Tanner “Damonte” Damonte Becomes Free Agent; Dignitas Declining to Use the Rest of His Contract
Tanner “Damonte” Damonte took to Twitter today to announce that with Dignitas deciding not to utilize the second year of his contract, he will become a free agent on November 18th:
Dignitas purchased a controlling share of Clutch Gaming in April of 2019, which caused Clutch to rebrand to Dignitas after Worlds 2019. The team has not commented or made their own announcement in regards to Damonte’s departure.
Damonte has been a pro player since 2015, joining many now-disbanded teams such as Monster Kittens, affNity, and Enemy. He joined Echo Fox in February of 2016 as a substitute before moving to their starting mid laner role in May of 2017. He went back to Echo Fox’s Academy roster in December of 2017 but came back to the main stage in July of 2018. From there he moved to Clutch Gaming in November of 2018.
Damonte’s Qiyana play is what he is probably known for most recently, being that he was the first LCS player to actually play and win with it not too long after the champion was released. He is also known for the phrase “Tanner Time” which was coined for a short interview-type show where he would ask his other teammates fun questions. It then became a meme for when Damonte would pull off a good play. Damonte himself enjoys the meme, even pointing to his watch and smiling for the crowd when his name was announced during Worlds Play-In Stage.
While Damonte had not seen much outside of the LCS on Echo Fox, he brought the team to their first Worlds appearance. Despite ending their Spring Split in 9th place, they ended Summer Split in 5th, placed 4th in the Summer Split Playoffs, and miraculously pushed through the Regional Qualifier to 1st place, beating TSM in a 3–2 win. Despite going 0–6 at Worlds Group Stage, after making it out of Play-Ins, the team had a few close games, including one against Fnatic.
There is no word on where Damonte will go next, but with free agency beginning on November 18th, teams will surely be vying for a chance to acquire some Tanner Time.
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