We had the opportunity to speak to Dignitas ahead of their first RLCS Season 8 World Championship match in Madrid. Having failed to qualify in season 7, they are now back on the world stage with their newest member, Maëllo “Aztral” Ernst. Here’s what Dignitas had to say to Daily Esports and others at their press conference.
Dignitas went from being the absolute best to failing to qualify, to qualifying for Worlds again. Do you accept anything below first place at this stage with a new roster?
Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs: Yes, making LAN was my goal, because last season we didn’t make it. I sat home last time, so disappointed. You see all those players and teams go to LAN and you just sit at home; it’s really sad, so I’ll take anything from here.
Maurice “Yukeo” Weihs: Every season I want to at least make LAN. Out of the four seasons that I had, I qualified for two, and it’s my goal for every single season. My end goal for my career is to win RLCS World Championship. So, more chance to win if I qualify for more, obviously.
Aztral, how do you feel having made RLCS LAN with Dignitas, and how have you prepared yourself?
Maëllo “Aztral” Ernst: I feel amazing because all the other seasons I was watching from home. I always wanted to know what it’s like to be a player here. I take it seriously, trying to chill ‘cause I’m a stressed guy.
ViolentPanda, have you prepared Aztral for the world championship in particular?
ViolentPanda: Yeah, experience helps, so helping him to calm down. Overall being experienced benefits the team.
Another question for ViolentPanda: Which Dutch players would you consider taking to the Olympic-related event next year?
ViolentPanda: I thought I was set. I thought I’d take Flakes and Remkoe before this season, but after this season I don’t know anymore. (laughs) ThO is looking quite good, from Team Singularity. And Jessie is still on my mind. (laughs) But yeah, we still have to figure out the teams.
What is different from RLCS season 7 apart from Aztral for Dignitas?
ViolentPanda: The mindset wasn’t right last season. It wasn’t great in the team, we weren’t friends, we didn’t hang with each other. And now with Aztral it works better. If the mood is bad and you can’t deal with your teammates, you can’t be successful.
Yukeo: The problem was online we were too passive; we just watched opponents score on us. It was a weird experience for me. On LAN we played better, but we just never clicked online. We had to switch it up and get a more aggressive mechanical player.
We thank Dignitas again for speaking with us. For more event coverage, check out our interview with Josh Watson, Senior Manager of Global Esports for Rocket League at Psyonix. RLCS8 is live this weekend over on Twitch. For more coverage on RLCS and everything Rocket League, stay tuned on Daily Esports.
