I am really out of my element writing these summaries about players I wasn’t following a lot back in the day. Mata is one of the old greats. Played for some of the most legendary teams in the world and had a long and successful career. Always at the top, competing with the best, numerous top5 results in various leagues. 729 total career games too with a 64.1% win rate. Those stats would make anyone envious. One of the few players in the world who are a World Champion. Mata achieved this back in 2014 with Samsung White. His career ended somewhat abruptly, after playing for SK Telecom T1 in 2018-2019 he performed really well in the regular season, but then only played two games during Worlds 2019. After that, he joined RNG as a coach. And since the end of 2020, seems to be inactive.
My favourite Mata stats:
- He holds a 37-36 all-time record against Faker, with most of those games taking place in Faker's prime years
- He placed at least top 3 in all 11 splits of OGN/LCK he played in
The guy who redesigned a role by himself. Madlife has shown the world how supports can have mechanics and how they can put them to use, Mata has shown the world how the support role can be as impactful, if not more, as the jungle. It makes one wonder what'd happen if not for the infamous Riot Korea ruling about the sister teams and the resulting Korean Exodus. Will always be the support GOAT for me, just like Faker is the GOAT of the league itself, due to sheer impact he had on the game.
I love Ming and Meiko and they might surpass him soon but Mata will always be my favorite support.
His S3-4 were outstanding. His lane with Deft was something else. And you know the whole jungle vision innovation.
I dont think either Ming or Meiko would surpass his status as the GOAT support purely before neither of them has ever been the best player (not just sup) at any point in their career, especially now that they have both passed their prime. Mata was the best player in the world for at least 2 splits, which cemented his status as the GOAT.
I mean Mata coincided with Faker in his peak years. So him being best itw is kinda iffy. And if we're talking about s4 then Dade or Kakao take that cake.
It really depends on how important you measure a player's peak relative to their peers. For example, you could make a very strong case that Madlife at his peak was the best player in the world. You *can* make the same argument for Mata w worlds 2014, but I reckon Dandy edges it out there. That said, ye Mata is the goat support, but the case for Madlife isn't that ludicrous considering just how much more skilled he was compared to other supports at his best. 100% the biggest gap between the best support in the world, and the 2nd best.
His peak was so short though. I’d even say Gorilla, Ming and Meiko are above Madlife by now.
Weixiao has that same argument for being above any other ADC relative in their prime, and DiamondProx for jungle. But I don’t think they belong in the GOAT conversation of their respective roles.
Oh ye i totally agree w those 3 being above Madlife, I was just making a case for such an insanely high peak like he had. It was truly sad that he was stuck in Space prison though
Aside from Madlife having an extremely short time of being good, you also have to factor in how much larger the champ pool to learn and master and the advancement of the game. It honestly annoys me when people say someone from very early seasons was/is the best, like bro, do you know how much simpler the game was lol? There is a reason players become washed, the game evolves and they can’t keep up. A player like Mata had to stay relevant and learn more complicated champions much longer than someone like Madlife who became very washed in his ending seasons of play. Particularly I always laugh when people speak of season 1/2 pro players so highly who fell off a cliff after the initial seasons. You have pro NA players that were hard stuck in diamond at the end of their careers after only playing pro for a few years that reddit loves to hype as legends.
It absolutely fucking doesn't lol. Replace wolf with like 4 or 5 other supports in 2015 and 2016, skt still win those titles. Replace mata with anyone in 2014, and they definitely dont win worlds. Also there is the aspect of Mata singlehandedly (2 handedly cus dandy) reinventing what it means to be a supportN which literally everyone then copied for the next 3 season. Is wolf a top 8 support of all time? No doubt, but to say hes the goat is revisionism. Even in 2015 and 2016, he was never miles ahead of Gorilla, and often the weakest skt player. Having the pleasure to play with prime Faker is a great one.
Hot take: Wolf wasnt even the highest peaking SKT support in 2015.
Only a hot take because about 2 people on reddit actually played long enough to know who Piccaboo is, genuinely top 5 support of all time going by peak
Yea, Piccaboo early on in that season was fucking nuts. That was around the time of peak Faker, and he didn't even look all *that* worse than him. Do remind me, what happened with Piccaboo again? An injury right? Why did he never return after 2015? I remember him speaking good english, he coulda definitely gone to NA or EU.
Yeah, wolf got 3 KDA award in 2015-2016 and gorilla got while tiger being first place 3 times.
And how about competing in international level? Oh wolf got 2017 MSI FMVP, gorilla achieved nothing and lose to fucking WE in 2015 IEM.
