Crimson Age: Gambit Gaming
Riot·5/28/2015, 7:18:19 PM·0 votes·16,684 views
At this point, the glory days of the Moscow Five are a distant memory. The gut-wrenching end of one of Europe's most prized teams from early 2013 was stomached by fans with the promise of greater things to come in the formation of Gambit Gaming.
At the start of Season 5, Gambit were finally starting to show promise. Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet joined the squad full time in the top lane, and Kristoffer "P1noy" Albao Lund Pedersen, who had helped the team during their relegation fight versus SK Prime, took over the AD carry position. However, when the team dropped to 0-5, it looked as though nothing had changed for the better.
Then, they won a game. And another, and another, and another. In fact, their win streak continued to Week 7, and they made the Postseason. Unfortunately, they ran into the Unicorns of Love in the Quarterfinals, and got knocked out 3-1.
In the off-season, Gambit proceeded to make the biggest move they could in an effort to shore up their struggling bottom lane. Locking down the Spring Split MVP AD carry Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou-Napoleon, who helped lead SK Gaming to a regular season record of 15-3 during the Spring, will be a massive boon to the Gambit roster.
"I think that it's a big change in terms of style and personality in our ADC role," says Gambit's jungler, Dani "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov. It's a change alright, and one that will require Diamondprox to rethink his early game jungle strategy, as the addition of FORG1VEN will paint a target on their bot lane's back.
"Now it's time to learn how to help bot lane again, I guess!" says Diamondprox. "It's always great when your opponents don't know what to expect from you, and when you can actually snowball any of your three lanes."
Along with Gambit's support Edward "GoSu Pepper" Abgaryan, Diamondprox is one of the last vestiges of the old M5 team, and FORG1VEN has complete confidence in his new jungler. "Diamond doesn't need a teacher, he is a teacher. He doesn't need someone to guide him, he's one of the people that creates guidance," the ADC says.
While FORG1VEN is learning from Diamondprox, Gambit's support GoSu Pepper is looking to his new ADC to teach him a thing or two.
"I'm learning from zero with FORG1VEN. It's insane, I feel like I'm playing a new position," says GoSu Pepper. According to the support, he's already adjusting to the change. "I'm playing better 2 vs. 3 or 2 vs. 4 than I am 2 v s. 2, because I'm already scared that the jungler is behind us at level two or something."
"I think it will be good, it will be hard in the start, but eventually we will become one of the best, if not the best. That's how I see it," says FORG1VEN.
With potentially the new best bot lane in Europe, a carry top laner in the form of Cabochard, a wildcard mid lane talent in newcomer Felix "Betsy" Edling, and a veteran jungler at the helm, there is no denying that Gambit have a terrifying squad. "I think that we have a good roster on paper, but how it will work out, we'll only see by our results," claims Diamondprox.
Up to this point, Gambit's a team that's been plagued by internal dissention. "We have such big egos," explains GoSu Pepper, "People think they're the best in their role, or at least one of the best." They'll have to keep those egos in check if they hope to find success in the Summer Split.
FORG1VEN will fit right in.
Bolstered by their new roster chock full of veterans and talent, Gambit is chomping at the bit for their chance to step back on to the EU LCS stage for Summer to make a run at their ultimate goal. "We all know what we want. It's, in the end, to become the best in the world," says Diamondprox.
That ambition is what drew FORG1VEN to Gambit in the first place. "Before FORG1VEN joined the team we had a session in Skype when FORG1VEN wanted to know the goals of everyone before he joined the team," says GoSu Pepper. "Our goal is going to Worlds and showing that we are the best team in Europe and can compete in Worlds and in the international scene."
For the first time in long time, Gambit are starting to look like a confident team rather than the ghost of one. Feel free to reminisce about the Golden Age of M5, but Gambit won't be joining you. They're looking forward. "It feels good," says GoSu Pepper. "You can call it a lot of potential, but potential is something you haven't achieved yet, so we will see."
