Digging in: Can Team Liquid take down Team Dignitas?
"Beating Team Liquid would, personally, solidify that we're at the top of NA," says Team Dignitas' veteran support Alan "KiWiKiD" Nguyen.
They've already done it once. But in the upcoming North American LCS Game of the Week, Team Liquid's coming for revenge.
"I think Dignitas is playing really well right now. But at the same time I feel like we should have beaten them [the last time we played]," Team Liquid's own star support Alex "Xpecial" Chu says. "And I feel like when we play them again, we'll just beat them because I feel like we're a better team."
Stomping through Summer
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Both Team Liquid and Team Dignitas have dazzled this Summer, with marked improvements in communication across the board since the Spring Split. And while they're both showing more synergy than they did in the previous Split, Xpecial attributes Team Liquid's strengths to something else.
"I think individually we're all better players," Xpecial says of Team Liquid. Those skilled players include three LCS veterans and two LCK veterans, one of which happens to be a World Champion. Not too shabby! They're a well-rounded team with players who have proven they can each carry a game. Beastly jungler Christian "IWDominate" Rivera has also stepped up in a big way for Liquid this Summer. Favoring tanks like Sejuani, Rek'Sai, and Gragas, the shot caller sets up ever-important team fights in-between positioning for counter-ganks and laying down crucial vision.
Team Dignitas' reactive play style complement's Liquid's. Rather than creating situations and traps for opponents, they respond -- without hesitation. Jungler Dongjin "Helios" Shin controls the squad, and his teammates trust him enough to follow his calls wholeheartedly. "I think we finally all believe in each other," says KiWiKiD. "I'm really proud of my team, and I'm glad we can play a bunch of different styles."
Roaming for the win
One of those styles is KiWiKiD's unique penchant for roaming around the map and causing havoc. "If he's missing, you know he's probably going top or something like that," says Xpecial. "He can always be in a different lane, and that's something you always have to keep in mind. And it's something Team Dignitas is using very, very well."
KiWiKiD agrees. "I think [this game] is going to be mostly [about] the support movement. That's what everything hinges on for arguably the whole game," he says.
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Xpecial, who's not known for roaming, has taken a page from KiWiKiD's playbook and knows he's going to have to adapt in order to overcome Team Dignitas. "I think I've actually learned from KiWiKiD because, when I see a player do something well, I try to mimic it," Xpecial says. "I usually don't roam top. But after seeing KiWiKiD roam top so much, I'm like, 'I'm going to try it.'"
Xpecial's roaming proved to be instrumental in Liquid's win against CLG. Four members of CLG were diving Diego "Quas" Ruiz early in the game when Xpecial swept in alongside IWDominate to lock down an unexpected First Blood for Team Liquid. "I wouldn't normally do that, but because I saw KiWiKiD and I saw what kind of pressure he brings by doing stuff like that, I just changed my playstyle a bit to have a little extra power. It worked out that game!"
Prepare for Battle
Beating Counter Logic Gaming is one thing, but now Team Liquid has set their sights on Team Dignitas. "We can't underestimate them. They're definitely a strong team," says Xpecial, going on to mention his battle plans heading into the Game of the Week. "If we're on our game and we play like how we played against CLG, just play smart, don't get greedy, and just play well, do team fights well, then we should be able to beat them."
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KiWiKiD has a more humble approach. "Right now, I just don't want to be complacent," he says. "I think we're good, but I don't think we're the best. Some games can be flukes. We lost a really big teamfight against Liquid last time, and we were up like 5,000 gold."
He continues, "It's not just about the teams that we beat, but it's also about have a nice, errorless game." And ultimately, he's hoping his team will walk away with a clean, smooth victory.
You can catch Team Liquid face off against Team Dignitas in the Game of the Week during the NA LCS on Sunday, right here on Lolesports.
Leah Jackson is a web content editor at Lolesports. She loves Gnar! Feel free to follow her on Twitter @Leahbjackson.
