Dignitas returns to the LCS with determination

Dignitas returns to the LCS. Of course, DIG is a name well known in the League of Legends community. And this year, in 2020, they are back on stage ready to compete for the title. Nevertheless, their return to the LCS was a pleasant one to say the least. In addition to their undefeated weekend they showed a lot of skill and determination.

Matchday 1: Counter Logic Gaming

Dignitas: Renekton – Elise – Viktor – Ashe – Tahm Kench
CLG: Ornn – Rek’sai – Cassiopeia – Senna – Leona

Both drafts had similarities. The jungle changes in season 10 make having an early game jungler a must for any comp. If one gets behind, they are in big trouble. So the focus was definitely there for both teams.

Scaling in the first matches is a given in any region. Cassiopeia and Senna sure tick those boxes. The upgradable items from Ornn can make things difficult for Dignitas’s draft.

Early game:

First blood fell early in this match. Ray ‘Wiggily‘ Griffin went to the bot side and made a run for scuttlecrab priority on the Rek’sai. Jonathan ‘Grig‘ Armao is there to contest. With Dignitas’s bot lane to first run up on the river, CLG’s wasn’t far behind. A quick engage by Andy ‘Smoothie‘ Ta on the leona resulted in a total lockdown for the Dignitas support with first blood going to Wiggily.

CLG stayed in the lead for a while, with pushing lanes on both bot and midlane, Wiggily was able to secure the first dragon for his team. Although CLG got first blood and first dragon, Dignitas wasn’t fazed by any of it and was closing the gold gap little by little through the gold leads from every lane.

Eventually, Dignitas took action with Grig invading the top side jungle together with Henrik ‘Froggen‘ Hansen on the Viktor. An easy stun on Ornn left him vulnerable and the early dive turned into a kill for the Viktor. With everyone resetting CLG decided to make a move on the first Rift Herald. Although Dignitas was there to defend, the skirmish didn’t end in their favor as they were grouped up close to the wall. .

Dignitas were chasing the enemy’s bot lane resulting in a kill on the Leona. With Wiggily trying to help out he’s teammate he was bound to fall too and Dignitas picked up another kill making them path down to the bot lane and securing their first dragon of the game.

Mid and late game:

The mid-game started off with CLG taking first turret of the game on botside and when all that was happening Froggen was able to pick up his second kill of the game with some nice teamwork on the topside of the map. Froggen continued to push on the topside and was able to secure their first turret of the game as well.

Then things started to escalate. Froggen picked up another kill and the team looked to make a play on the second Rift Herald. CLG was there but couldn’t contest. With CLG pathing over to the Cloud Dragon, Dignitas took the opportunity and immediately used Rift in the mid lane taking a tower.

With constant skirmishes around mid lane and in the jungle, Dignitas eventually made a move on Baron. With CLG only trying to move in and contest nothing happened. Great zone control caused Dignitas to take the Baron without a problem and all eyes were set on the enemy nexus.

One final teamfight opened up in the mid lane. Dignitas aced CLG and continued to take the nexus.

Photo by Lolesports Flickr (Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Matchday 2: Evil Geniuses

Dignitas: Gangplank – Lee Sin – Orianna – Senna – Braum
EG: Aatrox – Gragas – Azir – Aphelios – Tahm Kench

Draftwise, the game already looked very DIG sided as they had some nice scaling with the Gangplank, Orianna and Senna. Not only that but Braum and Orianna’s CC definitely made the teamfights hard for EG.

Early game:

The early game in this one was very slow with not much happening for a long time. Both teams were looking to scale up and get those item spikes as fast as possible and be ready to fight. Grig was showing some nice dominance with early invades. He got a small lead on Svenskeren which resulted in first dragon of the game going to Dignitas.

Grig decided to start up the first Rift Herald. With him trying to sneak it away under EG’s noses, Svenskeren and Colin ‘Kumo‘ Zhao were there to contest and chase him away. Quickly Svenskeren and Kumo turn their eyes on the Rift Herald and took it easily.

Svenskeren noticed a low health Froggen pushing mid, as he does. With help from his team he secured the kill that allowed EG to use their Herald and get some juicy turret plate gold to further their gold lead to over 1,000.

Photo by Flickr Lolesports (Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Things got dicey when EG tried to force a play in the midlane. Especially when Froggen almost fell to the strong engage. Luckily Senna was there to support him with a nice ult and heal him up. But with Jiizuke now low on health and out of position Huni had managed to find a nice ult slowing Tham Kench, Azir and Gragas. Grig saw the opportunity and tried to kick Jiizuke back to his team. But Zeyzal noticed what he’s was trying to do and with some great timing devoured Jiizuke just in time.

Grig kicked both Zeyzal and Jiizuke in his team making for a stellar play. Zeyzal spit out Jiizuke who flashes out to safety. Dignitas was out of position and Kumo decides to teleport in. He overextended trying to catch Grig out and gave Dignitas their first kill of the game.

Mid and late game:

Photo by Flickr Lolesports (Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Dignitas taking down the mid lane outer turret resulted in good vision control in and around the jungle. Additionally they went on to continue with the pressure they had and push out the lanes to look for greater objectives. With that said, things really started to snowball from there and they kept catching out some members of EG and picking up easy kills while still applying good pressure on all the sidelanes.

Eventually Dignitas picked up the Baron without a problem and continued to siege down the enemy base. Dignitas took their second win of the season and went undefeated in the first week.

The return from Dignitas in the LCS

Dignitas is a solid team with a great collection of veterans and one outstanding rookie. Zaqueri ‘Aphromoo‘ Black and Henrik ‘Froggen‘ Hansen are not strange names for LCS fans. They absolutly showed up for their team this weekend. Alongside Heo ‘Huni‘ Seung-hoon they are the core of what Dignitas is today. Their knowledge is a great learning source for both Johnson ‘Johnsun‘ Nguyen and Jonathan ‘Grig‘ Armao who are younger players on the LCS stage.

Johnsun is proving to be a reliable asset for the team in the first weekend of the LCS. With Aphromoo and Froggen’s shotcalling, things are really looking great for this team. With a long season to go this team has great potential and are ready to put down the same strong performance they did in week one.

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