Dignitas sign Johnsun after Huni signing leads to tight budget

Olivia Richman Published 27/11/2019

Dignitas has only signed one other player for their 2020 LCS roster after announcing extending Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon’s contract.

The organization has announced former Team SoloMid Academy bot laner Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen woul be joining Huni on their incomplete roster.

“The mechanical God, the overlord of Solo Queue, and the man with 4 accounts in the Top 20,” they tweeted.

Dignitas concerns LCS community with Huni contract

Earlier this month, ESPN reported that Dignitas had offered Huni $2.3 million to secure the top laner for two more seasons. This was a shock to the League of Legends community, especially after they also chose to drop fan favorite mid laner Tanner “Damonte” Damonte along with every other Clutch Gaming player.

The $2.3 million contract put Huni at the top of the charts for highest paid League of Legends player in history, even beating Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. While Huni has played in Worlds for three different regions, including during Clutch Gaming’s surprise run, the multi-million dollar contract seemed very high.

Now, it seems the contract might have been so high that it’s affecting the team’s operations.

Inven Global reported that Dignitas’ overall salary for player budgets was a little over $3 million. That means Huni’s salary has used up over 1/3 of their budget. With only 2/3 of their salary budget left, it seems as though Dignitas is having trouble signing players with any star power or credibility.

Dignitas was able to recoup some of their salary budget by selling support player Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme to Cloud9 for $1.9 million, but at this point, many of the most popular and promising free agents have been signed already. It’s also unclear if Dignitas had a previous plan for the roster that ended up falling apart.

The organization had some fun with the situation on Twitter, sharing a photo of a team with Huni filling every role. They jokingly told fans to “stop leaking” their 2020 roster. But some fans were not amused, asking Dignitas why they let go of “three promising young talents.”

With the signing of Johnsun, it seems that many fans’ concerns are possibly coming true: A lack of remaining budget may have Huni carrying a team full of rookies. While Johnsun has a lot of potential, the announcement garnered mix results from the team’s followers.

Many felt Dignitas only signed Johnsun because they had no money left for more expensive veteran players, and felt the team was now doomed to finish 10th. But others were excited to see a North American team signing a domestic rookie to start on its LCS roster.

Earlier this year, Dignitas purchased Clutch Gaming for $20 million. Many were excited by the prospect of Dignitas taking part in the LCS once again, but now their future in the league is looking shaky.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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