way we play, we naturally set into a playstyle of me and rise creating space for vatira, who would sit back and wait to either get a free ball or to defend a chance from the other team. As for myself, I would just try creative mechanical ideas that I thought weren't really utilized as much as I think they could have been in RLCS. So, maybe I’m not the most consistent player. But on Moist and for the rest of my career, a lot about the way I play is based on pushing the limits and boundaries of what you can pull off in a high-level lobby.”

The Winter Major was the first LAN to have a live crowd since 2019, and Joyo was the only player on the roster with any LAN experience, as he competed at Insomnia65 when he was a mere 13 years old. Joyo had an explosive entrance into the Major during the group stage, peaking at a 1.493 rating against LAN favorites, FaZe Clan. Team Queso would end up going 2-1 in their group, allowing them to play in their first-ever RLCS LAN with a crowd.

The lower-bracket run of death commenced, with Team Queso being handed the task of taking on North American titans, NRG Esports. In a narrow five-game series, the former grand finalists had been taken down, sending a message to the rest of the teams that Team Queso was here to play. Joyo struggled to find himself in this series, amassing a 0.725 rating and lacking confidence in the following series.

“Vatira, rise, and [coach] Nick were all really helpful in the Major in winter. I had a slow start and felt really guilty for how poorly I played against V1 and Detonator. I told my team how I felt and how nervous I was, they hyped me up in return, had me sit in the middle and did everything to make me comfortable. I'm glad and extremely grateful because it helped a lot with my confidence as a player for every LAN following it. My highest high of confidence would definitely have been in Winter Major and I owe a lot of it to the environment my team created.”

A new day meant a new Joyo, and the lower bracket run would continue. With notable victories against teams such as FURIA, FaZe, and Spacestation Gaming, Team Queso had proven that the crowd was nothing but fuel to their fiery run. To finish off the Winter Major, they were tasked with beating the dominant G2 Esports that seemed unstoppable. With BDS dethroning NRG from their dominant era of online and offline Rocket League, and now Team Queso making their Cinderella run, a new style of Rocket League was ready to be played.

With a close first series against G2, Team Queso steadied the ship and pulled the series in an electric Game 7, leaving the crowd stunned. The veterans on G2 had been shown a new level of aerial play, with Joyo spending most of the time in the air out of any player in the lobby with a whopping 9.05%. With the crowd barely getting any time to absorb the impact of the series that had been played, the second series had already begun. G2 Esports had entered another gear with Massimo "Atomic" Franceschi generating a 1.301 rating and a performance so staggering he won the Winter Major 2021-2022 MVP award. With their heads held up high, Team Queso was more motivated than ever to close out a Major and prove themselves.

Let's get wet. Let's get wet.

The success of the trio was much more than anticipated for a small organization like Team Queso. Fortunately, Moist Esports, an organization led by the iconic Cr1TiKaL, was on the hunt for a team to build its legacy. With the performance of ex-Team Queso and the reputation of Moist Esports, it ended up being a perfect match, with the pick-up officially happening in May 2022. The role organizations play outside of paying the players has a huge impact on how players perform; this is what Joyo had to say regarding his time with Moist so far:

“Moist are an amazing org, they have supported me my entire time with them. They aren't fake at all. Always real with me and I could tell they had pure intentions from the start. The support from Charlie, Matt, Danny, and everyone else involved is immense and I'm extremely happy to be on an org like Moist. It feels more like a friend group than a business, they treat me with a lot of respect and I owe a lot to them.”

Joyo walking out to the stage at the RLCS 2021-22 Spring Major - Image courtesy of Psyonix

With the strong backing of Moist Esports, Joyo was more determined than ever to claim a Major Champion title. The Spring Split kicked off with Moist placing second, fourth, and first in the respective Regionals. Joyo had retained his level of offensive creativity, spending 22.08 % on average in the offensive third across all three regionals. Going into the Spring Major, it was fair to bet on Moist to be the Champions as their form had seemingly only improved. In the inspiring words of Joyo himself, “I THE JOYO. I GO WIN.”

The Copper Box Arena. The most seasoned arena within Rocket League Esports, where once arguably one of the best crowds in our esports history was hosted. Moist Esports could not have asked for a better arena to win their first-ever LAN. The trio began their battle in the gruesome double-elimination bracket with an electric 3-0 performance against OpTic Gaming, with Joyo delivering 1.00 average assists. Their next opponent would be Version1, a team Moist had historically struggled against. A loss here would mean another long trek down in the loser's bracket. With no crowd being able to gas up the Moist Squad, Comm and company managed to get in their heads and beat them 3-1. Hope was not lost for the Moist squad, as Joyo had performed impeccably, leading in every statistic except for saves. One day was all Moist had to recuperate and fix their glaring inconsistencies, because there was no room for error in the bracket of doom.

