Last night I watched and grimaced as I saw a near full strength Estonian side quite simply being torn apart by a youthful and energetic Belgian squad. The showpiece return for the Dignitas players after an extended absence from the Nations Cup side since the semi final loss to Germany 2 seasons ago was abruptly put on hold. As Belgium showed no remorse and took a deserved 4-0 victory. The problem isn't only on the national side of things either as Dignitas find themselves being routinely picked at by teams whom they would have cast aside without a second thought last season. I put it to you, where did it all go wrong ?
This is where it turns sour, and the veneer of invincibility starts to peel away. From the height of power to the pits of despair. A side without a leader and without guidance, fell to the
TLR.eSports side destined to win CPC2. The damage was done, and barely capable to fight back they suffered again to a second defeat this time to Impact-Gaming, it looked all to familiar to the Poznan 5v5 qualifiers. History repeating itself, without Night and without hope.
Now you have to delve a long way back into the history to see the last time a Dignitas/idle/u96d side lose a map never mind lose a game at the group stage (EuroCup XI, in case your wondering) and it automatically dumped Dignitas into the tougher half of the draw and a CPC2 re-union against Impact-Gaming. They managed to scrape through against a slightly weakened Impact side, due to
Xpaz's absence. 
r3vers last gasp riflenade killing both axis engineers on Braundorf saved Dignitas from embarrassment and an early drop into the losers bracket. Why are Dignitas stuttering so much ?
The loss against Insignia Cadre came as quite a surprise, the last time that a side lead out by Night lost a map/game so early into the competition was the defeat to uQ [parodia] in EuroCup XII at the first play off stage. Only to power through the losers bracket and again finish second to parodia. The losses at
CPC2 can be overlooked slightly since the talisman wasn't there. However the losses at Eurocup can't be so easily overlooked.
Why is a team which last season so throughly dominated the Eurocup, stuttering this season ? The lineup is the same and truth be told has actually improved with Sol adding more depth as a strong backup player who although limited in his role does generally play well when called upon. You have 3 players capable of playing riflenade to a good standard and all of which multi class well, one of the best in game leaders ever, the best field ops in the game and two of the best medics in the game with great aim. Whats going wrong? Despite adding more depth the lineup, could the switches be having a negative effect ? Are they too inactive ? The loss of Supply and Adlernest to some extent from the Eurocup map pool has also taken its tole but then why did they lose Goldrush to Impact Gaming? Have they lost motivation after ruling the roost for so long ? Or more importantly are they finally being caught up with. Small inevitable chinks are being cast into Dignitas armor and for the first time in a very long time, I ask you. Are Dignitas still good enough to be number one ? The game against TLR.eSports on Thursday has more importance than you may at first give credit. Another loss and who knows what impact it may have on the boys from the blue, black and white.
deMiurge side. It seemed more routine than achievement but for some of these players it had been a long time coming. 
senji
LoTiX
Xionn
JaKaZcThis is where it turns sour, and the veneer of invincibility starts to peel away. From the height of power to the pits of despair. A side without a leader and without guidance, fell to the
TLR.eSports side destined to win CPC2. The damage was done, and barely capable to fight back they suffered again to a second defeat this time to Impact-Gaming, it looked all to familiar to the Poznan 5v5 qualifiers. History repeating itself, without Night and without hope.
