Dignitas tries to save sinking ship against Cloud9

Cloud9 and Dignitas have each suffered their own brand of disappointment this League Championship Series season. The defending champions, Cloud9, have more losses this season than their last two seasons combined. Dignitas held first place for most of the season, but a 1-3 run over the past two weeks has dropped them to fifth in the standings.

This week the two teams will clash in an important battle with just two weeks left in the season. Can Cloud9 build on their two wins last week, and catch LMQ atop the standings? Will Dignitas keep pace in the pack of contending teams, or fall further behind the race for the top?

Infographics by LoLStats.gg

Based off recent form, Cloud9 should have the advantage heading into this match, and the stats are on their side. Or at least, the side of the map they’re playing. Cloud9 has a 60 percent win rate on Blue side, while Dignitas has only won 45 percent of their matches. The boys in blue also hold a slight Gold Per Minute advantage, and that’s likely due to superior objective control: Dignitas actually has the better KDA.

The key matchup should be the mid lane. Cloud9 captain Hai Lam has struggled throughout the season, grasping to find champions that work for him and often giving an advantage to his lane opponent. But while Danny “Shiphtur” Le may put up huge KDAs, he’s not a lane dominator. Le sacrifices farm to roam the map for kills, something that will be important in the match since Cloud9’s other lanes have an advantage. Dignitas will need Le to take control of the mid lane and leverage that advantage, whether its by finding kills in other lanes or building up Le over Lam, if they want to win against Cloud9.

We should know early into the game on Saturday. When Dignitas wins, they usually do it by seizing control early and strangling out their foes. Cloud9 is better in the late game. Expect the defending champions to get there and pull out the win on Saturday. They’re playing better League of Legends in recent weeks.

Screengrab via Riot Games/YouTube