No matter what, all good things must come to an end eventually. Unfortunately for us at Dignitas, that is the case. We have left the SPL after being involved in the Smite professional scene for seven years. In this article we will look at some of the highlights and some of the questionable things our Smite teams have done over our stint in the Smite professional scene.

It All Started So Well

Let’s go back to early Smite days first, Dignitas entered Smite after acquiring ROOT Gaming’s side in 2014. This side consisted of Zapman, Shadowq, TheBest, Lassiz and AnatoLiy and placed second at the Smite Launch Tournament overcoming their NA rivals COG Gaming in the semi-finals setting up a match up against TSM in the final. This was a tournament to remember though for Dig fans as we got to witness Shadowq pull off some insane jukes in the set against SK Gaming. If you haven’t seen it yet, we’ve put it here for your enjoyment.

Crazy right? If you weren’t around or following Smite back at launch, there was a lot of great plays like this being made, but Shadowq did it at one of the biggest tournaments for Smite at the time. Season One would be our last on the NA side of Smite as, after a few roster moves, we looked ahead to try and make it to Season One Worlds. Over the course of that season we lost AnatoLiy, Shadowq, and The Best, replacing them with Shing, DaretoCare, and Gnaw respectively. It was all in vain, however as we fell to COG Red at Regionals and failed to qualify for Worlds that year. After Worlds, the team would move to Team Eager and we would cross the pond over to Europe to find a team there.

The OG Smite team. What a difference 7 years makes

Crossing the Pond

From Season Two onwards, Dignitas stayed as an EU team and have been a big organisation in European Smite. The Dignitas you know and love looked a lot different when we first moved to Europe however. The original team consisted of YOUNGBAE, FrezOO (Frezzyy), ShadowNightmare, FrostiaK, and Variety (see Variety has done two stints with us). Season Two however wasn’t a high point for us though, nearly getting relegated in Spring, and we had to turn it around somehow.

This was our first Smite team in EU (Look at baby Variety)

YOUNGBAE left and we picked up iRens for the remainder of Season Two, but Season Two wasn’t all doom and gloom, although we’ll admit it did look it. We made it into Super Regionals to face a strong Paradigm team (once again Trix and Qvo prevented us on a tournament hunt). After going up 2-1 in the first three games, we eventually fell in the last two of the set to stop our run to Worlds again. Despite the heartbreak of being so close to knock off the favourites to qualify for Worlds, the biggest positive was after a rough season we came in fighting during super regionals and could have closed out a big win in the first round. We did beat Titan (who were runners up at Worlds the season before) in the 5th place match though, so we did end on a high.

After missing out on Worlds again but this time as an EU team, the side made a few more changes going into season three. Variety and Frezzyy left to join Hungry For More and we brought in TheDarkDodo and Suntouch to play in solo and support for the start of Season Three. Spring we finished 5th and we spent most of the split in a mid-table fight with Cringe Crew and Team Leftovers. Before the Fall Split, we lost iRens and TheDarkDodo, replacing them with two young and hungry players in BigManTingz and Duck3y (I wonder what those two are doing now?). With the new roster in Fall, we did make it to the Wildcard weekend after beating Cringe Crew in the gauntlet.

At the Wildcard Weekend, we beat Sanguine and Orbit but losses to Luminosity, Flash Point, and Team Allegiance meant we finished in a three-way tie for third, once again not making it to Worlds. Season Three may be one fans overlooked for Dignitas, but it was a year where we grew young and hungry talent like BMT and Duck3y and allowed them to showcase themselves against Europe’s best. That however was going to change.

Fresh New Faces to Challenge the Top

Season Four changed everything. Everyone wanted to take NRG’s crown in Europe, and a team needed to come up and challenge them. Obey had given it their best shot, so we thought Season Four would be our turn. Coming into the season a lot of players moved. Suntouch left Smite at the end of Season Three, BMT went to Valance Squad to join Xaliea, Cherryo, Lawbster, and Funballer. Duck3y, ShadowNightmare, and FrostiaK joined FleuryQ and Frezzyy on Novus Orsa. Which meant we didn’t have a team, or did we? There was a storm coming and a squad who destroyed everything in their path in the Spring Relegation Open Qualifier, and it would be a shame if they didn’t have an organisation for the next season. It was a match made in heaven. This is when we picked up Variety, Qvofred, Zyrhoes, Arkkyl, and Trixtank. It was a no brainer to bring this team to the Dig family. Variety and Zyrhoes had just been to the final of worlds (Zyrhoes as a coach), Trix and Qvo are monstrous players who really shine in the regular season (where we struggled the most last season), and Arkkyl was a young hunter that could mesh well with this team. What could possibly go wrong?

