To most fans of Korean League of Legends, 2014 Worlds MVP Se-hyeong "Mata" Cho's move to KT Rolster was the single most significant transfer of the 2017 preseason. While Mata's play-making instinct, shotcalling ability and understanding of the game were assumed to be intact, many pundits questioned if the veteran support would be able to return to his peak level of performance.

These concerns have since dissipated since the 2017 League Champions Korea Spring Season kicked off. With Mata at the helm, KT Rolster has been ripping through most of the competition, even going toe-to-toe against three-time World Champion SK Telecom T1 in two transcendent best-of-threes last week. Mata's individual play may not yet be quite on par with that of his glory season in 2014, where he carried Samsung White to victory at the World Championships, but it's become clear that the legendary support still ranks among the very best in the game.

Prior to the much-anticipated doubleheader Telecom derby between SKT and KT last week, Mata sat down with ESPN to share his thoughts on his return to the LCK.

"In a way, it feels more like a debut than a homecoming," he mused. "Players have changed, teams have changed, practice methods have changed -- even [the] competition format has changed, from a groups into elimination tournament to a full league into playoffs setup. Sure, some things remind me of two years ago. But a lot is new and unfamiliar."

On his two-year stint in China's League of Legends Pro League, Mata reflected, "As an import, I think it would have been best if I had been fluent in Chinese. But I lacked the time and motivation to get to that level. Still, I did memorize enough words to play the game. Just a bunch of key terms and phrases. I made little grammatical sense, but managed to convey [what was] necessary."

He laughed, "We wouldn't have gotten those results if we couldn't communicate at all, obviously."

Mata was overjoyed to shotcall and communicate in Korean again. "When I had to say everything in Chinese, there always was a delay, a conscious effort involved, because I first had to remember how to say what I wanted to say," he explained. "Not having to go through that process is really convenient. I'm communicating five or six times the information I did in Chinese, roughly speaking."

A misconception about Mata is that he orders all his teammates what to do, like a musician playing a polyphonic instrument. He insisted that was a misrepresentation of his approach to the game.

"I think of myself as the center of team communication, not a dictator telling everyone what exactly to do," he said. "It makes little sense in this genre for one person to take on such a responsibility. It's not only nearly impossible but also suboptimal. Ideally all five members should be able to think for themselves and also make important calls whenever necessary."

Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong reached the highest of highs in 2014, as the MVP of the World Championship-winning Samsung White -- with more than 40 million in attendance at Seoul's World Cup Stadium and millions watching at home. Provided by Riot Games

"There are times when I make a very firm call, of course. But there are also times when I ask open-ended questions about what we should do next, or just ask for information that I missed out on. I'm not all 'do this do that' throughout the match," Mata added. "It's unlikely that all five players on a team will equally communicate, but the idea is that everyone should be able to make good decisions."

But what about KT Rolster's style of play?

"We're different from most teams in that we don't really have a certain style. I mean that in a good way. We're capable of playing drastically different styles, and actively aim to be proficient at all of them," he said. "Sometimes we look to win matches by simply playing 5v5s better. Sometimes we go for the 'tumble dry' where we avoid teamfights and win through staying ahead in map movement all game."

"Technically speaking, all approaches to the game boil down to whether you aim to win through teamfights or win through rotations. And the best teams will always be capable of both," he continued. "Our team hasn't spent too much time together yet. I guess in some ways we're playing quite well despite that, and in other ways we're lacking consistency due to that. We will improve with time."

Although the team has yet to reach the ideal level of synergy it wants, the new KT Rolster already has a great team atmosphere.

"We're extremely hungry to win, but also have good fun together. Pawn regularly pokes fun at Deft for not having won Worlds. I poke fun at Score for not having won LCK, stuff like that. We get along very well," he laughed.

And in the end, Mata expressed a great deal of respect towards his perennial rivals, SK Telecom T1.

"Win lane, win game: how strong your lanes are determines how much freedom you have in the game," he said. "SKT has very, very solid fundamentals, so they get to do whatever they want most of the time. What's most impressive is that it's all systemized. It's why they won Worlds three times with different lineups."