Running the gauntlet wasn’t something foreign to rise, Joyo, and vatira. Being the favorites on home turf was a huge advantage, and saying they leaned into it would be an understatement. The run began with a 3-0 sweep against Pioneers and a less convincing series against Team Liquid. The real heart-stopper would be the series against Spacestation Gaming. On Champions field, with a tiebreaker goal being scored by vatira with only six seconds to remain, Moist was their closest to crumbling. Two minutes and 13 seconds into overtime, Joyo did what he does best and sent a musty into the backboard, shunning all the defenders and letting rise shoot on a practically empty net. This was one of Joyo’s many assists, with him having an 80% goal participation rate this series. While the job was done, Moist had to rely on their ice for two series in a row. A catalyst was needed to help the squad start off strong rather than play catch-up.

Championship Sunday, where legends are etched into our esports’ history, came around. Moist was two-for-two so far in the lower bracket semi-finals for all the LANs they had attended. This time, it would be against their kryptonite, Version1. The crowd unanimously supported Moist, with Version1 taking on the villain role. In what was an utter embarrassment to Version1 and a testament to the dominance of Joyo and rest, a quick 4-0 sweep was how Moist started their Championship Sunday. An adversary who always had their number was sent home with their heads in their hands. With the taunts and gestures from Joyo, he had rallied the crowd to support the new generation of Rocket League, but most importantly, the ever-so-loving Moist team. Was this their new key to success?

“Confidence is key in a game like Rocket League. We all believed in each other and ourselves. We trusted the process and in Winter, we were all in the same mindset, all confident and we knew we could beat anyone on our day. I don't know for certain what the reason was for our random jump to success, but confidence definitely played a big part — and obviously also all of us playing so well individually in that Split.”

After a hearty meal of honey-roasted cashews and apple juice, Joyo was ready to take on Team Falcons. This was Team Falcons’ first LAN as a full team, and they were reminiscent of the Winter Major Moist, just more dominant. Making a deep run through the loser’s bracket, Moist needed to win two best-of-seven series in a row to claim the Spring Major Champions title. The first series was shaky for the Moist squad, scraping a 4-3 series win after a lights-out performance from vatira. In the fifteen-minute break, Joyo had brewed a devious plan, and in the following series, Moist let Joyo cook. And boy, did he. With a 1.012 rating and his playmaking capabilities, the young lad earned the overall MVP of the event as his name echoed throughout the venue. The experience gained from the disheartening loss against G2 Esports had paid its debts.

“[Playing] G2 in the Winter Major was a massive learning experience. It taught me and my team how much we'd have to focus if we were actually to close out a major, and it helped us a lot in London. It definitely inspired my performance as I played my best at the end of the Falcons series, due to knowing how much mental fatigue I would have to deal with. That goal and the way I closed out that series was probably the reason I got the overall MVP, although I know it was controversial. I'm still proud of my achievement and at that moment it felt like I had really completed what I set out to do going into the Major.”

One of the best series

Following a massive high, Moist were favorites entering the World Championship. With sheer consistency and dominance throughout the past two Splits, it was theirs to lose. Moist started their run with a 4-2 over Spacestation and a 4-0 over SMPR to make it into the playoffs. Apparently, the Balenciaga sneakers he wore that day were such a buff that Joyo delivered a striking 1.304 rating against SMPR. After a tense series between both top SAM teams, FURIA came out victorious in the lower bracket of Group B, placing them against Moist in the Quarterfinals.

Many had Moist winning the series in a close but dominant series. However, Yan "yanxnz" Xisto Nolasco had other plans. In what is being called the most spontaneous and high-level series ever played, Moist ended up on the shorter end of the stick. Following the back-and-forth that plagued the series, Moist were 2-1 up in game seven until yanxnz decided to slot it in the back of the net off of a great pass from Caio "CAiOTG1" Testi Vinicius. Overtime was looming…

…Or not. Yanxnz sent a beauty straight into the net over the defenders, dismantling the commanding Moist in an extremely close-fought series. Joyo had played exceptionally well, and this result was not due to his underperformance, or anyone’s for that matter. Similar to after the Winter Split, Moist was sent back to the drawing board to add to their preeminent form.

