Gravity Gaming
{{Infobox sports team
| name = Gravity Gaming
| logo = Gravity Gaming logo.png
| logo_size =
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| short_name = Gravity, GV
| nicknames = Team Gravity
| sport = League of Legends
| founded = 2013 (as Curse Academy)
2015 (as Gravity)
| folded =
| current =
| league = NA LCS
| conference =
| division =
| history = Curse Academy (2013–2015)
| arena = NA LCS Studio
| city = San Dimas, California
| colors =
| owner = Davis Vague
| coach =
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}}
Gravity Gaming (also known as Team Gravity) was a North American League of Legends team that competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). The team was originally known as Curse Academy and was the second team of Team Curse. Upon qualifying for the LCS the team was required by league rules to rebrand. The team is based in San Dimas, California and plays games in the NA LCS Studio in Sawtelle, Los Angeles. The Gravity LCS spot was sold in December 2015 to former NBA player Rick Fox, who then rebranded the team as Echo Fox.
History
= 2015 Preseason =
Curse Academy defeated Team Coast and the Team Fusion to qualify for the 2015 Spring LCS.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/expansion-tournament-curse-academy-coast/|title=Curse Academy and Team Coast are the LCS's newest teams|first= Samuel |last=Lingle|website=The Daily Dot|date=December 15, 2014|accessdate=October 29, 2015}} Gravity was spun-off from team Curse in 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/curse-academy-gravity-gaming/|title=Curse Academy becomes Gravity Gaming|first= Samuel|last= Lingle|website=The Daily Dot|date=January 8, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}} Due to Sale of Sponsorship rule changes for the 2015 Season, the Curse brand was required to be pulled from the team that represented them; however, Gravity inherited the LCS spot that Curse Academy had acquired via the Expansion Tournament. Gravity's initial starting roster included Hauntzer, Saintvicious, Keane, Cop, and Bunny FuFuu.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/saintvicious-league-of-legends-gravity-gaming/|title=Saintvicious on Gravity's surprise season (and how to earn his respect)|first= Samuel |last=Lingle|website=The Daily Dot|date=March 24, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}}
= 2015 season =
After the third week of the Spring Season, Gravity's coach SoulDra left the team. On May 25 in a match against TSM Keane picked Urgot, a champion who had been considerably nerfed.{{cite web|url=http://kotaku.com/one-of-league-of-legends-worst-champions-made-a-surpris-1693074180|title=One Of League Of Legends' Worst Champions Made A Surprising Comeback|first=Yannick|last= LeJacq|website=Kotaku|date=March 23, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}} Two weeks later, he was replaced by LS Gravity's record after LS joined the team was 6–4, bringing their overall record to 10-8 and earning fifth place along with a playoff spot. In the quarterfinals, Gravity fell 1–3 to Team Impulse, earning 10 Championship Points for the season. After the split ended, veteran player Saintvicious retired from playing and left to become the coach for Team Coast.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/saintvicious-retires-gravity-gaming/|title=SaintVicious has played his last competitive match|first= Samuel |last=Lingle|website=The Daily Dot|date=May 12, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}} He was replaced by Move, a Korean jungler who had previously played for AD Gaming.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/gravity-gaming-move-roccat-steve/|title=New rosters from Gravity and ROCCAT include a pair of surprises|first= Samuel |last=Lingle|website=The Daily Dot|date=May 19, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}} Additionally Altec joined from the recently relegated Winterfox, replacing Cop.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/altec-gravity-winterfox-lcs/|title=Altec joins Gravity Gaming|first= Jacob |last=Wolf|website=The Daily Dot|date=May 18, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}} Cop retired from playing and became a coach for the team.{{cite web|url=http://www.thescoreesports.com/lol/news/1916|title=Cop retires from competitive LoL, moves to coach Gravity|first= Matt|last= Demers |website=TheScore eSports|date=May 22, 2015|accessdate=October 29, 2015}}
In the summer split, Gravity finished each week in at worst fourth position, even holding sole possession of first place for weeks 7 and 8; however, they lost both of their games in the final week and ended the season in fourth, after a tiebreaker loss to Team Impulse. In the playoff quarterfinals, Gravity lost to Team SoloMid, leaving them with a year-long total of 30 Championship Points, and qualifying for the regional finals in fifth place. They lost immediately in the gauntlet, reverse swept by first-round opponent Cloud9, who went on to qualify to the 2015 League of Legends World Championship.{{cite web|url=http://www.thescoreesports.com/lol/news/3718|title=Cloud9 complete reverse sweep over Gravity, keep Worlds dream alive|first= Nic |last=Doucet|date= August 30, 2015|website=TheScore eSports|accessdate=October 29, 2015}}
The team was sold in December 2015 for around US$1 million to a yet-to-be announced owner.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/esports/gravity-gaming-sold-1-million/|title=Gravity Gaming sold for roughly $1 million|first=Jacob |last=Wolf|website=The Daily Dot|date=December 3, 2015|accessdate=December 3, 2015}} On December 18, 2015, it was announced that the actor and retired NBA player Rick Fox had purchased professional Gravity Gaming for around US$1 million and renamed the team Echo Fox.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-18/former-nba-player-rick-fox-buys-esports-team-gravity|title=Former NBA Player Rick Fox Buys eSports Team Gravity|first=Scott |last=Soshnick|website=Bloomberg|date=December 18, 2015|accessdate=December 18, 2015}}
Final roster
class="wikitable"
! {{abbr|Nat.|Nationality}} ! ID ! Name ! Role |
{{flagicon|United States}}
| Hauntzer | Kevin Yarnell | Top Laner |
{{flagicon|South Korea}}
| Move | Kang Min-su | Jungler |
{{flagicon|South Korea}}
| Keane | Jang Lae-young | Mid Laner |
{{flagicon|Canada}}
| Altec | Johnny Ru | Bot Laner |
{{flagicon|United States}}
| Bunny Fu Fuu | Michael Kurylo | Support |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Twitter|teamgravitylol}}
{{Professional League of Legends competition}}
{{CCBYSASource|sourcepath=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Gravity|sourcearticle=Gravity Gaming}}
{{CCBYSASource|sourcepath=http://lol.esportspedia.com/wiki/Gravity Gaming|sourcearticle=Gravity Gaming}}
Category:2013 establishments in California
Category:2015 establishments in California
Category:Esports teams based in the United States