Imaqtpie Will Not Sign with Team Dignitas for 2015 Season
The off-season brings change even to established names in the competitive gaming world of League of Legends.
Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana, well-known live-streamer and former member of Team Dignitas, has officially announced that he will not be signing with the team for the upcoming 2015 season. Santana “wishes to pursue other opportunities,” according to a press release from Dignitas, though the nature of these opportunities is currently unclear.
A Brief History with League of Legends
Santana has been involved in competitive League of Legends since its early years. His original squad, Rock Solid, included Curse player Joe “Voyboy” Esfahani, former Dignitas coach William “Scarra” Li, and commentator Joshua “Jatt” Leesman. The team emerged as one of the first challengers to Team Solomid and Counter Logic Gaming for the title of best team in North America, long before the establishment of Riot Games’ League Championship Series.
Since then, however, Dignitas has experienced a decline in performance. Santana’s team achieved success early in the 2014 LCS Summer Split after acquiring Danny “Shiphtur” Le and Darshan “ZionSpartan” Upadhyaha, but were unable to continue their success in the post-season. Upadhyaha has since announced his departure, as has coach Li, leaving the future of the team uncertain.
Imaqtpie’s Rise as a Streaming Personality
In recent times, Santana has gained popularity as a streaming personality, regularly earning high viewership on platforms like Twitch. His subscriber base is known as the “big dick club,” a playful reference to his unique personality. Santana is also credited with popularizing the “raise your dongers” meme, which can be seen across message boards and stream chats whenever Dignitas performs well.
With rumors of Korean players migrating to North America, securing spots on professional teams will become increasingly difficult. Whether Santana’s future lies with an LCS team or with the support of his Twitch audience is yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure – dongers will be raised wherever he goes.
Screengrab via YouTube
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