The Truth Behind Dongnitas – The Return of Dom, QT & Scarra

If you’ve browsed the misinformation hub that the League of Legends Reddit has become today, you may have had a giggle or two at the clearly farcical announcement of the formation of a new LCS team. However masked behind the veil of April Fools, the fake team ‘Dongnitas’ and the ridiculous AI coaching staff concept remains a hidden truth. Namely that the return of both Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana and William “Scarra” Li to the competitive League of Legends scene is not a joke.

After venturing into the world of coaching, Scarra found himself floating back toward the idea of competitive play. This is no secret as highlighted in his ‘Reflections’ interview with Thorin. After a stint at CLG black fell through after current ADC Stixxay was banned for toxicity leading up to their qualifying games. Having lost their star carry, the identity of the team was thrown into chaos and try as he might in the short time he had left, Scarra was unable to craft a roster strong enough to qualify. However, things had been going very promisingly prior to this catastrophic event.

Understandably frustrated, Scarra was still not yet fully committed to retirement. Revealing that he had placed ‘very stringent criteria’ upon himself, which if not met by the end of the year would dictate whether or not he would play competitive League of Legends again. This was in September 2015. As the year rolled to an end nothing was mentioned. Nothing materialised in the LCS offseason and so one may have assumed that Scarra’s criteria went unfulfilled. However this is not entirely true. Largely satisified with his own play, behind the scenes, Scarra approached Imaqtpie in regards to putting a squad together. Valuing the former carries personality and perhaps surprisingly given his streaming persona, his strong strategic mind; Scarra attempted to persuade Imaqtpie to form the core of a roster alongside himself.

Whilst not entirely resistant to the idea, Imaqtpie didn’t want to take any half measures. Firstly he only wanted a roster that he could have fun with, personalities that would gel. Moreover he only wished to put the investment in if they roster was to have a legitimate shot at success. With the current unavailable talent, Scarra was unable to convince his former team-mate that such a roster was possible and the idea fell through.

However, somewhat unexpectedly Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera announced his departure from Team Liquid and his retirement from the competitive game as a whole in January. However since his retirement, IWillDominate has revealed that he is not against the idea of playing competitively, but he was not having a good time in the Team Liquid structure.

After a strong stint of impressive play in solo queue, Imaqtpie began to feel his competitive drive return. Taking to playing solo queue with IWillDominate, another former Dignitas player, he decided to broach the idea of the Scarra roster to him. Having enjoyed each others company and sharing a philosophy on a laid back yet still competitive structure the beginnings of a team is in the making.

Whilst it seems unlikely that the team ‘Dongnitas’ will materialise, given the name’s direct association to the already existing Dignitas, a team with the roster Imaqtpie, IWillDominate and Scarra will be materialising in the time between Spring and Summer split. Who they intend to recruit, be it other veterans or fresh talent remains to be seen but what is certain is the potent brand and fan base the team will have given the personal branding of each of its members. This April Fools stunt only goes to further the publicity and their unique brand of trollish humour.