Are Gravity Gaming and Team Dignitas Contenders?
It’s a query oft repeated in the League of Legends Championship Series: Is a certain team a contender for the top spot, or just a pretender? As of week 2 of the NA LCS, 5 teams are tied for the coveted first place, and that question has become much more important.
While some of the more highly touted teams are in the running, such as Team Solo Mid and Team Liquid, there are two oddball names in the mix this time around in Gravity Gaming and Team Dignitas.
Who are these teams and how do they measure up against the current crop of competition in North America? Let’s find out.
GRAVITY GAMING
Gravity had a middling performance last split. The once sister team of Curse (now Team Liquid) entered the LCS on the backs of two Curse mainstays in Brandon “Saintvicious” DiMarco and David “Cop” Roberson.
After an up and down performance, Gravity ended the regular season in 5th place and ended their playoff run with only one win, falling to Team Impulse. But what do they have going for them this split?
A Good Move in the Jungle
Saintvicious brought a lot of veteran savvy to Gravity’s jungle. Not only was he a solid talent, but he was an invaluable field leader and shot caller for the team. But now he’s left Gravity to coach for Team Coast.
His replacement is Kang “Move” Minsu, who despite a rather average week 1 performance is now one of the highest scoring junglers in the NA LCS with a penchant for vision control as he placed and killed more wards than most support players did.
The Triple Lane
With support and resident Thresh God Michael “BunnyFufuu” Kurylo stepping up to be the new shot caller, a lot of weight falls on Gravity’s bot lane. Johnny “Altec” Ru needs to prove himself as well, after a couple of poor splits on EG/Winterfox.
Thankfully, the duo is getting a lot of support from Cop, who moved into the coaching position. Watch the video below to gain insight on what could be the first tri-lane in League of Legends (at least in spirit).
DIGNITAS
Team Dignitas used to be counted as a top of the crop North American team. They were frequently mentioned in the top 4 along with Team Solo Mid, Counter Logic Gaming, and Team Curse. But many of their long standing players have left the organization altogether, including William “scarra” Li, Alberto “Crumbzz” Rengifo, and Michael “imaqtpie” Santana.
Dignitas hasn’t been the same kind of team since last year, and most recently had to fend off contenders for their LCS slot in the latest Promotion Tournament. What’s turning their fortunes around this time?
Don’t Count Out the Kid
Alan “KiWiKiD” Nguyen started his Dignitas tenure as their top laner, but was moved to support after subpar results. His partnership with imaqtpie was more successful, but still ended in disappointment.
However, he stepped up at the end of last split to almost singlehandedly carry his team back into the LCS. Now as the veteran voice to a once floundering team, he’s worked hard with Dignitas’ support staff to shore up some of their in-game troubles, and is determined to do whatever it takes to bounce back.
Azingy: Dig’s Secret Weapon
After Crumbzz’s departure, Dignitas looked lost. Without a leader to guide them, their jungle position became a revolving door of poor showings. By the end of the split, their latest pick up of Andrew “Azingy” Zamarripa seemed to be another liability.
But in this split, Azingy busted out a secret weapon—the Secret Weapon, Zac. His mastery on the champion has led to many successful ganks in a meta that doesn’t even favor that style of play, and he currently stands at a massive 11/3/28 scoreline after 3 wins.
However, there is one curveball that Dignitas has thrown into the mix. Despite Azingy’s success, the organization seems to feel that he may be a one trick pony. That’s why they’re shipping former Winterfox jungler Shin “Helios” Dongjin in for a dual jungle role setup.
While Helios is indeed experienced and used to being the shot caller for his team, his recent performances have left much to be desired, so we’ll have to see if Dignitas’ jungler gamble actually pays off in the long run.
There Can Only Be One
There could be no truer test for these two teams to legitimize their top of the table status than this Week 3 of the NA LCS.
Gravity will face CLG while Dignitas squares off against TSM. Will these upstart teams continue their run of good form against these traditionally dominant sides?
And if that wasn’t enough, their second match of the week is against… each other! No matter what happens, one of these teams will walk away from this week with a loss, and you shouldn’t miss a moment of their fated clash.
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