Xizt explains why Dignitas picking up GuardiaN “set them back”

Dignitas has had a tumultuous re-entry back into CS:GO. Their roster full of veteran talent has floundered. It wasn’t made easier by Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovacs joining on for Håkon ‘hallzerk’ Fjærli briefly, according to Richard ‘Xizt’ Landstrom, saying it set the team back.

Dignitas’ latest CS:GO line-up hasn’t lived up to its lofty expectations. After all, a veteran superstar squad, of which most were still playing at the top level, should be able to at least compete with some other A-listers.

That hasn’t proven to be the case with Dignitas. They finished in 10th in Flashpoint in their first big outing, losing to teams like Orgless and Gen.G. Things haven’t really gone up since then. They’ve always fallen short in Open Qualifiers, and have struggled against Tier 2 teams.

This has culminated in a devastating last-place exit in FunSpark ULTI, losing in straight sets to Giants and Team Secret. Dignitas aren’t living up to the glory their players are known for, despite some glimpses of brilliance. One big reason is roster instability.

At the start of the year, hallzerk wasn’t able to get a visa to North America to play Flashpoint. This forced Dignitas to pick up GuardiaN as a stand-in. However, playing with the Slovak AWPer for a couple of months really put them on the back foot.

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In an interview with Dignitas, captain Xizt outlined just how much this setback cost them. While they were building some momentum as a roster leading into Flashpoint, having the stand-in ⁠— even from someone like GuardiaN ⁠— derailed everything.

“I think we started really well. We won important games and had close games against top teams like Fnatic. We had a strong start with the bootcamp, and then we had to go to Flashpoint in USA, we couldn’t use hallzerk,” Xizt said.

“Fortunately, we got GuardiaN, who is a top AWPer, but we couldn’t make it work as a team there and it kind of set us back.”

Things weren’t easy when they got back to Europe, either. The shift to online events was tough, especially when you are trying to gel together a new roster. “When we got back from USA and back to playing with hallzerk, it was still a tough situation [with] everything being played online.”

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However, now with a few months of play under their belt, and the player break in the rear view mirror, Dignitas are revitalized to try and break into the top echelons of CS:GO once again. They’ve been there before as individuals ⁠— and even as the NiP core. Now they just need to find that spark.

“I think the break was good for us, now we just need to reset and pick off all the good things we had before. I want to play more officials and get more experience. We’re working really hard right now.”