Santorin was irritated, evident each bodily and in his tone. Professionally, this 12 months hasn’t been too sort to the multi-time LCS finalist, and a loss in his first sport of the Summer time Break up on June 14 definitely wasn’t making him really feel any higher.
However he couldn’t assist however joke and crack a smile by the frustration. One sport wasn’t going to find out the trajectory of Dignitas’ efficiency for the rest of the cut up, and in that he discovered optimism.
“I’ve been actually, actually motivated, and simply having a contemporary begin was one thing I used to be wanting ahead to,” Santorin advised Dot Esports. “That’s why I’m fairly upset proper now, it was just about a stomp. You’ve simply gotta study your classes and transfer on.”
Following two years with FlyQuest and one other two years with Group Liquid, Santorin sought to jot down the next chapter of his tenured LCS career with Dignitas, a company that had fully revamped its roster heading into the 2023 season. Headlining the roster was not solely Santorin, however reigning LCS champion Jensen, former MAD Lions prime laner Armut, and fellow-tenured LCS star IgNar, shaping a well-rounded workforce that, to many followers, regarded like a promising contender.
These expectations shortly proved to be too lofty, although. Loss after loss, the members of Dignitas made room to showcase their strengths individually. However when it got here to coming collectively as a cohesive unit, they have been outperformed by each different workforce within the LCS—leading to multiple mini-split roster changes and a Tenth-place Spring Break up end for the workforce.
“It was a tough transition [for me onto Dignitas],” Santorin mentioned. “I’ve been on dangerous groups prior to now, I simply assume I’ve been on loads of good groups in a row. So I used to be kinda getting used to successful, going to playoffs, doing all of these items. After I realized I can’t even make playoffs anymore, that was actually exhausting for me.”
But Santorin continues to be optimistic about what’s to come back, acknowledging there’s merely no time nor purpose to dwell for too lengthy on the opening loss to Immortals—particularly with the shortened schedule of the Summer Split. With every week now that includes three video games somewhat than two, he mentioned that not solely will there be a lot much less time to observe, however that even becoming additional scrims into the schedule will likely be tough, that means every alternative to study must be fruitful.
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Alongside Santorin in the summertime iteration of the Dignitas roster is Jensen as soon as extra, although he’s now accompanied by top laner Rich, in addition to assist Diamond who returns to a long-standing duo lane with Tomo. Santorin has excessive hopes for his new teammates, who he already feels match into the roster very nicely. However he mentioned it doubtless will take a while for the workforce to synergize fully as constructive outcomes can solely come from how a lot the workforce learns from every expertise.
“Clearly successful the cut up is the best, that’s what we’re all striving for, however you additionally should be practical with how a lot time you might have as a workforce, how a lot you’ll be able to observe,” Santorin mentioned. “That doesn’t imply we will’t win the cut up, however after the sport as we speak, you’ve gotta humble your self just a little bit and simply take it one step at a time.”
Even along with his cautious optimism about what’s to come back, Santorin feels nostalgic concerning the time he was as soon as broadly known as an LCS nice—one thing he doesn’t need to stay in his previous. Thus, for him, the rest of the Summer time Break up isn’t solely going to be spent working alongside his newly-constructed workforce to forestall a sequel of the spring however individually striving to fulfill the expectations he has set for himself as a participant.
“I undoubtedly need to show that I’m among the best junglers within the league once more,” Santorin mentioned. “I kinda really feel like I dropped the ball in spring—and that motivated me to do higher. We’re not just a few tenth-place workforce, and with that comes attempting to assist my teammates as a lot as attainable.”
However Dignitas have fairly a methods to go to achieve these expectations set by Santorin. The workforce has fallen sufferer to one more gloomy 0-2 begin following losses to each Immortals and Cloud9, forcing the workforce to stare at an upwards climb solely made steeper by the shortened schedule of the cut up.
This might not be the “contemporary begin” Santorin hoped for, however he and the remainder of Dignitas could have ample alternative to show their luck round beginning as we speak with a match towards Evil Geniuses at 6pm CT. Whether or not Dignitas win or lose, Santorin’s optimism towards the longer term is greater than prone to proceed shining by.
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