Despite a drawn-out match,
Movistar KOI secured victory in the first round of the
2026 League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Versus playoffs. With a much stronger showing in game two and a 2-0 scoreline, the team now advances to face
Natus Vincere in the next round—a matchup that promises to be explosive. In an exclusive interview, AD Carry
David "Supa" Martínez García sat down with
Sheep Esports to discuss his team’s recent struggles, what it will take to reach the next level, and his ongoing work on mental health.
How do you evaluate MKOI’s overall performance tonight and the win against Vitality?
David "Supa" Martínez García: “Today, I think we were still a bit shaky. We’re often in really good spots, and we know what we want to play for, but we throw those positions or don’t fight in the correct way. On the bright side, they’re really good games to review. In official matches, you get much better practice than in scrims—you get these exact moments to review and learn from.
We had some pretty good moments. In game two we did way better, and after the pause in game one, everyone was calmer and had a clearer idea about how we wanted to play out the match. It’s a really good series to learn from.
Why do you think the team sometimes throws games despite being in strong positions?
Supa: We’re still not a Worlds-class team. Teams on the international stage, when they have a winning position, they know where to fight and when to stop fighting. In general, they don’t cross the line. We still need to learn where that line is as a team—where we want to fight, how we want to fight into enemy comps, and what we need in those situations. So I think it’s a lack of knowledge.
You’ve kept the same roster as last year, were those issues already present in 2025? Where do you think this lack of knowledge comes from?
Supa: It depends a lot on the current meta and patches—these things change all the time. We didn’t really learn those limits well last year. It’s a hard part of the game. I believe only the best teams in the world are able to do these things consistently.
So I think it’s a matter of time. We need to work better and faster on this because you need to be able to close games when you have a winning spot. It’s about time. We’re human, and it’s a process. In the end, if we work better, we’ll be better.
How much more time does MKOI need to fully fix these issues?
Supa: We should be ramping up in these playoffs. We learned a lot this split, and we learned a lot last year. Now it’s time to step up. Everyone believes it’s the time now—we need to reach our peak. We need to do better in the next match against NAVI, and then better in the next match, and the next one after that. We need to arrive to the finals playing at our best level. It’s time to perform. We know how to do it. It’s just about being able to perform.
Do you feel like you’ve figured out how to make MKOI level up and evolve from its past form?
Supa: I think everyone has bigger goals this year. Everyone is more mature and more experienced, so it’s kind of easier for us to take this step up—to reach the final form of MKOI. But it’s not easy, and we haven’t been putting enough effort in.
To reach our peak level, we need to put in a really, really, really huge amount of efforts, more than we’ve been. Being the best in the world, it’s something special that not everyone can achieve. Everyone in the team need to find and refine the way to reach that state consistently. Right now, I think we’ve shown that MKOI can be one of the bests on good days, but we’re simply not consistent in achieving that. We need to work on it.
Supa: Firstly, I don’t really mind the organization’s decision. It’s normal, I need to do my best, and last year, I didn’t see myself as a Worlds-class player consistently. Still, I think I can be at that level. I’m really good at a lot of things, but I need to be consistent. The most important thing is being able to perform consistently in officials, on the big stage. When you’re at Worlds or MSI, it’s do or die. You don’t have a whole season like in LEC.
I approach this year like every year—to do the best I can. If I do badly, and I don’t get renewed, so be it. I will learn from that as well. But I believe I have the potential this year to compete with the best and to be the best in the world.
What are the biggest differences between the 2026 version of you and the 2024 version when you first joined the team?
Supa: There are a lot of things, but the biggest one is that I know myself much better mentally—what I need and how I work. This is a constant process as well, and I keep learning new things. When it comes to a person’s mental, I believe you’ll never truly find the key, it’s something you evolve with.
I would say I have a lot more confidence in how I want to play the game and learn now. That’s the most important thing—being able to adapt to every meta. The meta this year is completely different, and I think we’re adapting really well. In the end, I would say I’m way more mature now, and I have a clearer vision on how to win games.
When you talk about maturity, does that also include mental health? Is this something you’ve worked on?
Supa: Yeah, especially compared to my first year in the LEC. Sometimes it’s still something that can impact me in some matches or rare moments. I think it’s super important to be at your 100% mentally for officials.
If you’re able to be at 100% every day you practice—or at least the best you can be that day—it makes a big difference. Maybe it’s not the same level as on stage, because that’s normal, but if you can play 40 hours fully focused over a week instead of 10, you improve a lot.
That’s what we need to do in Europe to reach Worlds. We have the potential and really good teams, but we need to step up, compete with them, and help each other to be at the top of the world.
How do you balance the pressure of expectations, striving to win Worlds, and maintaining a healthy mental state?
Supa: In the off-season, I thought about how I wanted to approach this season, especially since other players have different mindsets. I just wanted to enjoy it, because you can’t compete forever. I don’t know if I can compete for 10 years or more. I wanted to really enjoy the process, day by day. That’s how I’m approaching this year. I want to enjoy this opportunity. It’s amazing that I can live playing this game and doing what I love.
My mentality this year is to enjoy the day-to-day. When you’re not mature, you don’t enjoy that as much—you think too much. You might think you can play League forever, but that’s not really true. You can play only until a certain age, unless your name is Faker I guess, but still, everyone should enjoy the opportunity more and make better use of their time.
Is there anything you want to say ahead of the match against NAVI? Any message for the fans or what they can expect?
Supa: The NAVI match will be amazing. It’s a team I really respect because they remind me of 2024 MAD Lions KOI. Teams like them are the ones that will make Europe much stronger in the long term.
When it comes to us, I promise the fans that we’re going to step up, keep improving, and we’re going to win LEC.”
