TSM have come off of the most disappointing year the organization has ever had. They failed to win NA LCS in both Spring and Summer Split and they also failed to make Worlds, a first for the organization. They were ranked by many analysts to be a top 2 team in NA, as they built a team that was almost superteam status on paper. Now TSM have gone back to the drawing board and picked up a support and top laner. The lineup still looks strong but there are doubts as to whether TSM can win the NA LCS with strong competition coming from multiple other teams.

There’s a First for Everything

Broken Blade comes from the TCL (Turkish Champions League), a league which is increasing in competitive strength compared to the rest of the world. He previously played on Royal Bandits in Summer Split with names familiar to NA fans, such as Freeze and Dumbledoge. Royal Bandits did well in Summer Split, placing 1st in the regular split and 2nd in the playoffs against Bahçeşehir SuperMassive. Broken Blade is a mechanical prodigy, sought after from TSM by his impressive baseline skill, so TSM should have another carry threat when devising how they want to approach the game. The only hesitance I have whenever judging players coming from a minor region is that even if they’ve looked impressive, their competition is usually severely lacking, fabFabulous and Thaldrin being the only recognizable top laners to my knowledge. Broken Blade has much to prove by not only coming to NA, but TSM no less.

Investment

Grig didn’t have the most impressive Summer Split, but that’s also not to say he was a complete failure. Grig excelled at tanks but was never a carry threat in the team. Nothing outside of his Sejuani and Trundle impressed me and it’s a large question as to whether he can perform for the team if he’s given more responsibility to carry. Luckily, with a heavy threat in the top lane, Grig won’t have to change his playstyle much to incorporate his new top laner into the roster. The greatest feat for Grig will be to coordinate with Smoothie, as he is a roam-heavy support and a different style entirely from Mithy.

Even Gods can Bleed

Bjergsen, the great franchise player of TSM, wasn’t on everyone’s lips for the 2018 season. He didn’t really drop in performance, but rather, his team crumbled all around him. Being the anchor for his team was often the only way TSM would win games, but it also shows that although Bjergsen is a great player, he can’t do it alone. The single thread that has remained through several iterations of TSM has been Bjergsen. When YellOwStaR, Doublelift and Mithy all came aboard, it seemed there were too many large voices to fit alongside Bjergsen. Now with Smoothie in the lineup, we will see if Bjergsen will once again be the remaining piece that has been consistent in communication systems falling apart when another shotcaller comes to the team.

Legends do in Fact Die

Zven had a decent year in Season 8, but was severely hamstrung by his long time duo partner Mithy. Now he has a new support in Smoothie, which is regarded as one of the strongest supports in NA. Zven had been playing with Mithy since 2015, which is a preposterous amount of time with a lane partner, considering that most duos split up far more quickly. This raises concerns if Zven will be able to adapt to a new partner after all this time, but with Smoothie being a shotcaller, it’s not so dissimilar in that factor. The difference in playstyle between Mithy and Smoothie would be that Smoothie roams more, which Zven will have to adjust back timings and particular instances of lane pressure when his support roams. Zven is the least worrisome part of the entire roster.

Homie Hopper

Smoothie got benched on Cloud9 and then moved to Echo Fox at the tail end of Summer Split in Season 8. Now he looks to go into an organization plagued with setting up a clear communication system that is upheld to a high degree. Smoothie is most known for being a shotcaller after the era on C9 in which they relied heavily on Hai, which ran the team like a hivemind with undying focus for the commands issued by their star mid laner. Smoothie’s greatest struggle will be to learn the culture of TSM, which is reported to be much different than C9’s laidback atmosphere. Zven will be Smoothie’s ADC coming into Season 9, which would be a strong duo, but as I stated earlier, they will have some hurdles to overcome as Zven hasn’t played with another support since before 2015. As such, one would expect this duo to be slow in connecting with each other until at least mid-way into Spring Split, but once they’re able to connect, this will be a powerhouse bot lane.

Current is Currency

TSM have taken a different approach from last year, as they’ve gone with less star power and put more thought into how the team will be able to function as a whole. This entire roster is tied together by Zikz, former coach of CLG, and now head coach of TSM. If he’s able to mold the culture of TSM and also change his style to accommodate an environment that isn’t exactly CLG, I could see him doing great things for TSM. He no longer has the same core of players to rely upon and not having a familiar veteran to make sure things don’t fall apart, Zikz will truly be tested in aptitude to coach an entirely different team. TSM doesn’t look like the strongest roster on paper for once and it’s whether they can establish good systems and not have their newer players in Grig and Broken Blade crack under pressure. This team is still easily playoff potential, but that’s not what the TSM organization settles for; the expectation for TSM has always been finals. All of the veterans on this squad have a massive amount to prove coming into Season 9, as there are skeletons in the closet which must be taken care of. ___ Izento has been a writer for the LoL scene since Season 7, and has been playing the game since Season 1. Follow him on Twitter at @ggIzento for more League content. Images courtesy of Lolesports Flickr.