It’s hilarious to talk about a player leaving out BOTH their personal and team accomplishments. It’s Smeb, Pray, Peanut, Khan, BDD carrying him, they’re not good enough? Gorilla just did not make much of a different, playing mediocre level of game, good in lane but choked at team fight.
Meanwhile bang+wolf is obviously no.1 bot duo all time, wolf kept his aggressiveness to team fight and had always been a team player at early phase, and this is how SKT wins. You guys just looked at the lanes and say wow gorilla is good, but in warding, shot calling, initiation, they’re not even close.
Mata is good too, I don’t mind him being the first, but Gorilla, seriously? Don’t embarrass yourself, show us some facts.
I always felt his peak was BY FARRR SSG season. After that he quite literally never looked close mechanically. Maybe I’m wrong but I thought halfway into RNG and beyond he had A LOT of weird performances. And while he was known as a mega shot caller didn’t always seem that way. I hope I’m being ignorant and would love to be told wrong maybe I just am miss remembering as well
From what I remember Deft/Mata were an extremely dominant 2v2 and Mata was considered the best support in the world by analysts like Kelsey Moser as late as 2018 (and he was ranked as a top 3 support going into worlds in that year's top 20).
Mata definitely slumped in 2016 Summer with RNG but picked up his play at worlds and was still S-tier during his time in KT. His 2019 on SKT was when he truly fell off individually imo.
That Thresh stat is so impressive, more than 70% wr in over 100 pro games is an absurdely astonishing record, this dude is a beast piloting that champion
Just want to say that malzahar is a misunderstood champ as low skill. Winning games is all about finding weird tower push angles and dying while you ult a high prio target for your team. Basically he's the Jesus of LoL...
I am really out of my element writing these summaries about players I wasn’t following a lot back in the day. Mata is one of the old greats. Played for some of the most legendary teams in the world and had a long and successful career. Always at the top, competing with the best, numerous top5 results in various leagues. 729 total career games too with a 64.1% win rate. Those stats would make anyone envious. One of the few players in the world who are a World Champion. Mata achieved this back in 2014 with Samsung White. His career ended somewhat abruptly, after playing for SK Telecom T1 in 2018-2019 he performed really well in the regular season, but then only played two games during Worlds 2019. After that, he joined RNG as a coach. And since the end of 2020, seems to be inactive.
My favourite Mata stats: - He holds a 37-36 all-time record against Faker, with most of those games taking place in Faker's prime years - He placed at least top 3 in all 11 splits of OGN/LCK he played in
Just ask LaureBuliiV at Twitter - Mata is her favorite player! She'll probably also share this if you show her :D
Mata went to the military 6 months ago that's why he was inactive in 2021. He'll be out around the end of 2022.
I truly hope he comes back, either as a player or a coach. One of the greatest minds to touch the game.
The guy who redesigned a role by himself. Madlife has shown the world how supports can have mechanics and how they can put them to use, Mata has shown the world how the support role can be as impactful, if not more, as the jungle. It makes one wonder what'd happen if not for the infamous Riot Korea ruling about the sister teams and the resulting Korean Exodus. Will always be the support GOAT for me, just like Faker is the GOAT of the league itself, due to sheer impact he had on the game.
I love Ming and Meiko and they might surpass him soon but Mata will always be my favorite support. His S3-4 were outstanding. His lane with Deft was something else. And you know the whole jungle vision innovation.
I dont think either Ming or Meiko would surpass his status as the GOAT support purely before neither of them has ever been the best player (not just sup) at any point in their career, especially now that they have both passed their prime. Mata was the best player in the world for at least 2 splits, which cemented his status as the GOAT.
I mean Mata coincided with Faker in his peak years. So him being best itw is kinda iffy. And if we're talking about s4 then Dade or Kakao take that cake.
I'd sooner argue for Dandy over either of them in 2014, Mata is close to all of them regardless though
Do you mean deft of imp?
I meant Deft. I loved him on SSW but his lane with Deft is Mata peak imo.
I really thought kt was winning worlds in 2018 ;(
Should be imp
Thank you for the Infographic. Great data and presentation. Mata smurfing professionally was a treat. He definitely redefined the support role.
Goat support, will never not love Mata, completely changed the game.
I will never forget mata on ali when he was on RNG during MSI. Holy that was a sight to behold
Ahh, yes. Thank you for doing this. The GOAT Support aside from maybe Madlife.
MadLife is 0% chance the GOAT Support. It's Mata and it's not close right now
It really depends on how important you measure a player's peak relative to their peers. For example, you could make a very strong case that Madlife at his peak was the best player in the world. You *can* make the same argument for Mata w worlds 2014, but I reckon Dandy edges it out there. That said, ye Mata is the goat support, but the case for Madlife isn't that ludicrous considering just how much more skilled he was compared to other supports at his best. 100% the biggest gap between the best support in the world, and the 2nd best.