New team:
Solo - Variety
Adc - @SnG_Arkkyl
Mid - @Zyrhoes
Jungle - @Qvofred
Support - @TrixtankGG

— Variety (@Varietygg) January 15, 2017

This was where this "super team" all began

We turned up in Season Four and helped make Europe a strong region with a lot of good teams, with four teams coming out that could beat anyone: us, Obey, Team Rival, and NRG. We finished in the top 2 in all three splits in Season 4 and met Obey in the final at Smite Masters, unfortunately losing that set 3-2. But, as far as first splits go as a fresh new team, we looked strong and was a great stepping stone. Summer came along fast and we won that split, filling fans with confidence heading into Smite’s first LAN on European soil. We set out at the start of the season to take NRG’s crown and show that we could compete with the best. Now heading into DreamHack Valencia, we needed to show the world we were the best. We beat NRG in the Semifinals in a clean 3-0 sweep and defeated Team Rival 3-2 in the Finals to take our first trophy and prove to the world Team Dignitas (this was before the rebrand) was a team who was here to play.

Fall looked like more of the same, we only lost one set all Split and that was to Obey, meaning we were second seed going into Super Regionals. It looked like everything was going according to plan. We beat Rival and make it to Worlds for the first time as an organisation. Well, things didn’t exactly go that way. We got destroyed by Rival and had to join Elevate and NRG in the Wildcard for a shot at Worlds. This again seemed like it was meant to be, but the team only managed to get one win all weekend and that was against Noble, meaning it’s another year without a trip to the World Championships. A lot of analysts said the team should go their separate ways, but the team openly said they are ready to take over in Season 5 and were motivated to win it all in the next season.

Something to Prove

Over the years, we spent a lot of time in the offseason changing the roster and bringing in new and hungry talent. This season, however, was the first time we hadn’t. Keeping with the side that failed to make Worlds was a question mark for everyone in the Smite scene, but it was a good decision. The players came out and said they had been practicing throughout the whole offseason and were hungrier than ever to prove they belong at Worlds are were contenders. In Season Five, we finished in the top three in all three splits, 2nd in Spring, 3rd in Summer and 1st in Fall. The LAN performance in Spring was heartbreaking. Smite had changed the rules for LANs at this event, meaning if you had progressed to the finals through the winners bracket, you started with a 1-0 lead. We beat Rival convincingly in the winners bracket 3-0, indicating to fans that it should be a walkover come finals. Then the dropship happened. In Game 1, we were in control and, in an attempt to end the game, we threw with a backdoor dropship that Rival saw coming. If it had worked, who knows what would have happened in that set, but it levelled the series and meant Dig had lost the advantage they got from the tournament. We then won 2 games after, but Rival produced a great comeback and took the set and won Smite Masters.

Summer came fast after Smite Masters and the boys needed to get over it quickly, but they looked a bit out of sorts during the summer split, dropping sets to NRG (twice), Rival, and Mousesports, meaning the team wouldn’t get a shot at redemption at the Summer LAN. The boys did confirm that they weren’t enjoying the game as much and were struggling with the meta during summer, so something needed to turn around for Fall and the run to SWC. Fall was Dignitas’ split, dropping two sets all split, one to NRG and one to a revitalised Obey, meaning the Dig boys won first seed from Europe and finally made it to Worlds. Yes, after five long years, we finally did it. We got to Worlds and did it as the best team in Europe.

With us coming in 1st, it meant we could skip the dreaded SWC qualifiers that had plagued us for the past few seasons and get ready to play one of the teams that came out of the tournament. Out came Spacestation Gaming, a fan favourite side, meaning it wasn’t going to be an easy task, especially considering the team spent a full month without any scheduled matches to play in. We took the set 2-1 and gave the fans a real barnburner of a set which culminated with an Arkkyl Penta kill to take us to the Semifinals.

The semis, however, were a rough one. Dig was the favourites to win it all. After a storming final split of the season, we looked unstoppable but then Splyce happened. A team that at the start of the season no one thought could make it to Worlds, let alone win it, pulled out a 3-0 sweep against us, bringing in their own meta and style to the tournament. It was the closest we got to a World Championship and was heartbreaking to see it end the way it did. You do so much throughout the year, and have it end like that. We were just outclassed and outmatched on that day, though we did lose to the eventual winners, so that is a silver lining.

This however would be the end to the SPL as we knew it. Season Six brought in new changes and a new format, combining EU and NA into one league meaning players from any region could compete in it. With all games being on LAN as well, it added a new environment. One we as an organisation could get behind. Things did end up changing though.

