Dignitas replaces Soligo with Yusui for 2021 LCS Summer Week 2

Another unexpected roster move has been announced in the LCS. This time it’s Dignitas replacing mid laner Max “Soligo” Soong with its Academy mid laner David “Yusui” Bloomquist.

The swap happens after a solid first week for Dignitas, as the team went 2-1 with wins over Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest. The results have put Dignitas in a shared third place with a 13-8 record of the season. Moving into the second week of the split, Dignitas will be looking to continue the climb, but this time with Yusui in the mid lane. 

Yusui will be entering the LCS after playing for Dignitas Academy since January. Yusui has been a prominent figure in the Academy scene for a few years now, playing under both Team Liquid and Cloud9’s Academy banners previously. This step up into the LCS will be Yusui’s chance to finally prove himself as a player that deserves a starting spot in the LCS. Currently, the competition in the mid lane is tough in the LCS, so Yusui will have to pull out his absolute best. 

Soligo will be joining the Academy team and try to keep up with his good performance from the LCS. After joining Dignitas in November 2020, Soligo has improved immensely and become one of the best native mid laners. It took Soligo a long time on 100 Thieves to get to this point, but now he is finally starting to flourish on Dignitas. Even though Soligo will be playing in the Academy for a bit, it’s unlikely that he will stay there. 

It’s not the first time this split that teams have swapped in players from the Academy leagues. Team Liquid recently did it with top laner Barney “Alphari” Morris while Cloud9 also made changes to the bot lane by sending Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen on a trip to the Academy league. The reasoning behind the swaps is likely different from team to team, but it seems like organizations are putting emphasis on toying with rosters during the longer split. For the first time, the LCS Summer Split will be a triple round robin, which gives all teams extra games to play this split. 

The new format allows teams to get extra stage experience before the playoffs, ensuring that only the absolute best teams across the whole season will compete for the trophy and a spot at the 2020 World Championship. With this comes a packed schedule for the teams, which can definitely exhaust some players. So far, it’s fairly prominent players that have been swapped out and a small break might help out on their endurance. Talented young players from the Academy can get a chance to shine on the big stage. 

Dignitas will play its first game with Yusui on Friday, June 11, against Team Liquid.