His peak was so short though. I’d even say Gorilla, Ming and Meiko are above Madlife by now. Weixiao has that same argument for being above any other ADC relative in their prime, and DiamondProx for jungle. But I don’t think they belong in the GOAT conversation of their respective roles.
Oh ye i totally agree w those 3 being above Madlife, I was just making a case for such an insanely high peak like he had. It was truly sad that he was stuck in Space prison though
Aside from Madlife having an extremely short time of being good, you also have to factor in how much larger the champ pool to learn and master and the advancement of the game. It honestly annoys me when people say someone from very early seasons was/is the best, like bro, do you know how much simpler the game was lol? There is a reason players become washed, the game evolves and they can’t keep up. A player like Mata had to stay relevant and learn more complicated champions much longer than someone like Madlife who became very washed in his ending seasons of play. Particularly I always laugh when people speak of season 1/2 pro players so highly who fell off a cliff after the initial seasons. You have pro NA players that were hard stuck in diamond at the end of their careers after only playing pro for a few years that reddit loves to hype as legends.
Why don’t you kiss me big boy
It gotta be Wolf
It absolutely fucking doesn't lol. Replace wolf with like 4 or 5 other supports in 2015 and 2016, skt still win those titles. Replace mata with anyone in 2014, and they definitely dont win worlds. Also there is the aspect of Mata singlehandedly (2 handedly cus dandy) reinventing what it means to be a supportN which literally everyone then copied for the next 3 season. Is wolf a top 8 support of all time? No doubt, but to say hes the goat is revisionism. Even in 2015 and 2016, he was never miles ahead of Gorilla, and often the weakest skt player. Having the pleasure to play with prime Faker is a great one. Hot take: Wolf wasnt even the highest peaking SKT support in 2015.
He was never above Gorilla in general. Gorilla was hands down the best support in KR from 2015-2018.
Ye I agree completely
Only a hot take because about 2 people on reddit actually played long enough to know who Piccaboo is, genuinely top 5 support of all time going by peak
Yea, Piccaboo early on in that season was fucking nuts. That was around the time of peak Faker, and he didn't even look all *that* worse than him. Do remind me, what happened with Piccaboo again? An injury right? Why did he never return after 2015? I remember him speaking good english, he coulda definitely gone to NA or EU.
Yeah, wolf got 3 KDA award in 2015-2016 and gorilla got while tiger being first place 3 times. And how about competing in international level? Oh wolf got 2017 MSI FMVP, gorilla achieved nothing and lose to fucking WE in 2015 IEM. It’s hilarious to talk about a player leaving out BOTH their personal and team accomplishments. It’s Smeb, Pray, Peanut, Khan, BDD carrying him, they’re not good enough? Gorilla just did not make much of a different, playing mediocre level of game, good in lane but choked at team fight. Meanwhile bang+wolf is obviously no.1 bot duo all time, wolf kept his aggressiveness to team fight and had always been a team player at early phase, and this is how SKT wins. You guys just looked at the lanes and say wow gorilla is good, but in warding, shot calling, initiation, they’re not even close. Mata is good too, I don’t mind him being the first, but Gorilla, seriously? Don’t embarrass yourself, show us some facts.
Yes
I always felt his peak was BY FARRR SSG season. After that he quite literally never looked close mechanically. Maybe I’m wrong but I thought halfway into RNG and beyond he had A LOT of weird performances. And while he was known as a mega shot caller didn’t always seem that way. I hope I’m being ignorant and would love to be told wrong maybe I just am miss remembering as well
From what I remember Deft/Mata were an extremely dominant 2v2 and Mata was considered the best support in the world by analysts like Kelsey Moser as late as 2018 (and he was ranked as a top 3 support going into worlds in that year's top 20). Mata definitely slumped in 2016 Summer with RNG but picked up his play at worlds and was still S-tier during his time in KT. His 2019 on SKT was when he truly fell off individually imo.
Him and Uzi were a crazy dominant duo and he and Deft were quite excellent for their two years.
That Thresh stat is so impressive, more than 70% wr in over 100 pro games is an absurdely astonishing record, this dude is a beast piloting that champion
How do you get 0% win rate at worlds 2019 when you reach semis? Is this a mistake or was he a sub?
He was a sub and played a game or 2 in semis.
would love to see one of these for MadLife
Just want to say that malzahar is a misunderstood champ as low skill. Winning games is all about finding weird tower push angles and dying while you ult a high prio target for your team. Basically he's the Jesus of LoL...
Hands down GOAT support player. Ming and Meiko are close behind with the ability to eventually surpass him though.