“The FURIA series was definitely a hard one to come to terms with. [It was] some of the highest highs in my career then also the lowest lows. I dont show it on stage because I struggle to express my emotions in front of a lot of people but I couldn't stop crying when I got back to the practice room. But now I've just come to accept it and I'm proud to be a part of such a highly rated series. Although I still wish I could have done more to close it out, there's nothing I can do now but move on.”

The uphill battle

Despite the respectable loss against FURIA in the World Championship, vatira decided it was time to part ways with the Moist squad. At this moment, vatira was considered one of the best players in the world with his versatility and defensive prowess. Unfortunately, this happened near the end of the window, leaving rise and Joyo to find a player that could fill the abyss vatira had left behind. With what seemed to be a last-minute pickup, Maëllo "AztraL" Ernst was handed the job of replicating the results that Moist had been having. It stirred a lot of discussion about whether this team would work, as AztraL plays an entirely different role from vatira. Through and through, Joyo had complete confidence in this roster working out.

The newly formed team started off strong in the 2022-23 Fall Open, with a 3-0 in the group stage, followed by a fourth place with a loss to Karmine Corp, vatira’s new team. The team had swapped their roles around, with Joyo taking a much more defensive position. Being in a roster with AztraL and rise, arguably two of the best strikers in the world, Joyo was forced into playing this new role. The next regional would have the same placement of top four. However, it was highly unconvincing. The team was riddled with double commits, poor defense, and a lack of communication. This showed during the last regional, where Moist placed 9th-11th, leaving their attendance of LAN up to other teams’ performance.

Joyo at the Swiss Stage of the RLCS 2022-23 Fall Major - Image courtesy of Psyonix

As the team just scraped by to the Fall Major, most people counted Moist Esports out of the running. It was speculated that the roster would no longer stick, given their previous track record, and they would be disappointed with the results.

“Adding AztraL as a replacement for vatira, my confidence was still at an all-time high. Until the season started, I started to doubt myself as I struggled with confidence and mental health. I guess you could call what I felt going into the most recent major as an ‘all-time low’ for my confidence. I started to believe the many things I heard about myself from people.”

To kick off the Major, Joyo had an expected slow start against FaZe clan but managed to play his role efficiently enough to where he enabled rise, and Moist took the series 3-1. This shocked the audience, given FaZe was a superteam from North America that was expected to have an easy run to the top eight. The next series was a black eye to their previous performance, barely scraping a win against The Club. However, Joyo was waking up slowly but surely.

The following two series would be consecutive losses where Joyo was out of place on the pitch while the rest of the team was seemingly fighting each other for possession. He led in saves in both series while the offense fell flat. In the fifth series, Moist needed to send G2 Esports packing to qualify for the playoffs. Although the organization has tons of success, G2 Esports have historically struggled on European soil. In a narrow five-game series, Joyo and rise sat in AztraL’s backpack, and the Belgian superstar outclassed the entire team of G2.

Respect was finally being put on Moist’s name, and the Season 9 European MVP AztraL was starting to come alive. During the quarter-finals, rise had taken the third-man role on the roster, allowing Joyo to pursue the playmaker role he plays so effortlessly. This led to beating Karmine Corp, a team they had continuously lost to during the regionals. Joyo had a goal participation rate of 72.73%, and a glimpse from the old moist came to fruition. In the semi-finals, however, AztraL was linking up with rise so efficiently that Joyo held it back on defense with a 1.33 average saves per game, leading to a 4-2 victory over Team Secret.

Joyo waves to the crowd at the 2022-23 Rotterdam Fall Major - Image courtesy of Psyonix

Moist Esports, the team that barely made the Major by the skin of their teeth, was in the grand finals of the Fall Major. They had silenced all the doubters with their incredible performance and team synergy. However, with Gen.G sitting pretty in the grand finals, Moist needed a miracle to stop their momentum. Unfortunately, Moist would bow out after a 2-4 loss, with all three players made to look silly by Gen.G. Regardless, Joyo had proven his versatility on the pitch and ability to adapt to any situation on a team.

Making three out of the four grand finals in RLCS LANs in the year is no easy feat, and Joyo’s role in his teams has been integral. From enabling rise during the first iteration of Moist to slowing down and hunkering down on defense during the second iteration, it is safe to say Joyo has easily earned his spot on this year's edition of Top 20 players. Entering 2023, Joyo has lost his dynamic duo, rise, and many are left wondering: Will Joyo continue to deliver alongside growing talent? The rest of the 2022-23 season will determine if we once again see Joyo hit the griddy on the RLCS stage.

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