The second week of the League of Legends Championship Series gave the fans a lot of good games. Dignitas surely won’t forget this weekend fast. With a game to be proud of and a game to learn a lot from. With both a win and a loss in the LCS, Dignitas are 3-1 after two weeks.
Dignitas vs Team Liquid
Dignitas took on four-time consecutive LCS championship winners in game one. Even though Team Liquid was missing one of its key elements in their roster with Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, Dignitas was able to contest the current champions. They came in as the underdogs for this match but were able to prove that they were solid contenders, as they took down TL in a 41-minute game.
Things were close in early stages of the game. Both teams were playing the laning phase well. But aside from that, Jungler Jonathan “Grig” Armao was able to create an advantage for his mid laner through a great early gank. Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, who already proved to be a threat on those control style mages, was able to put Orianna’s shockwave to great use. After already achieving the Mastercard Player of the Week for week one, Froggen showed up once again.
Playing the map
Things became clear early in the game on how Dignitas wanted to play. ADC Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen and Support Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, were not in the mood to contest the Team Liquid bot lane. As such, they decided early to swap with Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and put their manpower in the top lane with first Rift Herald already spawning. They played for objectives and succeeded. Taking down the early Rift Herald, four dragons and seven turrets in total during that game.
The rookie and the veteran
Fans already knew Aphromoo before this season but Johnsun was basically unknown. As Aphromoo is making his redemption arc, Johnsun is starting a legacy. Already backed up with mindblowing stats from week 1, Johnsun was performing to the best of his abilities again. Great synergy was shown from the Dignitas bot lane as they made Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng look vulnerable. A mispositioned Doublelift and a great hook by Aphromoo, resulted in Johnsun eliminating the veteran ADC and grabbing a smooth kill for himself.
Some great pushing and playing around the map secured Dignitas their win against Team Liquid. Well fought by both teams, showing great team strength and synergy. Dignitas took their win in game 1 of week 2 in the LCS.
Dignitas vs Flyquest
From being the underdogs in game one to being the favorite for many fans in game two. Dignitas was looking for another 2-0 weekend and securing that top spot on the leaderboard. Nevertheless, they are not getting what they were expecting. A draft already Flyquest favored was looking to be a big hurdle for Dignitas.
Being pushed in a tough spot already things were looking to get worse when Huni overstepped. Being punished the same way Grig punished TL two days earlier, Lucas “Santorin” Larsen ganked Huni for first blood.
Fighting to lose
Dignitas forced a change of pace. Instead of playing to their advantages DIG was picking fights they shouldn’t have bothered with. Defending where they should have backed off, or engaging where they should have been disengaging. DIG lost their footing in the game, giving up more kills and losing more objectives than gaining.
With Santorin overcommitting in a fight at the baron, Froggen was able to steal the baron under their noses. Although it was a great move, it only delayed the inevitable. Flyquest kept pushing the sidelanes knowing that Dignitas’ teamfight wasn’t going to be much of a threat for them. Another fight broke out when Huni engaged on the Flyquest squad but things were looking to end quickly. Picked off one by one, Flyquest marched to victory and ended the game relatively quickly with a game time of 33 minutes.
Looking at Week 3
The road for Dignitas isn’t getting easier. With TSM and Cloud 9 next on the table Dignitas can’t have these slip-ups as they had with Flyquest. In fact, they should play off the slip-ups that the enemy makes. Aphromoo and Froggen are both smart veterans who can see mistakes that the enemy makes fairly quickly. Aphromoo can then shot call his team to victory. And with a prodigy like Johnsun beside him, that shouldn’t be that hard.
Play for the objectives. It’s one of the best strengths Dignitas has shown so far. Through great zone control and vision play Dignitas is a force to be reckoned with. TSM have shown some good performances so far but they have a lot to work on still. If they DIG play their own game and recognizes their win conditions, this game is there for the taking.
C9 isn’t going to be easy. The 4-0 monster is looking to win every match for the coming weeks, and they might do it. But Dignitas can show that they are not invulnerable. Play through the bot lane. Unlocking Aphromoo and Johnsun and making cross-map plays is the way to go. Don’t force anything, definitely not fights.
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