Gravitas complete their 2020 OPL roster

Gravitas have officially announced their new League of Legends roster, and the 2020 squad looks vastly different from last year. With only their jungler returning, this is a fresh start for the organisation and all eyes will be on their roster full of rookies.

Speaking to Here’s The Thing, Sean Callanan, CEO of Gravitas, said “We’re really pleased with the squad that Leonard (OMO) and Calvin have put together. It’s great to have Praelus returning for Gravitas, we’re expecting him to take on a leadership role in the 2020 squad.”

“Our partnership with Summoners' Society was instrumental in finding new talent like N0body, TrAshley, and Bambi from the grassroots scene. OMO was familiar with Kpop & Beats from OCS and we are excited to see Puma rip it up in the bot lane.“

“We know our team will be juggling study or work, so a larger squad gives us more flexibility for scrims. Hopefully this helps when the OPL kicks off, I can’t wait to see how they perform on the big stage,” concluded Sean.

Gravitas Roster:

• Lachlan ‘Nobody' Keene-O'Keefe (Top)
• Jordan ‘Praelus' Fernandes (Jungle)
• David ‘Beats' Nguyen (Mid)
• Nathan ‘Puma' Puma (ADC)
• Liam ‘Bambi' Jowitt (ADC)
• Jordan ‘Kpop' Hazeltine (Support)
• Ashley ‘TrAshley' White (Support)

Alongside the seven players, Calvin “Calvin” Lee returns as the team’s coach but this year he’s joined by Leonard “OMO” Loh, who has been promoted from his coaching position with the Gravitas Academy side. 

First and foremost, the return of Jordan “Praelus” Fernandes is a huge boon to the rest of the team, thanks to his OPL experience and high skill ceiling. Starting out as a substitute for the Dire Wolves and training under champion jungle Shern “Shernfire” Tai, he moved to Gravitas at the beginning of 2019 and was a consistent force for the fledgeling side. This year he will have to step up if his team is to be successful, but Gravitas fans needn’t lose hope, as Praelus has a penchant for delivering when his team needs him. 

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Former Kraken Black captain Lachlan “Nobody” Keefe-O’Keene is on top lane duty for Gravitas this year and has big shoes to fill following the departure of Jackson “Pabu” Pavone. For a player that hasn’t played in either the OCS or the OPL, this year will be a huge challenge for Nobody, as top lane is one of the most stacked lanes in the region. However, everyone has to start somewhere so don’t write off the rookie just yet. 

David “Beats” Nguyen has bounced around a few OCS teams as a midlaner, including Legacy Genesis and Chiefs Academy, however this will be his first season in the OPL. Like his fellow rookies, there’s relatively little known about him, but he’ll have plenty of support from his star jungler to make an impact come season start. 

The team’s new support, Jordan “Kpop” Hazeltine, has to hold some kind of record for the most Oceanic teams played for, as his impressive player history includes teams like Avant Garde, SIN Gaming, Team Regicide and Legacy Genesis. With a wealth of experience stretching back to 2017, but without a long tenure on a team, Kpop will be looking to firmly establish himself as an OPL mainstay this split. He’ll be working alongside new ADC Nathan “Puma” Puma, and that experience may be extremely helpful for the rookie ADC as he takes his first steps into the OPL. 

Alongside the main roster, Gravitas are joined by two substitute players, Liam “Bambi” Jowitt and Ashley “TrAshley” White, who ply their trade in the ADC and Support roles respectively. Bambi is a former player for the Bombers Academy side while TrAshley is a relative unknown at this point, having only played for Kraken White in OCAL.

The Gravitas roster has been rebuilt from the ground up around one of their most prodigal talents, but the big question is whether they can mesh in time to make an impact on the OPL stage. Either way, you’ll be able to see them in action when the OPL returns on January 31st.

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Credits:

• Written by Alex Leckie-Zaharic
• Edited by Adam Taylor