Well, the LCS Spring Split has commenced and the boys in yellow and black kicked off their campaign against a CLG roster. The tale of the tape was a low tempo game in which Dignitas was able to get gradual leads onto their carry roles until the power differential became too much for CLG to win any fights. This can be seen in Dignitas’s ADC Neo finishing the game with 12 kills. But this isn’t a match review, no, this is a breakdown of some of the lessons you can take from this game and apply to your solo queue games to elevate your chances of gaining some easy LP in this just budding ranked season.

Level One Holding the Skill Point

Now as I previously mentioned the tempo of the game was low but it didn’t start out that way, CLG began the game out with an intent to make plays and this slowed in their moves at level one as they tried to corner FakeGod in the top lane through having Rell jump into the Baron pit out of vision then wait for set jump to come off cooldown before executing the play. A play that would have been successful in at least blowing a summoner spell if it weren’t for the fact that the Dignitas Top laner hadn’t selected his first spell yet. This meant that FakeGod on Gnar could still select Hop for his first spell, jump over the tri brush river wall in the western quadrant of the map and escape CLG’s trap for minimal cost (as well as gaining information on, and wasting a lot of CLG’s time). The lesson here is that saving your skill point at level one until you need a certain spell gives you valuable versatility and can save you in a pinch.

Here we see FakeGod avoiding the four-man collapse thanks to being able to select an escape tool at level 1.

Soligo Lane Positioning to Avoid Gank

Orianna has been a staple in pro-play for years on end now and so every LCS tier Mid Lane player has her in their arsenal and Soligo is no exception. However, as a mid-lane champion with no dashes her escape potential is very limited (with her only technical escape tool bra flash being a minor MS steroid) and so she is an easy gank target, Soligo knows this and positions very well at the 3-minute mark. At this point Soligo knows that Lillia and Rell are in the South-Eastern river and so he hugs the Northern side of his lane to maximize his escape window should CLG’s Jungle Support pairing roam up.

This pays off at around 3:40 as that CLG duo just mentioned does roam up but Soligo gets away with ease in a trade of summoners which allows him to stay level if not ahead of his lane opponent but also waste the time of two CLG members in the form of Rell and Lillia. The lesson here is that in mid-lane you should be positioned to the side of the lane which maximizes your ability to set-up ally ganks and avoid enemy ganks whether it be the northern or southern side of the lane.

Here we see Soligo position optimally to avoid the incoming gank by hugging the northern side of his lane.

Clever Itemization

Dignitas players are no strangers to itemization adaptation proficiency (we saw it very handily in their win of FLY during lock-in with Aphromoo) and it was showcased again in this match with Dardoch on Udyr. Udyr usually wants two things in his build, resistances and movement speed, now normally the build on Udyr is Turbo Chemtank into Dead Man’s Plate as it offers the biggest MS gain thanks to their effects. However, Dardoch didn’t go with this build, he went Force of Nature (an item that gives MS and magic resist), and this was extremely smart as CLG’s damage profile was heavy magic-based, the choice here of Force of Nature proved effective as Dardoch left multiple fights on sub 500 hp yet still had the movement speed bonuses to chase own and stun the selected CLG carry. The lesson here is that itemizing to counter your opponents is the difference in life or death and one death can be the difference in a win or loss so itemizing correctly is one way to win more games.

Here we see Dardoch correctly itemize MR second item vs Lillia and TF

Drafting Meta into Counters

Drafting into 2021 has become a tale of 4 words; Power Picks and Counter Matchups, and credit where its due, the drafting team for Dignitas player around this very well against CLG grabbing 3 power picks (because you can pick them blind) in the first phase and then a counter matchup in phase 2 alongside another power pick, the five picks were:

Kai’sa B1: the strongest ADC in the meta and a strong first pick

Udyr B2: the strongest jungler of the patch in NA, just power and a smart take

Orianna B3: the safest strong mid to blind, thanks to her teamfight power and laning safety

Alistar B4: DIG drafting team being able to take the biggest counter to Rell, very smart

Gnar B5: the strongest blind top to take thanks to Gnar’s range in lane and AoE CC in fights

The lesson here is that knowing the meta and its power picks will give you options and understanding in your drafts whether it be counter or blind picking so if you want more LP studying and reading the meta is definitely advisable as you see the knowledge wielded here.

Here we see DIG’s drafting team smartly take 4 power picks and a counter-matchup vs CLG

Conclusion

So, there we have it, 4 lessons you can take from Dignitas’s opening game of the 2021 spring split that can be used to help improve your gameplay/strategy knowledge. Now, they say learning is unlimited and that is true so I would recommend watching the VOD of the game or even better watch Dignitas’s future games live and support the black and yellow with your own energy and eager eye. With that, I leave you with the thoughts of GL, HF, and GG.