Making a Move with Gravity
Meet Min Su “Move” King. Gravity’s watchful protector. A Dark Knight.
He was known as an aggressive playmaker in Solo Queue. In 2015, he joined AD Gaming, Edward Gaming’s sister team in China's LSPL. They were known for just barely missing the cut off into the LPL, placing third in the 2015 LSPL Spring Split -- right behind Qiao Gu and Unlimited Potential.
After a new rule limiting the number of foreign players on a starting roster was implemented in the LPL, Move never quite got the chance to show his jungle prowess on the competitive stage. During his time there, “They didn’t make us scrim other teams often. But our whole team had to do Solo Queue maybe 15 times a day,” he describes.
So despite his time on a professional LSPL team, Move could still be considered a player fresh out of Solo Queue when he joined Gravity. He proved that he could climb the ladder, but how would that actually translate on to a competitive stage?
A Rough Start
The start of the NA LCS Summer Split wasn’t easy for Move, as he scrambled to find an identity on his new team.
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Describing his transition from being a Solo Queue player to becoming a professional player in the NA LCS, he explains, “When I play Solo Queue, I’m very aggressive. When I play on the competitive stage, I play more defensively.”
And yet, at first, it seemed as if Move was still carrying some of his Solo Queue mentality into his professional NA LCS matches. There were mishaps and Move seemed to have some difficulties adjusting to his new team, not quite finding a purpose for himself. There were also communication issues plaguing the team, and Michael "Bunny FuFuu" Kurylo stated in his post-game interview in Week 1, “It’s our first time hearing some Korean in the game, so that’s a little different.”
Move started out playing too aggressively, like he had nothing to lose. He was aggressive and tried too hard to be a playmaker for the team.
For example, in his second ever professional game against Team Dragon Knights, he tunneled in too hard in order to secure a kill, but wound up getting killed instead. Even though Gravity would go on to win the game against Team Dragon Knights, it was a mishap that wouldn’t be overlooked.
So what exactly was Move’s purpose on Team Gravity? Would he be a playmaker? A carry jungler?
The Dark Knight
By Week 2, he already seemed to be finding footing against Gravity’s former sister team, Team Liquid.
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This time around, Move didn’t attempt to force a play in order to snowball a lane. He didn’t tunnel vision onto a kill. He decided to drop the Solo Queue mentality and focus on how he could help his team. He was playing methodically, tracking buff timers and securing vision for his team.
After an extended leash from his teammates, Move had time to set down a ward in the river before Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera could arrive, securing vision for Kevin “Haunterz” Yammell’s Ryze.
He wanted to protect his late game carry -- to give Hauntzer an edge, shielding him from any incoming ganks.
Falling right into the trap, IWillDominate would wind up sitting right on top of the ward Move laid out for him. Thanks to Move's vision control, Hauntzer could see the gank from nearly a mile away, farm safely, and scale up.
But Move’s impact doesn’t stop there. Immediately after, he forces a flash from Jae-hun "Fenix" Kim’s Cassiopeia, before heading towards top lane, securing the scuttle crab right outside Baron.
Not even four minutes into the game, Move already has control over vision in both rivers.
His jungle pathing is smart and selfless, always maximizing vision for his team while maintaining a level of lane pressure. Describing how he balances the two tasks, Move explains, “I prioritize vision more than any task in the jungle. Then I think about lane pressure. Taking buffs is a bonus. It’s not really a balance [of the tasks] but a list of priorities.”
Later on in the game, IWillDominate ended up sitting on top of another ward that Move had set down for him.
With vision in the river, Lae-Young “Keane” Jang was able to walk up safely from mid lane to secure a kill on Diego “Quas” Ruiz. Not only did Move set up the gank perfectly, he also makes sure he gives the kills away to Hauntzer’s Ryze and Keane’s Urgot.
Move has found his identity on Gravity as a selfless jungler, always willing to hand over a kill. He wants to put the resources onto his teammates. He trusts them enough to carry him. He’s become a jungler who prioritizes vision to protect his team so they don’t fall behind.
He’s slowly transforming into the watchful protector for Gravity, a Dark Knight.
The Selfless Guardian
When he first joined the team, Move admitted, “I believed we were going to be a 3rd or 4th place team.”
And yet, coming into Week 8, Gravity has completely exceeded expectations, clinching a first spot over favorites Team SoloMid. And if all things continue going their way, they might just win the entire Summer Split.
Move is pretty confident about it. At this point, he’s found his role on the team as Gravity’s watchful protector.
“I expect Gravity to be 1st place at the end of the split,” he says.
MID MALPH OP
