After holding tryouts for its top lane and AD carry positions, Team Dignitas’s League of Legends squad has finalized its lineup for the 2016 North American League Championship Series split.
The team has made three changes to its roster for the next season, bringing in two European import rookies to the top lane and jungle, as well as a veteran North American AD carry, sources close to the organization and its players tell the Daily Dot.
The team’s new top laner is former Gamers2 player Lennart “SmittyJ” Warkus, who qualified for the European LCS on Sept. 5 with that team. Thomas “Kirei” Yuen, the former Denial Esports and Copenhagen Wolves Academy player, will play in the jungle. They’re joined by Apollo “Apollo” Price in the bottom lane. Apollo is an LCS veteran who previously played for Team Coast and most recently Team Impulse. That team disbanded several months ago not long before it put its LCS spot on the market.
The addition of a pair of rookies in Warkus and Yuen may come as a surprise. But coach Djemal has spoken highly of both players previously on social media, praising their performances during his Challenger tenure in Europe.
The team will be retaining mid laner Danny ” Shiphtur” Le and support Alan ” KiWiKiD” Nguyen, both of whom have been stalwarts of previous lineups.The team announced a new support staff earlier this month: manager Joe “Innerflame” Elouassi, head coach Ram “ Brokenshard” Djemal, and analyst Barento “Raz” Mohammed.
The team failed to qualify for the 2015 World Championship and went 0-3 against Team Impulse in the quarterfinals. Those poor performances may have been down to communication issues thanks to a core of three Korean import players: Noh “Gamsu” Yeong-jin, Shin “Helios” Dong-jin, and Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in. Dignitas now seems to want to move forward with purely English speakers on its roster (much like fellow NA LCS side Team SoloMid).
Dignitas made headlines across the world when it accepted offers for both its American and European League of Legends teams after the EU squad qualified for the LCS earlier this year. Ultimately, the organization sold the European side to esports newcomer Follow Esports on Oct. 29.
Update 5pm CT, Nov. 18: Team Dignitas has confirmed the roster that was reported in this story.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr
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