Griffin (esports)

Griffin (Korean: 그리핀) is a South Korean esports organization owned by esports entertainment company STILL8.[1][2] It has a team competing in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and previously had teams competing in League of Legends and Overwatch.[2] Griffin's League of Legends team competed in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), the top level of professional League of Legends in South Korea.[3][4][5]

Griffin
Short nameGRF
DivisionsPlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
FoundedNovember 2016 (2016-11)
Team historyNOT BAD (2016–2017)
Griffin (2017–present)
LocationSouth Korea
OwnerSeo "Shark" Kyung-jong[1]
Parent groupSTILL8[2]
Websiteteamgriffin.gg

League of Legends

History

Griffin was founded in November 2016 as NOT BAD before renaming in January 2017. After failing to qualify for the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) through Challengers Korea (CK) in the year prior, Griffin was finally able to do so on April 14, 2018, defeating veteran organizations Kongdoo Monster and MVP in the LCK 2018 Summer promotion tournament.[3]

Griffin's inaugural LCK roster consisted of top laner Choi "Sword" Sung-won, jungler Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong, mid laners Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon and Shin "Rather" Hyeong-seop, bot laner Park "Viper" Do-hyeon and support Son "Lehends" Si-woo.[5] The team quickly rose to the top of the standings, placing second in the regular season and playoffs after losing 2–3 to KT Rolster in the finals.[6][7] Despite their performance, Griffin was unable to qualify for the 2018 World Championship through championship points, nor through the 2018 Korea Regional Finals, which they were eliminated from by Gen.G.[8][9][10] On December 31, 2018, Griffin won the 2018 KeSPA Cup after sweeping Gen.G 3–0 in the finals.[10][11]

Excluding Rather, who was loaned to the Flash Wolves in the offseason,[12] Griffin returned to the LCK with the exact same roster for the 2019 LCK Spring Split. The team ended first in the regular season with a 15–3 record, but lost again in the finals after being swept 0–3 by SKT.[13][14][15] Griffin was one of four LCK teams that competed at Rift Rivals 2019 LCK-LPL-LMS-VCS, which the league won on July 7, 2019.[16][17]

Griffin headed into the 2019 LCK Summer Split with a new top laner, Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon, and finished the regular season in first place with a 13–5 record. This placement secured the team a bye to the finals and a spot in the 2019 World Championship, as a series victory would give them a direct qualification as the LCK's first seed, while a series loss would still earn them the most championship points and qualification as the LCK's second seed.[18][19] SKT ultimately defeated Griffin once again in the finals, with Griffin only managing to take a single game off SKT.[20][21][22]

On January 5, 2021, the team disbanded.

Final Roster
Nat. ID Name Role
South Korea Hoya Yoon Yong-ho Top Laner
South Korea Citrus Byeon Ji-woong Jungler
South Korea Naehyun Yoo Nae-hyun Mid Laner
South Korea Wayne Hwang Seo-hyeon Bot Laner
South Korea Yusin Kwak Yu-shi Support
South Korea GIDEON Kim Min-seong Jungler / Substitute
South Korea Bay Park Jun-byeong Mid Laner / Substitute
South Korea Sword Choi Sung-won Top Laner / Inactive
South Korea Chaos Byun Young-sub Head coach
South Korea Rather Shin Hyeong-seop Coach
South Korea Chico Park Yong-sub Coach
South Korea Jaecyoung Yang Jun-yeong Analyst

References
  1. Ashton, Graham (May 16, 2019). "STILL8 CEO Wants to Globalize Team Griffin and Korean Esports". The Esports Observer. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  2. Sim, Youngbo; Jang, David (November 21, 2018). "League of Legends: Team Griffin is Acquired by Still8, Formerly Known as Kongdoo". Inven Global. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  3. Abbas, Malcolm (May 9, 2018). "Can Griffin translate their success in Challengers Korea to the LCK?". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  4. Ridgely, Brandon (July 28, 2018). "LCK: How Griffin has taken over in their rookie split". RealSport. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  5. Rand, Emily (September 14, 2018). "Griffin leave the 2018 LCK season in a better place than they found it". VPEsports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  6. Abbas, Malcolm (September 8, 2018). "KT Rolster are your 2018 LCK Summer Split champions". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  7. Sim, Youngbo; Oak, Yudae (September 8, 2018). "KT Lifts the LCK Summer Trophy. KT Defeats Griffin 3:2". Inven Global. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  8. Abbas, Malcolm (September 14, 2018). "Gen.G end Griffin's 2018 miracle run". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  9. Oak, Yudae (September 14, 2018). "League of Legends: The Defending Worlds Champions, Gen.G Defeats Griffin and Advances to the Worlds Regional Qualifier Finals". Inven Global. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  10. Erzberger, Tyler (February 10, 2019). "League of Legends: Cloud9's Licorice sold on Griffin, South Korea". ESPN. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  11. Abbas, Malcolm (December 31, 2018). "Griffin win the 2018 KeSPA Cup". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  12. Park, Beom; Paek, Ji-eun (December 14, 2018). "League of Legends: LMS Flash Wolves Signs Coach Chunco & Borrows Rather". Inven Global. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  13. Leckie-Zaharic, Alex (June 22, 2019). "Faker benched during Griffin's dominant win over SKT in LCK finals rematch". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  14. Jang, David (April 13, 2019). "SKT Sweeps Griffin for their 7th Championship in the LCK". Inven Global. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  15. Amos, Andrew (July 20, 2019). "SKT are on the rise again and the LCK's young guns must watch out". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  16. Amos, Andrew (July 7, 2019). "LCK defeats LPL to win first Rift Rivals title". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  17. Jang, David (July 7, 2019). "League of Legends: [Rift Rivals Finals] LCK Soar Over LPL for their First Rift Rivals Championship". Inven Global. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  18. Jang, David (August 18, 2019). "Griffin Qualifies for the 2019 League of Legends World Championship". Inven Global. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  19. Kolev, Radoslav (August 19, 2019). "Griffin the first LCK team to qualify for Worlds 2019, as Summer Playoffs begin". VPEsports. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  20. Geddes, George (August 31, 2019). "SKT crush Griffin to win LCK Summer 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  21. Moncav, Melany (August 31, 2019). "SK Telecom T1 defeats Griffin, is the LCK summer champion - News - LOL - WIN.gg". WIN Esports. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  22. Kolev, Radoslav (August 31, 2019). "SKT cement domestic dominance with repeat LCK title". VPEsports. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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