LastShadow keeps Saintvicious and Gravity Gaming focused
Riot·3/2/2015, 2:21:01 AM·0 votes·10,073 views
The guys in Gravity Gaming are the cool kids at the NA LCS. With their leather jackets, confident attitudes, and strong play in Week 6, many are wondering if it's their new coach Nick "LastShadow" De Cesare who's been able to bring out the best of them.
LastShadow's been with Gravity for only a few weeks, replacing Hughbo "SoulDra" Shim. "He wasn't confident in what he wanted to do," says Gravity jungler Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco of SoulDra, going on to further explain why he wasn't exactly cut out for the job. "When you come into a gaming house, all the players, you eat, breathe, and sleep the game. I go to sleep I'm thinking about the game, I wake up I'm thinking about the game, I'm watching the game anytime I can. Like, I'm in the game. So a coach, they need to do that as well. I feel like he didn't have the same passion the players did."
As Saint tells it, Gravity tried out several replacements for the job, including former LCS pros Alberto "Crumbz" Rengifo and Marcel "dexter" Feldkamp. He says that even though they've never coached, their professional game sense added a lot of depth to how they approached the position. However, when they met LastShadow, not only did he seem like the right guy for the role, but he understood what Gravity needed.
"We liked how he presented information. He understood the game a lot. The main thing we liked about him is he understands rotational play, which is one of our weakest points right now, I think," says Saint. "A lot of older coaches, they'll see the game and say, 'You engaged here and you shouldn't have,' and who care about that? How you win the game is how you out-rotate your opponent and move around the map better, and that's what he focuses on. He tries to keep us focused on that stuff."
Steady and unsuspecting rotations allow Gravity to consistently take advantage of opponents, and it worked again in their win today against Team Coast. Cop with a B.F. Sword in hand rotated early to the top lane to slay Mash, who hadn't gone back to base, still only rocking a Doran's Blade. "It's a timing thing," Saint says. "And we're starting to get a lot better at that."
As for Gravity's somewhat unique picks recently -- namely Lae-Young "Keane" Jang's Viktor and Michael "Bunny FuFuu" Kurylo's Veigar -- Saint says that LastShadow has nothing to do with them. "We decide all of our picks on our own," he explains, shooting down the rumors that LastShadow is the mastermind behind Gravity's pick and ban phase. "We're like, 'this is what I feel comfortable on,' and LastShadow's job is to figure out how that works in a team comp or figure out a playstyle that will go with that."
To find out how Gravity Gaming has improved, check out their match against Team Coast and every other match from the LCS, over at the Lolesports spoiler-free VODs page.
"We liked how he presented information. He understood the game a lot. The main thing we liked about him is he understands rotational play, which is one of our weakest points right now, I think," says Saint. "A lot of older coaches, they'll see the game and say, 'You engaged here and you shouldn't have,' and who care about that? How you win the game is how you out-rotate your opponent and move around the map better, and that's what he focuses on. He tries to keep us focused on that stuff."
Steady and unsuspecting rotations allow Gravity to consistently take advantage of opponents, and it worked again in their win today against Team Coast. Cop with a B.F. Sword in hand rotated early to the top lane to slay Mash, who hadn't gone back to base, still only rocking a Doran's Blade. "It's a timing thing," Saint says. "And we're starting to get a lot better at that."
As for Gravity's somewhat unique picks recently -- namely Lae-Young "Keane" Jang's Viktor and Michael "Bunny FuFuu" Kurylo's Veigar -- Saint says that LastShadow has nothing to do with them. "We decide all of our picks on our own," he explains, shooting down the rumors that LastShadow is the mastermind behind Gravity's pick and ban phase. "We're like, 'this is what I feel comfortable on,' and LastShadow's job is to figure out how that works in a team comp or figure out a playstyle that will go with that."
To find out how Gravity Gaming has improved, check out their match against Team Coast and every other match from the LCS, over at the Lolesports spoiler-free VODs page.
