Former TSM jungler Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham has signed with Dignitas and will play for the team’s Academy roster heading into the 2020 League of Legends season, the organization announced today.
Akaadian joined TSM at the start of the 2019 season and helped the roster reach third in the LCS Spring Split. The team booked a ticket to St. Louis for the Spring playoffs, where they came in second to Team Liquid. Despite their improvement from the previous year, TSM opted to rotate between Akaadian and Jonathan “Grig” Armao for the starting jungler position during the Summer Split.
TSM ended the split in fourth with a 10-8 record and made it to the Summer playoffs for a shot at qualifying for Worlds. But the team shocked fans by choosing to start its Academy jungler, Mingyi “Spica” Lu—who had never played on the LCS stage prior to the playoffs—without bringing either Akaadian or Grig as a substitute.
Related: TSM Parth: “Personal” issues led to Akaadian’s slump and subsequent benching
Following the end of the 2019 LCS season, Dignitas absorbed the former Clutch Gaming branding and re-signed Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon for another two years. The LCS team signed support Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black and mid laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, while also welcoming two former TSM players, AD carry Johnson Nguyen and Grig, heading into the 2020 LCS season.
Akaadian will play on the Academy roster alongside top laner Tom “Rodov” Rodov, mid laner Tanner Damonte, and mid laner-turned-AD carry Kim “Fenix” Jae-Hun.
