In League of Legends, Team SoloMid is actually the most successful and prestigious team in the USA. They have won the LCS championship 7 times and qualified for the playoffs in LoL every time, 18 times in total. But in 2022, nothing came together.
Why is Team SoloMid so prestigious?
- TSM has always been the team to beat in the USA. The organization originated from a website dedicated to LoL, professionalized early on, and managed to host some of the best players in eSports for years. Legendary players for the team include individuals like TheOddOne, Xpecial, Dyrus, WildTurtle, Doublelift, Biofrost, Svenskeren, and Bjergsen.
- TSM was a leader in “content creation” and “social media” worldwide: They presented their players like stars. Besides FaZe no other eSports team was this successful. This paid off in 2021: Through a deal with a cryptocurrency exchange, TSM is making more money than ever before.
- TSM has won a total of 7 championships in the LCS and qualified for the playoffs every time, 18 times in total. In the playoffs, the champion is determined at the end of each rune.
TSM misses playoffs for the 1st time after 18 successful qualifications
What went wrong? In the Spring Split 2022, TSM will not participate in the playoffs this time. This is the first time in the franchise’s history that they miss the playoffs.
On March 18, an online site calculated that for TSM to qualify for the playoffs without a tie-breaker, one single “perfect scenario” would have to occur out of 33,554,332 possible scenarios, based on how the other games would play out (via clutchpoint).
But that did not happen.
The last defeat against 100 Thieves with the German midlaner Abbedagge sealed TSM’s fate: They are currently standing at 5-12, so poorly that there is mathematically no chance left for a playoff spot.
Last in the league because they relied on youth – But they are last too
Why is it going so badly this year? Apparently, they completely messed up their transfer policy:
- After last year, almost all key players left the team, including the strong German midlaner PowerOfEvil and world-class supporter SwordArt. Even the botlaner “Lost” left.
- There was a Plan A to rehire their “franchise player” Bjergsen after he coached the team in 2021. However, the midlaner did not want to and went to rival Team Liquid. They are currently in 1st place in the league – Ouch.
- There was a circulated Plan B to create a “legacy team” around Doublelift, Jensen, and Vulcan – but this lineup was deemed “too lacking in perspective”
- So they decided on Plan C; an expensive rebuild, with young players from China and the USA, mixed with 2 players from the old team who remained. But this lineup failed to gel in 2022 and disappointed. 3 of the new Asian arrivals are playing in the academy team. They are currently in last place.
In addition to the sporting problems, TSM faced a number of setbacks in 2022:
- The longtime head of the team, Reginald, has come under heavy criticism. He has been a tyrant for years and has made players cry.
- Many important leaders who put the current team together have since left the organization: like Parth and Leena Xu
- Most recently, there was a scandal involving the head coach, who was even fired for borrowing money from his players
Bjergen as a rat leaving the sinking ship.
How is TSM handling this? Apparently, they are taking it with humor. Jungler Spica was asked if he is taking the next matches easy now that there is nothing left to play for. They are still playing against Team Liquid.
Spica laughed but said: He definitely wants to beat them. Bjergsen is playing there. He left TSM … like a rat.
Thereby implying: Like a rat leaving the sinking ship.
In 2021, there was an open dispute at TSM between the head of the team and one of its big stars:
The largest LoL team in the world fires its club legend after attacking the head hard
