DRIVE: The Matt Story
What does it take to be a pro gamer?
Is there some inherent characteristic that makes some people better than others? Or is it a case of hard work and dedication that can elevate you to the heights of Challenger and onwards to the LCS stage?
We don’t know the answer. But if we were going to find out, we think that Liquid’s rookie support Matt would be a fantastic place to start. The level of improvement he’s shown from his time in the Challenger scene and moving up from Team Liquid Academy (TLA) into the NA LCS has been phenomenal. So how did that journey look? What were the moments that made him the fantastic support that he is today?
It started in one of the most unlikely of places.
Most people who get into professional League of Legends usually come from some sort of MOBA experience. They might have played DOTA or HoN or something of the sort. Matt had nothing to do with any of that. He played Runescape of all things, a browser based MMO which is probably as far away from League of Legends as The Sims. It was about four years ago that he left his Runescape days behind and installed League of Legends.
"I had a friend from Runescape who lived in Australia and we both played on the NA servers. Together we went through the entirety of Season 3 Duo Queueing. He was on his 200 ping. I had this shitty ass computer from Walmart. On my good days I’d get almost 30 FPS. In team fights, it would be more like 7. Sometimes I’d get blue screen too and would just lose games."
The odds were against Matt from the start. But in life, if something is important enough to you, then you just have to chase after it, even if the odds aren’t in your favor. This was how it was for Matt. Sure, his computer was a toaster. His Hawaiian internet was a lemon. His duo partner was stuck on the other side of the world. So he focused on the things could control. Namely, his work ethic -- something which he still holds onto today and draws inspiration from the Korean players on the team.
"The Koreans, how they think and how they play the game, it’s very try hard. It’s something that I definitely strive to achieve in how I work. Sometimes I’ll wake up at 5am and play all day until 2am when I go to bed and then try to wake up at the same time again. I’m trying to get myself on this Korean lifestyle to just improve at the game."
It’s this mentality that has propelled him onto the LCS stage. The amount he has improved from his time in Challenger to becoming the starting support for Liquid is staggering. He’s had MVP worthy performances on Bard and he’s channeled his inner Madlife (Matlife was his namesake after all). It’s a far cry from his days playing in Hawaii with his friend from Australia. Even though those days are long gone, he’ll always remember what it took for him to get here and who walked that road with him.
"I don’t know what sort of odds I had or what it took for me to get here. But yeah, I played on my 100 and something ping from Hawaii, I Duo Queued with someone else who had a really low chance of making it. Back then we were both 15, so imagine two fifteen year olds on two shitty ass computers with shitty ass ping, going all the way from Silver to Diamond 1 in one season. I don’t know what it takes to become a professional League player, but apparently I have it, and apparently he has it, because he’s Tally (aka Tallywhacka) and he plays for Legacy in OPL."
