When a competitor returns after a break, you hold your breath. You pray they don’t suck.
In combat sports, legends in the space will return for a money match, putting their legacies and their bodies on the line for a large paycheck. Not only do you hope the competitor rekindles their previous flame, you hope they don’t get knocked out – or worse, embarrassed.
Kiss “Vizicsacsi” Tamás is widely recognized as one of the best players to ever grace the LEC stage. Whether it was his unique champion pool, his contribution to the story of Unicorns of Love or the fact that he managed to win the MVP title from the top-lane, his story is one of a kind. When he exited the scene in 2019, it felt premature yet understandable. Citing a lack of motivation and drive to continue, it was onto the next chapter in his life.
That chapter appears to be over. Climbing the solo queue ladder, working with MAD Lions as a position coach, he’s slowing getting back into form.
And man, it feels good to have him back.
A disappointing yet expected exit from the 2021 World Stages, Vizicsacsi leaves the event in good standing. As a fill-in for the representatives from the Oceanic region, there was a learning adjustment. The team would lose their opening matches to the huge favorites LNG Esports and Hanwha Life Esports yet their matches against RED Canids and Infinity Esports would open up the Hungarian top-laner to showcase his skills.
More importantly, he wasn’t getting hard camped in those matches. In his first match back on the professional stage, LNG did an excellent job at removing him from the equation. Hu “Ale” Jia-Le and Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong would constantly circle the top side of the map while the rest of his team wouldn’t be in a position to respond.
PEACE did a really good job against weaker teamers at taking advantage of Csacsi’s services. In wins, Leo “Babip” Romer and James “Tally” Shute would be much more in-sync and the PEACE bottom lane would look presentable. Vizicsacsi’s performance in the best of five against RED Canids was the tape that LEC teams will present to their owners as to why he deserves a lot of money. It was a brutal outclassing of Guilherme “GUIGO” Ruizin.
He offers stylistic flexibility, it opens up how the team can play the map, showing different looks. He was the rock that the team could rely on for most of the matches. Most.
This wasn’t a perfect return to the stage. The final series saw him go 0/15/4 in three game against Cloud9. In his defense, it was an amazing series from Robert “Blaber” Huang and company.
Ending on a sour note isn’t the story he wanted to tell – especially with a lot of the eyes being on him to perform while his Oceanic teammates could float under the radar when it came to criticism as their expectations weren’t high.
He would average a 61 gold lead at 10 minutes, -39 experience deficit at 10 minutes and would average a 453 damage per minute. Critics will also likely point out his 45% kill participation statistic – which isn’t too surprising given how PEACE games would playout along with the lack of team chemistry.
But his Worlds stat-line wasn’t too different from his stat line in 2019 Summer. In 18 matches, he would average an -8 gold deficit at 10 minutes, -42 experience deficit at 10 minutes, 414 damage per minute and participate in 59.5% of his team’s kills.
If a team is looking to bring in Vizicsacsi, it should be with the understanding that he’s not going to put a team on his back. When he won the MVP honors in 2017, it was a masterclass of the role. He won lane, influenced team-fights and he did it with a really good team. Enough said.
He’s a player that elevates great teams to new heights. Without him, previous European line-ups more than likely don’t reach the same heights and more than likely, this PEACE team wouldn’t have looked as good.
He should get LEC offers and he is incredibly deserving of them. Even with rust, he held himself together against some of the best players from their respective regions. A return from a break is difficult and a return from a break where you’re now playing on the Worlds stage with an organization you just joined as a substitute is terrifying.
Yet in a way, it felt like only something a player like Vizicsacsi could accomplish. It’s a good starting point on his road back to competitive play. And more importantly, it feels like that road is brining him back as one of Europe’s best.
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