DIG Dardoch: "I had my moments in the past, but nowadays I'm a very good leader and teammate"

The hottest story coming into the third week of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) 2026 Summer Split was the roster move Dignitas made for their starting jungler spot. The pressure to ramp up is creeping over the winless team’s shoulders, and they hope the LCS return of Dardoch (Joshua Hartnett) can help turn their season around.

Unfortunately for them, their Week 3 opponents were the back-to-back LCS champions and still-undefeated LYON. Though Dignitas showed a different face and significant progress in the first game, they were unable to close out the series and lost 0-2 to the Mexican organization. In an exclusive post-match interview with Sheep Esports, Dardoch discussed how much he looked up to Niship “” Doshi facing former teammate Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin, how coaching and North America’s developmental pipeline influenced his growth, and stories from the old LCS.

Joshua “” Hartnett: “Very nostalgic. It was a lot to take in when I first got here, even being in California in general. Obviously, I've been living in Philadelphia for the last five years, so even being back in California was a big wave of nostalgia. It brought back a lot of memories and feelings from back in the day, but it's been great being back.

Dardoch: I've played in that arena before. There was a certain LCS era back in the day where they had two streams going at once, and the one with more viewers would play on the main stage. That was the 2016 best-of-three era. I've got experience with that smaller stage, so I wasn't caught off guard by it or anything, but it's a big difference not seeing the fans. The biggest thing that shocked me is that they have fake fan noise in the background in that little arena. You have white noise in your headset, but outside of the headset they have constant fan cheers playing, which was a bit bizarre.

Dardoch: I wouldn’t say it feels weird. I’ve gone five years without playing any LCS games, so going to the studio and playing any series is cool. I’ve also played during the best-of-one era, though there was probably more than one stage game per week. We also have more than one series per week sometimes this split. I think it’s only once this season we’ll play on a Saturday and a Sunday.

Dardoch: Yeah, of course. I've told this to Dhokla in person, but he was a big reason I was mentally able to tell myself that I could make it back and play LCS again. He was one of the players I looked up to in my age group because he was still able to perform and compete at this level. Conveniently, I got to play against him when he joined… I think it was Nightmare in Tier 2. We scrimmed each other, and I saw that he's a great player- not denying that- but I was still at a level where I could compete in Tier 1. It was reassuring. It was nice to see him again after so long. We were teammates in 2018, so it's been a very long time since I've seen him.

Dardoch: Immediately after being dropped from Dignitas in 2021, which was my last time playing in the LCS, I was offered the position of assistant coach at Immortals. I took the job because I was good friends with IMT's toplaner at the time, Revenge (Mohamed Kaddoura), and I thought I could help him. I joined that team and coached them for about two and a half splits. After that, I didn't see myself moving forward as a coach because I still thought I was good enough to play. The players I was coaching and the people I saw scrimming, I thought I could play with them, beat them, and, more importantly, lead a team to that success. Immortals was the first time I saw the environment of a struggling team that didn't really have a super toxic player like myself. Back in the days when I was younger, a large reason why stuff was going wrong in the team environment was because of me. When I saw Immortals from the coach's perspective, I realized how much of a skill set I really had when I was “behaving well.” That was the trigger to mentally bet on myself and say, “You're still good enough.” I don't think I'm a terrible person or teammate. I had my moments in the past, but nowadays I'm a very good leader and teammate.

Dardoch: I'd say the biggest thing that Tier 2, Tier 3, collegiate, and all these things taught me is that I had a revolving door of players who needed a lot of nurturing and care. Not only facilitating them in terms of progressing in the game and teaching them how to play League of Legends at a high level, but for a lot of these players I worked with in Tier 2, it was their first time being on camera for NACL games, their first time playing in high-pressure environments, and their first time involving themselves in anything stressful whatsoever. They're just kids. Sixteen-, seventeen-, and eighteen-year-olds playing games for fun who just happened to get good enough. I used it as a way to guide people's mentality and mindsets and try to work with different groups of people. That's the main reason I've grown so much over time as well, because I've worked with so many different teams and humans that it inevitably gives you a lot of perspective.

Dardoch: Yeah, that's a big reason I wanted to do it as well for Tier 2: be the veteran I wish I got on my teams. Not to flame anyone on my teams, I was a very intense person and very hard to approach and work through situations with once I felt a certain way. All I wanted in my career was a nice coach and veteran to take me under their wing and tell me that what I was doing was... not to say that it never happened, but... I like to view it that way. I want to be the best version of myself so that whoever works with me feels they're better off because of it.

Dardoch: My goals have changed mainly because the roster itself is, at least in my opinion, when you read the names on the roster, at least for mid, Botlane, and support, this is a playoff team. So that’s where our goals immediately went. We’re trying to make it to the playoffs. By the time playoffs roll around, we’re hoping to be, skill-wise, competitive enough with pretty much every team, and the track record is there. In scrims, we’re already competitive against very strong teams, but at this point we’re struggling to get to the victory screen. There’s a lot of good and promising gameplay in our scrims.

Dardoch: For my schedule, I had to put more time into the game, basically. Previously, I would have to juggle school, a job, or whatever in between times I would have NACL. This is more of a year-round thing. Most players are contracted for the year, so you’re getting paid even in the offseason, which means you can still focus on the game 110%. For me, in NACL, those moments in between seasons aren’t filled with 110% League of Legends. That’s the main difference in my schedule; I now have a lot more time to play and study the game.

Dardoch: We need to work on cohesion. The unfortunate reality is that we essentially started our season this Monday, yet the rest of the league started their season before Week 1 during the preseason. A lot of it is that we need more time, more reps, more scrims, and more time together so we can try to get on the same page in terms of how we’re thinking about the game.

A big reason why Game 1, for example, in my opinion, was thrown is because for a large portion of the game, after we have an advantage, we’re too slow at deciding what we want to do next because we don’t like what each other are calling. This stems from not being on the same page, whether it's how we think about the game, our game philosophy, or what we think the win condition is. There’s a million different things, but we need to be aligned in how we think, so when somebody says something, we follow and keep playing the game. The game is too dynamic and fast-paced to allow you to take those ten, twenty, or thirty seconds to think and maybe get a plan. Nowadays, you have to get a plan in five to fifteen seconds, ideally, and start playing the game. It’s a great skill set to have if you can adjust on the fly.

Dardoch: I think it’s just part of LYON’s preparation. We looked at their drafts for the last two weeks, and they’ve been banning three junglers every single series when they have (Jonathan Armao), so I was expecting it. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that Lee Sin wasn’t banned. It’s their preparation, you know? Whatever they think is strongest.

Dardoch: Definitely the latter. How much time I have to prove myself is not in my control anyway, so I won’t concern myself with it too much. I’m going to take every opportunity I get and use it to the fullest.

Dardoch: Oh, the fans for sure. That’s the most obvious one. In peak LCS days, when you hear those... I remember distinctly when I was in CLG for that brief stint, and the first time we played CLG versus TSM, it was a full stadium. Everybody was screaming ‘TSM! TSM! TSM!’ at the end of every fight. That was the best for League; that was awesome. I remember losing Game 3 on stage in that best-of-three and thinking, ‘Wow, this is awesome!’ I was in awe of the moment, with everybody screaming TSM even though we were CLG and losing. This is fucking [sic] awesome.”