With the off-season in full swing, the only thing constant is change, even if your name has become an institution in the world of competitive League of Legends.
Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana, prolific live-streamer and once-member of Team Dignitas has officially announced that he will not sign with the team for the 2015 season. According to a press release from Dignitas, Santana “wishes to pursue other opportunities,” though the nature of those opportunities is not clear at this time.
Santana’s participation in competitive League of Legends dates back to the scene’s nascent years. His original squad, Rock Solid, featured Curse player Joe “Voyboy” Esfahani, former Dignitas coach William “Scarra” Li, and commentator Joshua “Jatt” Leesman. The team was one of the first to challenge Team Solomid and Counter Logic Gaming for the title of best team in North America, well before the establishment of Riot Games’ League Championship Series.
Since that time, however, Dignitas has seen a steady decline of results. Santana’s side found success early in the 2014 LCS Summer Split after acquiring Danny “Shiphtur” Le and Darshan “ZionSpartan” Upadhyaha, but were unable to translate that success into a post-season berth. Since then, Upadhyaha has announced his departure, as has coach Li, leaving the team’s future up in the air.
Recently Santana has become established as a streaming personality, regularly earning top viewership on Twitch. His subscriber base is referred to as the “big dick club,” a nod to his quirky faux-arrogance. He is also famous for coining the well-known “raise your dongers” meme that can be found covering message boards and stream chats whenever Dignitas is doing well.
With rumors of Korean migration to North America, spots on professional teams will be difficult to find. Whether Santana’s future lies on an LCS team or with the hearts of his Twitch audience is yet to be determined, but rest assured that wherever he goes, dongers will be raised.
Screengrab via YouTube
