The Dignitas team is off to a great start this season, as they are currently undefeated at 5-0. With two new additions to the team, I wanted to get Jeppe "Trixtank" Gylling's thoughts on how Ataraxia and Hurriwind are fitting in. We also talk about why he thinks they are playing so well and about how some of the other teams are performing. The team seem to only be getting stronger as the season goes on as they continue to build chemistry and find their own playstyle - it's definitely looking like the boys in yellow and black have a great shot at the World Championship this year.

How has it been with everyone being together in Atlanta so far? What sort of things do you do together outside of SMITE?

Trixtank: Well, since we’ve come to America, the atmosphere within the team has been really great. Ataraxia has fit in immediately because we’ve known him for our entire SMITE career and Harry (Variety) has been on a team with him before. Surprisingly Hurriwind got in pretty quickly with the social group as well. Outside of SMITE, we’ve been going to the gym, playing tennis – something we do at least two times a week. We also go shopping and go to the mall – stuff like that.

Dignitas is currently undefeated this season at 5-0. Did you think the season would start off this was prior to Week 1?

Trixtank: Going into Week 1, my expectations were to do decently. I didn’t necessarily think we would go 5-0 since we’ve been up against all of the top teams now. I knew we were able to do it – I do think the meta is the reason we’ve been able to go 5-0. Looking at us now, I think we are a much better than where we were in the beginning. We’ve started to find our own identity and we’re only going to get stronger, so the other teams need to step it up.





You've already taken down a couple of the teams expected to be at the top, such as Pittsburgh Knights and RivaL - how does it feel coming away with those wins when their rosters are pretty stacked as well?

Trixtank: Historically against Pittsburgh Knights and RivaL is kind of a rivalry looking in from an outside perspective because we were in a team with Arkkyl from RivaL and Zyrhoes from Pittsburgh Knights. It was nice beating them even though I want them to succeed no matter what because I like them. It was good winning against them and it made a point that we are capable of being the best team in the league.





How do you feel that you're personally playing so far this season?

Trixtank: I think I’ve been playing very well. I don’t know if it’s because of Ataraxia or Hurriwind joining the team. They’re not selfish players overall and it’s easier for me to have a bigger role. I got shut down a lot because we were an all-star team last year and everybody had a big say. Now we are on equal ground and I feel like I can step up a little bit more and take more control and focus on myself so that I can have an impact on the game the way I like to play it.





The numbers speak for themselves - is it safe to say that Ataraxia and Hurriwind are fitting in well so far?

Trixtank: I thought we would get along pretty well from the get-go. I think me and QvoFred are very open socially and are very good with all sorts of people and different personalities. I don’t think that I had the biggest issue. Obviously Hurriwind was a bit far because we’ve never talked with him that much before. The fact that he fits in so well with us so far is a little bit surprising for me, but it’s perfect now.





When Ataraxia first joined Dignitas, he told me you were one of two supports he would even consider laning with and would retire if he couldn't - how does that make you feel?

Trixtank: Yeah, Ataraxia did tell me that if he couldn’t lane with me or EmilZy, he wouldn’t play this year. It was nice to hear for me that he thinks so highly of me – especially last year when other people didn’t think so highly of me. It was definitely a confidence booster. It goes the same way – when we immediately picked up Ataraxia last year, I think it was a confidence booster for him as well that he’s seen as very useful because on the outside perspective seen as a more passive player.





Who would you say have been the "team MVP" so far through the first 5 games?

Trixtank: I think there’s different team MVPs coming from all of the different games. If we looked at all 5 sets together, I think QvoFred has been performing the most consistently. The Pittsburgh set was definitely me, the RivaL set was Ataraxia. The SSG set was definitely Harry. Luminosity it was Hurriwind for sure – insane games. The last game against Splyce was definitely QvoFred carrying us so hard. I think everyone has been performing very well and we haven’t stressed too much under pressure. We could all get it, but right now, it’s probably QvoFred.

(From left to right: Hurriwind, Ataraxia, Trixtank, QvoFred, and Variety)

Is there any team or player left that you haven't faced that you're looking forward to playing against?

Trixtank: I’m actually excited to play Renegades. It was always one of those teams that I was scared of their duo lane, but now their duo lane has kind of gone to a mid-jungle role, which is kind of weird and I’m excited about that to see how they’re going to do. I’m actually excited to play all of them, honestly. Trifecta – Qvo and I have a real life friend on that team, Lasbra. Okay, I’ll pick Trifecta if I have to pick one. I wanna face Lasbra, I wanna smack him, and hopefully it’s going to go that way.





Looking at the current standings, are there any teams you're surprised about in where they are currently placed?

Trixtank: I think I’m surprised by Pittsburgh Knights and eUnited. eUnited seemed like such an un-serious team. Iceicebaby going to Japan and only have two weeks practice just before the league started. They’ve shown they’re super talented players and they know how to play no matter what. They haven’t been against the “top-top” teams yet, so I’m looking forward to see how they’ll do against them. Also, Pittsburgh Knights because I thought they would get the easy start because they’re all insane individually. It seems like they’re lacking something in that all-star team and I think a team like eUnited would be able to beat them.





How do you feel about the current state of the meta? Any nerfs that you would like to see?

Trixtank: The current meta is pretty good. A lot of people are crying about the upgraded Fire Giant being too strong and having a hard time snowballing the games right now. I do think that’s a great thing in MOBAs. I think what it’s all about is the 5v5 late game teamfight and who’s best at that is how you see the best team. Maybe a slight nerf to Fire Giant – maybe make the upgraded fire giant 30 minutes instead of 25 minutes, so you have a period of time where it’s not that hard to kill the fire giant and could maybe snowball a little bit easier. As far as gods, it’s pretty balanced. Maybe Merlin needs a little nerf – it’s too much damage honestly. Other than that, I think it’s pretty good.





Can we expect a Dignitas World Championship this year?

Trixtank: For sure – I think that last year we had big hopes and we were a really good team. I think when it came to it, we didn’t have the right meta going into Worlds. There were two teams that had that meta and they didn’t show it to anybody, which was obviously smart by them. I think this year we are more prepared – we test everything to make sure what the best strat is and I think that’s something we didn’t have last year. I think there’s a big chance we could win Worlds, easy.





Thank you so much for answering some questions! Is there anyone that you would like to give a shoutout to?

Trixtank: Shoutout to Dignitas obviously for being great and giving us this beautiful team house. Other than that, shoutout to Game Fuel for hyping us up for our scrims every day. Shoutout to all of our fans as well.

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