GorillA, One of the memorable supports of the LCK, retires from professional play today after 8 years of a professional career
GorillA has been one of the top supports in the LCK for a long time before 2018. He is very well known for his time in ROX Tigers (also known as GE Tigers, HUYA Tigers and KOO Tigers) and Longzhu Gaming (later Kingzone DragonX).
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Gorilla’s Career
He started his professional career in Najin White Shield back in 2013. In 2014, he showcases his ability as a great support in a team that went to Worlds 2014 quarterfinals. However, they lose in the Quarterfinals to OMG and he leaves the team before they disband in 2014.
He then joins HUYA Tigers (later renamed to ROX Tigers at the end) alongside PraY. GorillA and PraY play alongside each other for the next 4 years until PraY retired in 2018. Together they were known as one of the best botlanes in the LCK.
He was with ROX Tigers for the next 2 years where they make a Worlds Finals appearance in 2015 and Worlds Semifinals in 2016. However, on both occasions, they fall short in the hands of SKT T1 (now T1). In those 2 years, they were one of the favorites to win Worlds.
For the 2017 season, GorillA along with PraY leave to join Longzhu Gaming. In Longzhu, he finally manages to beat their arch-nemesis SKT T1 in the Summer 2017 playoffs. He also wins his first domestic title. However, that ends in disappointment at Worlds 2017 when they lose to the eventual World Champions Samsung Galaxy.
Longzhu Gaming rebrands to KingZone DragonX in 2018, with the similar team to compete for a Worlds title. With GorillA in the roster, they win a domestic title in 2018.Sadly, they do not qualify for Worlds after being defeated by Gen.G in the Regional Qualifiers.
After that season, PraY retires and GorillA joins Misfits Gaming in the LEC. His time at Misfits Gaming was a disappointment and the team under-performed as a whole and he left the team at the end of the season.
He joins in SandBox Gaming in 2020 and achieved 4000 assists in his professional career in 2020. The team did not perform well and hence did not qualify for Worlds.
His Farewell
He posted his retirement message in a TwitLonger post. There he speaks about leaving his career as a man who must walk and focus on having success in life. He also mentions his lack of results but has always tried his best to achieve results.
His post does mention regrets of being unable to complete some of his goals in his professional career. Also, he expresses his wishes to fulfill his goals in his personal life and support in doing so.
He leaves a legacy as a consistent support player and is regarded as a great individual and teammate. Though devoid of a Worlds title and more domestic titles, no one can doubt he was one of the best supports to play in the LCK.
