Captain Jack: ApparentlyJack ready to lead Dignitas to glory at RLCS Winter Major

Like a hot knife through a Swedish meatball, Dignitas swept through the field during the Swiss stage of the Rocket League Championship Series Fall Split Major in Stockholm. 3-0, Tokyo Verdy Esports. 3-0, Team Envy. 3-0, SMPR Esports. With a perfect 9-0 map record, Dignitas were rolling into the playoffs holding all of the momentum.

Or so it seemed. Dignitas drew a rematch with SMPR in the quarterfinals, which they wound up losing in seven games to be eliminated from the tournament. It was a stunner. All four defeats were by one goal and two required overtime.

Disappointing though the result must’ve been, Dignitas did not walk away completely empty-handed. The event was an invaluable learning experience, Jack “ApparentlyJack” Benton told Nerd Street in an exclusive interview -- and the team will be much better prepared for the looming RLCS Winter Split Major in Los Angeles beginning March 23.

“We had a good part of the tournament and we also had a bad part,” Jack recalled of the Fall Major. “But what we learned is, at our best, when we’re playing really well, playing flawlessly, we’re going to be the best team in the world.

“It’s very difficult to beat us.”

Dignitas on the rise

Scrub Killa joined Jack and Joreuz ahead of the 2021-22 season. Photo credit: Epic Games

It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that while Dignitas has a storied Rocket League history. In 2018, they were the Season 5 champions and Season 6 runners-up. But the current roster is still relatively young and new. Joris “Joreuz” Robben joined the org in 2020 ahead of RLCS Season X, with Jack coming aboard a few months into the campaign in November. After a disappointing year, Dignitas parted ways with decorated Rocket League veteran and team captain Jon “ViolentPanda” van Meurs prior to the 2021-22 season and replaced him with Kyle “Scrub Killa” Robertson.

ViolentPanda is 23. Joreuz celebrated his 17th birthday in March. Jack and Scrub Killa will turn 19 this year.

Yet, after finishing eighth in the European regional rankings last season and missing out on an opportunity to compete in the European Championship tournament, Dignitas have seen a marked turnaround with their fresh-faced roster. The squad enters the Winter Major second in the EU in points, behind only Fall Major champions Team BDS.

Jack identified a difference in playstyles as the reason for the change.

“With Panda, it was a good team, but when we went into this season, we wanted a player with a similar playstyle to me and Joreuz because we’re both 1v1 players,” Jack said. “Scrub was the perfect fit.

“With 1v1 it gives you a really solid base in Rocket League skill because you’ve got to be good at everything. You can’t lack in any area because your opponent will just exploit that … so 1v1 players tend to be more solid all-around. And they usually, in my opinion, specialize in one area, and the area can differ from player to player. In 1v1 you have to find something you’re better than everybody else at. With Joreuz, for example, it’s his aerial mechanics -- he’s just crazy in the air -- and for Scrub it's probably his goalkeeping.”

Captain Jack

Jack took on the team's leadership role after Dignitas let go of Panda. Photo credit: Epic Games

While Jack has plenty of ability in-game, too, the new specialty he finds himself stepping into lately is the leadership role vacated by Panda. It’s a job he fell into out of necessity, but one he feels he’s suited for as well.

“Throughout my life, I've always been a leader type, I guess,” Jack said. “It comes naturally to me, I do like that role, and I feel like I’m decent at it.

“Panda was a great leader, but I feel like I know what Joris needs and what Scrub needs and what myself needs, so that helped. It kind of just all fell into place, and it also does help I quite like it, too.”

But it’s not about some sort of power trip for Jack as much as forming a more cohesive bond with his teammates, who are closer in age with personalities seemingly aligned. Joreuz is more of a quiet type, Jack said, while Scrub will give his input but is willing to let somebody else take charge.

“They’re the perfect teammates for me,” Jack said. “We’re great friends outside of Rocket League, and that's the biggest part, I think. It allows us to talk to each other about anything. It doesn't even have to be Rocket League related. If one of us has something IRL going on, we can talk to each other, and it also helps in-game.

“There’s no egos. All three of us, I think we have quite big egos in some sense -- you have to -- but we can push that aside because we’re good friends and we can tell each other what's going on and talk to each other about our issues in-game. I wouldn't change any of the players on this team. I love the atmosphere. I love our skill and I love our potential. I think we can do anything in Rocket League. I think we can win a world championship.”

European region, for the win

Some might say the world championship talk is a tad premature, that Jack and Dignitas have a lot more winning to do in their own region, first, before they can even begin to think about that.

EU is stacked, Jack admits -- without a doubt, the deepest in the RLCS -- and if the Englishman is being honest, he wouldn’t even rank Dignitas on top at this moment.

“Queso, they have to be ranked No. 1 in Europe right now,” Jack said, offering his overview of the region. “They have absolutely dominated this split. Then, personal bias, I gotta put us at No. 2, but I could also throw in BDS though because they obviously won the major. It’s very, very close. I wouldn't be offended if anybody put us at fourth and Endpoint at second or BDS at third. It depends on the day right now.

“You just have so many teams that can win a tournament in this region, it’s actually incredible. I’d say anyone in the top 10 teams. As we’ve seen with Queso this split, last split they were 10th I think, this split they’re first. It’s just nuts.”

Dignitas is ready to mix it up with the best of the best in LA, though, Jack said, thanking the org for its support and the loyal fans. Having the opportunity to not only correct their mistakes from the previous major, but then also participate in the first Rocket League LAN event in front of spectators in over two years, only adds to the enthusiasm the team is feeling heading into the Winter Major.

“I’d say that's the thing I'm most looking forward to,” Jack said of playing in front of fans. “We’ve been practicing really hard and we’ve been working on a lot of things and our confidence is quite high going into it, so I think we can definitely perform as well if not better than last time.

“That's the aim. We’re looking forward to it and we’re confident going into it.”

Lead photo credit: Epic Games