Olivia R. July 17, 2019
After merging with Clutch Gaming earlier this month, Team Dignitas announced that they would be returning the League of Legends Championship Series next year.
In response to the news, LCS commissioner Chris Greeley stated he was excited to welcome Dignitas back, partially because the organization was one of the original eight teams in the NA LCS.
"We have been impressed with the strides they have taken over the past two years," Greeley said.
But not everyone in the League of Legends community is excited about Dignitas' return.
League of Legends analyst and former mid laner for Dignitas, William "Scarra" Li, has been very vocal about his weariness regarding the organization joining the LCS next year.
"If you talk to a lot of the old members of Dig, especially the League of Legends team, every single one disliked Dig. As an organization, they were known to be one of the worst ones to play for in the entire league. Although the fans loved Dig, every single fan loved the players. Not the org," Scarra said to Esports Heaven.
Scarra noted that he has already shared this opinion on stream and he isn't afraid to keep being honest about Dignitas' return.
According to the analyst, Dignitas hasn't really done much of anything since they left the LCS two years ago. He even went as far as to say most of the things Dignitas did do were basically failures. This includes their rebranding, which Scarra said most people didn't like. He also brought up a partnership with Buffalo Wild Wings, an attmept to promote amateur League of Legends that Scarra doesn't believe went too well.
"They have failed in a lot of of different ways, but somehow still found a way back into the LCS. And all of a sudden I'm supposed to think they're great?" Scarra said.
In fact, Scarra went on to say that most people should be skeptical of the organization's return. He believes the magic won't be there, since the players, including himself, were the ones carrying the organization.
"The fond memories fans have of that team are attributed to the players, not the org," he said.
Scarra played on Dignitas from 2011 to 2014. He was part of the organization's success in League of Legends, including an invite to the first ever season of the LCS.
There are many rumors surrounding the organization that aren't terribly flattering. Some of their streamers have accused Dignitas of paying them in merchandise rather than money.
On Reddit, other people backed up this claim.
"I was hired to be a writer for Dignitas back when I played SC2, and yes, they said they were goign to pay with merch so I declined," one Redditor noted.
Another writer responded to the comment, stating that the exact same thing happened when they wrote for them. Dignitas had allegedly offered the freelancers merch and "exposure" instead of money for their services.
Still, the merger with Clutch Gaming is a major move for Dignitas, and could bring about some changes to the organization. The partnership is the first-ever merger involving a League of Legends franchise in Riot Games' LCS.
"The goal and the story we always wanted to tell, was the return of Dignitas to League of Legends," Dignitas CEO Michael Prindiville said.