Golden Guardians acquires Damonte, benches Goldenglue

With time ticking down until the 2020 LCS Summer Split kicks off, Golden Guardians has made a move.

Golden Guardians has acquired mid laner Tanner Damonte from Dignitas, the organization announced today via Twitter. Damonte spent the Spring Split on Dignitas’ Academy League team after reaching Worlds last year with Clutch Gaming.

The team has said Damonte will start on the GG LCS team, while former LCS starter Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer Academy mid Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Abbott will compete for the Academy League position. Golden Guardians also said it had signed Olleh as a positional coach, who will focus on helping support players.

During the offseason, Dignitas declined the second year of Damonte’s contract, making him a free agent. He eventually re-signed with the team but was relegated to the Academy League for the entire split as Froggen occupied the starting LCS spot.

GG squeaked into the playoffs last split by beating Dignitas in a three-way tiebreaker for sixth place. Once in playoffs, though, Golden Guardians were swept by eventual runners-up FlyQuest in the first round of the losers bracket.

The LCS Summer Split begins on June 12.