New Format, New Team

Between Season Five and Season Six, Arkkyl and Zyrhoes both left the side, for Rival and Pittsburgh Knights respectively. This meant we had a hole to fill in the mid and hunter roles. In stepped Ataraxia and Hurriwind. This created what, at the time we didn’t know, would be our last team and our last shot at a World Championship. The season was separated into two phases, with both counting to qualifying for Worlds. In Phase 1, we looked almost untouchable, going 7-2, only losing sets to Renegades and eUnited. This split we went on a seven game unbeaten run and played some of the best Smite possible. We changed from a team that could beat you on individual skill to a team that worked really well together and could dominate or win long, drawn-out games. All five of our players had a stand-out performance throughout this phase, but we will take you back to Week 1 for our favourite play. That’s right, you know we had to show it again. Variety’s 1v4 on King Arthur, it never gets old.

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DIGSMITE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#DIGSMITE @Varietygg 1v4? Nope! Bring it on!

https://t.co/nu8S8CJVHn pic.twitter.com/YJPdP0TjrY

— Dignitas SMITE (@DIGSMITE) March 28, 2019

However, in Phase 2, we finished with a 5-4 record making our total for the year 12-6. We did, however, get wins over Renegades and eUnited, meaning we beat every team in the league at least once so that was a positive. The poor run in Phase 2 meant we slid from 2nd to 4th at the end of the season. Between Phases we had MSI, where we looked a bit out of sorts really. A lot of work went into making sure we could be competitive at LAN and was ready to make a huge run. We ended up falling in the semifinals again to Renegades (who eventually won the tournament. Again, silver lining). Leading into the World Championships, we knew even before qualifiers that we were going to be facing Pittsburgh Knights. We set out three seasons ago to beat NRG and take their top spot, and PK represented what was left of that NRG squad. Adapting and Emilzy were part of the NRG side we fought against a lot in Season Five, and they joined forces with former Rival players Vote and Deathwalker.

We would have also been against our old teammate Zyrhoes but he left the team. We had another barnburner set against PK. We took the set 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals for the second time at Worlds and the third time at our last three LANs. However, the semis were a repeat of the previous year, but this time against Team Rival. Rival had looked strong all year and was one of the teams heavily favoured coming into the tournament. We were outclassed and the better team won on that day. Rival had improved so much since our first meeting back early on in the season and 3-0 sweeped us, ending our Worlds run. That meant at the end of the seven years there was no happily ever after, it didn’t end with a huge finally where we won it all after years of trying.

This was our final roster in Smite and it's safe to say it's been a wild ride

Got to Take the Positives

It is however not all doom and gloom at the end. We had improved as an organisation so much since the first Dignitas team that was seen in Europe. We came so close at plenty of LANs, but always stood out as one of the best teams in Smite over recent years. Yes, early on, we had that same look especially at Launch, but to go from the early days of Smite and being one of the best to clawing it back in Europe. To proving to everyone that we are a team to follow and to watch the journey has been one of the best rollercoasters you could enjoy. It’s not always been the best, but it has been enjoyable. It would have been nice to win Worlds, but sometimes it’s just not your day. Still as the saying goes, “Sometimes it isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey.”

This has been one hell of a journey, from start to finish. We couldn’t have done it without all of our players over the years and the dedication they put into the game, the management for making sure everything has been running smoothly behind the scenes, Hi-Rez for providing this game and helping progress the professional scene, and (of course) you the fans for your support over these years, sticking with us through it all and being a part of this journey. You saw it all with us and got to experience it all, at the events, through Twitch and Mixer. Thank you so much for your support over the years.

The Little Things

Now as we have covered our history in the pro scene, there is more stuff that we have done that showcases what this organisation and team are all about. Of course, I have to mention Dig funny moments. It gave you guys an inside into our team and showed you the stupid, trolly stuff they did in scrims and sometimes the SPL. We wanted to provide you with the best possible content for you to enjoy and give you the behind-the-scenes look into the world of Dig Smite and we know you have your favourite Dig funny moment, so let's look back at an episode here.

This is also shown with our website. The interviews we did were there to bring out the personalities of the players in our team. We wanted to give you an inside scoop into the SPL world from these players' perspectives and also try to find out as much as we can about their lives to give to you. We also tortured the hell out of them with our guides, asking them questions to help get a pro’s perspective on the world of Smite (Not for all our guides, though. Just some. Come on, they are professionals! We can’t expect them to help on every single one).

We are proud of what all of our Smite teams have accomplished and wish them all the best of luck for the future. Everyone here at Dignitas will miss being a part of the Smite Pro League, but we are glad we were a part of it. We will still be doing guides and articles for Smite, but as far as having a team in Smite this is, unfortunately, where the story ends.

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