Schuyler Winter once prevented his friend from stepping on a Puff Adder because he has night vision. He loves discussing all things Lolesports and you should totally hit him up on Twitter.
In like a lamb, out like a lion
At the start of Season 5, Gambit were finally starting to show promise. Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet joined the squad full time in the top lane, and Kristoffer "P1noy" Albao Lund Pedersen, who had helped the team during their relegation fight versus SK Prime, took over the AD carry position. However, when the team dropped to 0-5, it looked as though nothing had changed for the better.
Then, they won a game. And another, and another, and another. In fact, their win streak continued to Week 7, and they made the Postseason. Unfortunately, they ran into the Unicorns of Love in the Quarterfinals, and got knocked out 3-1.
Big moves
In the off-season, Gambit proceeded to make the biggest move they could in an effort to shore up their struggling bottom lane. Locking down the Spring Split MVP AD carry Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou-Napoleon, who helped lead SK Gaming to a regular season record of 15-3 during the Spring, will be a massive boon to the Gambit roster.
"I think that it's a big change in terms of style and personality in our ADC role," says Gambit's jungler, Dani "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov. It's a change alright, and one that will require Diamondprox to rethink his early game jungle strategy, as the addition of FORG1VEN will paint a target on their bot lane's back.
"Now it's time to learn how to help bot lane again, I guess!" says Diamondprox. "It's always great when your opponents don't know what to expect from you, and when you can actually snowball any of your three lanes."
Along with Gambit's support Edward "GoSu Pepper" Abgaryan, Diamondprox is one of the last vestiges of the old M5 team, and FORG1VEN has complete confidence in his new jungler. "Diamond doesn't need a teacher, he is a teacher. He doesn't need someone to guide him, he's one of the people that creates guidance," the ADC says.
While FORG1VEN is learning from Diamondprox, Gambit's support GoSu Pepper is looking to his new ADC to teach him a thing or two.
"I'm learning from zero with FORG1VEN. It's insane, I feel like I'm playing a new position," says GoSu Pepper. According to the support, he's already adjusting to the change. "I'm playing better 2 vs. 3 or 2 vs. 4 than I am 2 v s. 2, because I'm already scared that the jungler is behind us at level two or something."
"I think it will be good, it will be hard in the start, but eventually we will become one of the best, if not the best. That's how I see it," says FORG1VEN.
Bringing it all together
With potentially the new best bot lane in Europe, a carry top laner in the form of Cabochard, a wildcard mid lane talent in newcomer Felix "Betsy" Edling, and a veteran jungler at the helm, there is no denying that Gambit have a terrifying squad. "I think that we have a good roster on paper, but how it will work out, we'll only see by our results," claims Diamondprox.
Up to this point, Gambit's a team that's been plagued by internal dissention. "We have such big egos," explains GoSu Pepper, "People think they're the best in their role, or at least one of the best." They'll have to keep those egos in check if they hope to find success in the Summer Split.
FORG1VEN will fit right in.
Bolstered by their new roster chock full of veterans and talent, Gambit is chomping at the bit for their chance to step back on to the EU LCS stage for Summer to make a run at their ultimate goal. "We all know what we want. It's, in the end, to become the best in the world," says Diamondprox.
That ambition is what drew FORG1VEN to Gambit in the first place. "Before FORG1VEN joined the team we had a session in Skype when FORG1VEN wanted to know the goals of everyone before he joined the team," says GoSu Pepper. "Our goal is going to Worlds and showing that we are the best team in Europe and can compete in Worlds and in the international scene."
The Crimson Age
For the first time in long time, Gambit are starting to look like a confident team rather than the ghost of one. Feel free to reminisce about the Golden Age of M5, but Gambit won't be joining you. They're looking forward. "It feels good," says GoSu Pepper. "You can call it a lot of potential, but potential is something you haven't achieved yet, so we will see."
Schuyler Winter once prevented his friend from stepping on a Puff Adder because he has night vision. He loves discussing all things Lolesports and you should totally hit him up on Twitter.