sol
aCoZz
Winghaven
Clown
d0kterNow you have to delve a long way back into the history to see the last time a Dignitas/idle/u96d side lose a map never mind lose a game at the group stage (EuroCup XI, in case your wondering) and it automatically dumped Dignitas into the tougher half of the draw and a CPC2 re-union against Impact-Gaming. They managed to scrape through against a slightly weakened Impact side, due to
Xpaz's absence. r3vers last gasp riflenade killing both axis engineers on Braundorf saved Dignitas from embarrassment and an early drop into the losers bracket. Why are Dignitas stuttering so much ? The loss against Insignia Cadre came as quite a surprise, the last time that a side lead out by Night lost a map/game so early into the competition was the defeat to uQ [parodia] in EuroCup XII at the first play off stage. Only to power through the losers bracket and again finish second to parodia. The losses at
CPC2 can be overlooked slightly since the talisman wasn't there. However the losses at Eurocup can't be so easily overlooked. Why is a team which last season so throughly dominated the Eurocup, stuttering this season ? The lineup is the same and truth be told has actually improved with Sol adding more depth as a strong backup player who although limited in his role does generally play well when called upon. You have 3 players capable of playing riflenade to a good standard and all of which multi class well, one of the best in game leaders ever, the best field ops in the game and two of the best medics in the game with great aim. Whats going wrong? Despite adding more depth the lineup, could the switches be having a negative effect ? Are they too inactive ? The loss of Supply and Adlernest to some extent from the Eurocup map pool has also taken its tole but then why did they lose Goldrush to Impact Gaming? Have they lost motivation after ruling the roost for so long ? Or more importantly are they finally being caught up with. Small inevitable chinks are being cast into Dignitas armor and for the first time in a very long time, I ask you. Are Dignitas still good enough to be number one ? The game against TLR.eSports on Thursday has more importance than you may at first give credit. Another loss and who knows what impact it may have on the boys from the blue, black and white.
TP> all
and dignitas -> same
others -> more teamplay
butchji 2:0 evan
(now add me to your buddylist eventho i have not been in any clan with you)
sun kans on kiva argumentoida ku sul on ikää vähä enempi niin saa kunnollisia vastauksiaki :d
no jotain sanoin että netlimiter pistää warppimaan eikä se tee sitä ettei osuis (eli netlimitteriä käyttävään jannuun osuu kyllä jos saa tähtäimen päälle, kuten esim reloadiin osuu sillon)... kai mä muutaki sanoin muttei muista ny :)
ps. eiköhän se kohta taas poista nää :D
johan sil irkulla kestää (tai kuka sen nyt poistikaan) :s
12.50 euros :P
edit: apparently you're not serious either atm !
it was becoming stale, now all you need is zp to find some form and with polar in the mix these days, its a 5 way battle (tlr, impact, dignitas, polar (and if zp find form)).
adds more excitment to competitions such as this.
was an interesting read, well done!
nice read evan
soit, kben door! bibuy1
i think it's more fun now to watch ETTV matches, because dignitas isn't winning everything!
Secondly They have been slapped in the face with a big wet kipper! But stay loyal to them,it is far from over!!!!!!!
Urtier>all!!!!!
I don't know but of course it is possible that Dignitas somehow played less just because they were alone at the top and even a zP! could not do anything to stop them. Why would you keep spending your life if you will win?
Nice read but the missing part is the conclusion.
I think the main problem is motivation and the new maps, and I didn't really need to force a standard conclusion since I ended with a question for the audience.
ah and btw: after i got back 10 hour of digging and tunnel repairing these pictures scared me... THX EVAN!
Really showed how demotivated the guy is. Looked like he hadn't played activly for a few weeks :P
But still a complete legendary team!
4:0
they will once again be the Best
p.s
n1 column btw
1) Their opponents played simply played very well. Thats the fucking number one reason. Why do you keep shaking dignitas roster instead of facing one simple truth - their opponents deserved their wins.
After dominating the scene for months - dignitas raised the bar pretty high and many teams tried literally their best just to touch it. And finally they did. The only thing that surprises me is that it took so long.
Look at the Cadre and TLR for example: obviously both teams played faster and with more teamplay than diginitas.
2) Lack of practice. My guess is that teams that have won from idle were simply practicing much MORE than idle. When would you pracc more - when you are in underdog position and you need to win against long time leader - or when you are leader in comfortable no.1 position for a long time?
We all know: It's harder to stay at the top of the mountain, rather then climb it for a first time.
3) And only after these two main reasons - there goes other factors: roster changes, pressure of a crowd, new maps, and others.
Ironically, now after diginitas lost, we all wish them to raise again. :D
PS: My own dream lineup of diginitas would be: Night, Urtier, senji, Jakazc, Holz, Sol