View source for Dignitas Aphromoo: "Last Split We Weren t Together On Anything"

<br><br><br><br>After a mediocre finish in the 2020 League of Legends Championship Series Spring split, Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black and the rest of Dignitas are looking to rebound in this year's Summer Split. <br><br><br>Dignitas rejoined the LCS in 2020 after a two year hiatus by merging with Clutch Gaming. Before the merge, Clutch Gaming represented North America by competing internationally at Worlds 2019. After just one split, Dignitas has replaced every single member of that Clutch Gaming roster and missed out on the spring playoffs. <br><br><br>Aphromoo took the time to talk to TheGamer about how the he's handling his team's constant changes as well as some of the news around League of Legends . <br><br><br>Managing Inconsistency <br><br><br>After 2019, Dignitas made major changes to the roster that competed in Worlds under the Clutch Gaming brand. The organization shook up their entire five man roster, making changes at nearly every position. One of those changes was famously the young, talented support Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme. who was bought out by Cloud9 for a whopping $1.75 million . He went on to win the Spring Split with his new team and now looks like the clear best at his position in North America. <br><br><br>The lone player that team retained on their starting roster was Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon, who signed a massive contract extension with Dignitas for $2.3 million . Just one split after signing the deal, Huni and Dignitas parted ways and the top laner left to join Evil Geniuses. <br><br><br>Dignitas went through even more inconsistency in the following Spring Split, benching their new jungler Jonathan "Grig" Armao in favor of Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham. After missing out on playoffs, Dignitas dropped Grig and acquired jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett and top laner Omran "V1per" Shoura. <br><br><br>Aphromoo spoke about how he and his teammates are adjusting to all the new faces. "I know most of the guys, so I don’t think there’s too much adjusting going on. I think right now we just had tryouts for about a week so far to see who’s going to be playing on the LCS main roster and who’s gonna be playing on Academy. So, we’re still figuring that out." <br><br><br> via Riot Games <br><br><br>The addition of Dardoch presented a situation where Akaadian and Dardoch had to compete for the starting jungler position. Since TheGamer spoke to Aphromoo, Dignitas has announced that Akaadian will be the starter for the foreseeable future. Aphromoo gave his thoughts on the situation. "I do think everyone definitely is coming with their best foot forward and I’m not personally too shy of having that kind of thing happen." <br><br><br>The support added, "I think it’s really good and healthy for the team and whoever is gonna perform the best deserves to be on the stage." <br><br><br>Aphromoo also explained how the team makes transitions easier for the new players. "We scrim in-house, so everyone’s always together. We do some team activities where we play whatever game and stuff like that." <br><br><br>Meta and Solo Queue <br><br><br> via Riot Games <br><br><br>Being the most experienced support in the LCS, aphromoo talked about the current bot lane meta and if Dignitas plans to shake up their picks at all. "Meta is important but once you finally start meshing as a team, you’re able to branch out. So, we’ll definitely be branching out a bit more, I would say." <br><br><br>The recent meta has seen tank supports dominate the bot lane, such as Sett, Tahm Kench and Thresh. Throughout the 2020 Spring Split, the Dignitas support played a total of five champions; Thresh, Nautilus, Braum, Leona and Tahm Kench. <br><br><br>Just two weeks into the LCS, fans have been able to watch aphromoo play four different supports in four games. The veteran has so far played Leona, Lulu, Bard and Thresh. Despite Dignitas' ugly 0-4 start to the split, aphromoo alongside his AD carry Johnsun "Johnsun" Nguyen have performed well in the bot lane. <br><br><br>The 27-year-old had previously given his thoughts about solo queue issues in [https://Www.Leagueoflegendsportal.com League of Legends beginner guide] of Legends , suggesting that third party leagues and tournaments similar to those in CS:GO might benefit the game. Riot has since released Clash, which is similar to what CS:GO offers to players trying to climb the ladder. <br><br><br>When asked if he thinks Clash has helped with any of the issues in solo queue, Aphromoo laughed and said, "No, I’ve never played Clash in my life man." The support added his thoughts about solo queue, saying, "But, even though solo queue still sucks man, I still play it anyway. It’s the only type of practice you can do by yourself. There’s nothing else besides in-houses but once teams start actually practicing, no one wants [to play solo queue] now." <br><br><br>When asked if solo queue still can help players improve mechanically, the support responded, "Yeah, of course. But once you get to the team-macro, see you later, bro," he said with a laugh. "It’s out the window, so you literally just do whatever you can pretty much." <br><br><br>Supporting His Team <br><br><br> via Riot Games <br><br><br>Despite the team's seemingly never-ending inconsistencies, the Dignitas bot lane has been a glimmer of hope for fans of the franchise. Johnsun, the young AD carry acquired in the Vulcan deal, has impressed North American spectators. Born in Canada, Johnsun has proven himself valuable in a region where young, native talent is a rare commodity. <br><br><br>Speaking on Johnsun's development in his second ever LCS split, aphromoo explained how he's helping facilitate the young bot laner's development. "I’ve been in so many situations where I know what’s gonna happen. It’s like the same patterns over and over and when you have a new player come in, it’s just important to take it slow, and explain or showcase what should happen here and what we’re looking to do and just rinse and repeat that pattern over and over." <br><br><br>Adding more about his mechanical skills, aphromoo said, "It’s important to have hands and God bless Johnsun, he’s got the hands. But other than that, he plays very well himself. I do think as a team-first, we all have to be on the same page and it’s a lot easier to see those patterns that happen in game." <br><br><br>Aphromoo also spoke about his individual goals as a player. "What’s most important for me and for my goals is to make sure I play well and focus on vision score. I know my vision score has been lacking in the past years. Since I’ve come to DIG, I think our coach, Invert, was one of the first coaches that definitely coached me on my vision control ever, so that was nice." <br><br><br>In terms of teamplay, the Dignitas support mentioned that he feels as though it falls on him to get everyone on the same page. "When you’re playing with new players, everybody’s different and they’re not gonna be the same. Having that transition where you gotta adapt is super important. Be disciplined, be patient and strive for that together as a team. Last split, yeah we won the first four games and then it was all over the place. We weren’t really together on anything, essentially." <br><br><br>It's no secret just how many issues have seemed to plague Dignitas since their return to the LCS. Now with the team's 0-4 start to the Summer Split, they'll look to their veteran support to help dig themselves out of the hole they've been stuck in. <br><br><br>Next: 100 Thieves Ssumday: "I Want to Be the Best" <br>