connorsmith
2016-01-27 07:51:40
With the announcement of Yellowstar to Team Solomid, familiar whispers crept back into countless Twitter feeds and Reddit threads throughout the League of Legends community. The question on so many fans’ minds has been debated routinely for over a month: does the trio of Doublelift, Yellowstar and Bjergsen make TSM the NA “Super Team?” The short answer? Yes.
TSM brought their record to 2-2 , despite early struggles - Riot Games
The concept of a super team is by no means exclusive to esports; whenever humans have been pitted against each other, the top competitors have sought after the best of their peers.
For the sake of clarity, a super team will be characterized by talented individuals joining forces in an effort to accomplish something greater than what they had previously achieved.
Few teams serve as a better example of a super team than the 2010-2014 Miami Heat. Heading into the 2010-11 season, speculation as to where Lebron James-- the back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player and face of the NBA-- would sign consumed the airtimes of all majors sports networks. Teams from New York, Chicago and Miami were engaged in a fierce bidding war against James’ former team in Cleveland. Celebrities, owners and fans alike flat-out begged the free-agent superstar to make their team the next championship-contender.
In the end, James opted to take a noticeable pay cut to join the Miami Heat. The Heat didn’t have the money to bid on Lebron, as a huge contract would have put them over the league’s salary cap. They didn’t have dedicated fans and a rich history, like New York. All they had was the thing that happened to matter most to the aging superstar- the chance to win it all.
Lebron James and the Miami Heat took the NBA by storm - Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Despite speculation of James’ trajectory towards joining all-time greats like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, Lebron James had yet to win an NBA Championship in his first seven seasons. Questions began cropping up as to whether James had what it takes to win an NBA Championship. These talks were punctuated by a weak playoff performance against the Boston Celtics.
In an effort to take the NBA by storm, James joined forces with NBA All-Stars: Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The three opted for pay cuts, and announced their signings with all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood Premiere. The trio-- already dubbed “The Big-3”-- boldly promised their fans, “Not one, not two, not three…” but eight NBA championships.
Although the Miami Heat dealt with growing pains and calls for the firing of Head Coach, Erik Spoelstra, The Big Three managed back-to-back titles, following a 2nd place finish in 2011. Since joining the Heat in 2010, Lebron James has appeared in or won EVERY NBA Finals to date.
By taking what many once called “the easy way out,” Lebron has cemented his place among the All-time greats. Although the Heat failed to live up to the lofty goals set forth during their televised announcement special, the team’s success in their four seasons together was unprecedented.
By no means did Doublelift leave his longtime home at CLG voluntarily- but the parallels between him and James begin with their messy departures. Cleveland fans burned their jerseys and taunted James when the Heat played in Cleveland- similar to the damaged perception CLG fans had when they chose between HotshotGG and Doublelift.
In recent interviews, Doublelift claimed he was confident top players would be attracted TSM, considering the roster included Bjergsen and himself. Doublelift was tired of mediocrity, sharing similar sentiments with his more successful counterpart, Bjergsen. The two players agreed they wanted to consolidate available talents, eventually reeling in Yellowstar from Fnatic; they even have their own “Big Three” core of allstars in Mid and Botlane. Hauntzer-- similar to Mario Chalmers-- is the relatively young talent to supplement the team’s logistical needs.
Hauntzer has performed well on the new TSM - Riot Games
The Miami Heat comparison takes a hit when you consider the team’s relative odds in their respective Championships: the Heat had 1.6:1 odds of winning the NBA Finals, whereas TSM’s chance of even cracking the top two in NA has been brought in question.
That said, TSM has the fundamental makings of a super team- with a lineup chock full of perennial all stars. It will be up to their revamped coaching staff to sort out their early issues with communication and synergy.
Although the Heat successfully solved their issues as an aging super team, pairing massive ego’s together has often been a recipe for disaster in both traditional sports and esports alike.
Following a dissapointing Season 3, Froggen left CLG.EU to assemble his own “super team” known as Alliance. The team-- although eventually successful domestically-- was famously eliminated during the 2014 group stage with a loss to the Brazilian underdogs, KaBuM!
Rebranded as Elements- Froggen’s team looked to bolster their roster with the addition of Rekkles. Elements ended the Spring Split with a disappointing 7-11 record, even failing to make the playoffs behind the mediocre Copenhagen Wolves.
Esports super teams are not exclusive to League; EG and Team Liquid partnered to enter the Korean Starcraft II Proleague. Their super team-- consisting of top western talents-- joined forces in an effort to combat the Korean titans in their own arena. Although the idea brought the West a chance at proving its worth, the team failed miserably- eventually disbanding in just under nine months.
EG and TL joined forces to take on the Korean Proleauge - Team Liquid
The revamped Team Solomid seems eerily familiar to EGTL, as a western team with Americans and Europeans that wish to unseat the dominant Korean region. However, League and Starcraft II are vastly different games- with varying histories and infrastructure. League of Legends is far more popular than Starcraft in the West, making it easier for NA organizations like TSM to provide their teams with an opportunity for growth.
TSM has a long road ahead - Riot Games
TSM certainly has a target on their back in North America, giving venture capital teams, like Immortals and NRG, ample motivation for constant improvement. No one can argue the fact that this offseason consolidated talent in North America. However, the success of Korean teams makes a TSM worlds win nothing more than a pipe-dream. Team Solomid will be put to the test during the next two splits, with TDK looming off in the challenger scene as a possible Korean powerhouse for NA.
Earning the distinction of “super team” was simple for TSM; it will be up to the aging superstars to translate that into a title people actually care about- “World Champion.”
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Cover image courtesy of LolEsports Flickr