League of Legends: A Moment in the Sun – Remembering Gravity Gaming

A Slow Ascent

Gravity had a rough takeoff; their original coach, Hughbo “SoulDra” Kim left after their third week, eventually being replaced by the now-infamous Korean hypeman Nick “LS” de Cesare. The team stayed near the top of the standings throughout the split, never cresting first, but looking consistently solid week by week.

By the end of the split, Gravity had broken even — and then some — locking in their fifth place Playoffs slot with a respectable 10-8 record. And though no one had expected much from this squad of unknowns and washed-up veterans, they had somehow managed to outperform their League of Legends parent organization Curse — now rebranded as Team Liquid.

But their dreams were dashed almost immediately: Team Impulse — a former Challenger squad from the LPL — took them out 3-1, and TSM ran through the bracket to win the entire tournament, before failing at MSI (per NA tradition).

Gravity went into the Summer split with a few changes to their roster, ditching the legacy jungler Brandon “Saintvicious” diMarco for a Korean import, Kang “Move” Min-su, and trading Cop — another holdover from Season 2 — for Johnny “Altec” Ru. The squad now consisted of rookie players, none of whom had played before the previous split.

Common consensus placed them between the middle and bottom half of the NA League of Legends squads, a team full of talented youngsters, but no strong direction in their shot calling and no veteran voice to temper their aggression.

Yet slowly, Gravity had begun to rise.