TSM Leaves LCS after 11 years, selling its spot to up-and-coming organization Shopify Rebellion.
It’s the end of an era in the North American League of Legends circuit: one of the oldest, but definitely the most iconic organization, Team Solomid, otherwise known as TSM is officially leaving the LCS.
While this may come a shock to many, those who followed TSM for a while know that this is not a sudden decision: the team announced its planned departure from the league back in May via a video on X by Andy “Reginald” Dihn, the founder of the team.
TSM Leaves LCS – a brief history of the team
TSM started to compete in the North American scene back in 2011, 2 years after League of Legends officially released. They participated in small tournaments like Go4LoL, winning a couple hundred dollars with each event they won. They participated in the first League of Legends World Championship, where they finished third after aAa beat them before the finals. They were growing steadily until the start of the first NA LCS season, where they came in first place in both the Regular Season and the Playoffs with the team consisting of Marcus “Dyrus” Hill, Brian “TheOddOne” Wyllie, Jason “WildTurtle” Tran, Alex “Xpecial” Chu and Reginald himself.
2014 was another big year for the team, as legendary midlaner Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg joined the team. Bjergsen was with TSM for 7 years as either a player or a coach, and after 2019, a part time owner of the organization. In 2016, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng joined the squad alongside Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen, so TSM got its fair share of legendary players. G2 Esports toplaner Sergen “BrokenBlade” Celik and former Origen duo Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodríguez also played for TSM, as well as Heo “Huni” Seong-hoon, who came in second in the 2017 World Championship playing for SKT T1.
TSM had an incredible run in terms of tournament wins as well: throughout the 11 years they played in NA, they won the NA LCS 7 times, participated in the League of Legends Worlds 8 times, finishing 3rd during Worlds Season 1 and in the top 8 in 2014, and won the IEM Season 9 World Championship, beating Team WE 3-0 in the finals, making them a part of the small group of Western teams with an international title. It’s sad to see such a big name of NA Esports leave the scene – but life doesn’t stop, and the departure of TSM let’s another organization shine.
Who will take the spot of TSM?
After a small window for speculation, the “successor” of TSM revealed itself: Shopify Rebellion, a fairly new organization bought the LCS spot for $10 Million and will begin competing in the LCS from 2024!
We’ll see you at the #LCS Arena in 2024. pic.twitter.com/9ZZAUmMEBA
— Shopify Rebellion (@ShopifyRebels) September 20, 2023
Shopify Rebellion launched in 2021 thanks to Shopify’s co-founder, Tobias “Tobi” Lütke, who has been an avid esports fan for years. Shopify Rebellion has started with a StarCraft 2 department, but since then signed teams in VALORANT, Halo Rocket League and Dota 2, where they acquired most of the Evil Geniuses roster after the team left NA for South America, leaving Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and his teammates orgless.
Shopify Rebellion also announced that they not only bought TSM’s spot, but most of their staff as well, including the roster with which TSM ended the 2023 LCS season. Even though TSM didn’t have its best year, they definitely improved from 2022, and the roster has potential led by veterans such as WildTurtle and Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell.
Where will TSM go from here?
As of yet, we are not sure where TSM will continue, only that Regi doesn’t plan on quitting. According to sources, TSM could buy a spot in the Chinese LPL, as Reginald has been reportedly having talks with LPL teams and representatives of the League. Of course, nothing is set in stone yet, but TSM joining the LPL wouldn’t be the first time a Western org would become part of an Eastern league, as Ninjas in Pyjamas joined the Chinese League of Legends circuit at the start of the 2023 season – and they didn’t have a bad run, as the team finished in the top 8 of the Summer Playoffs.
Today is our final day in the LCS.
11 years, 7 domestic championships, 1 international title.
Together, we have established an unrivaled dynasty and brought North America their first-ever international trophy. We have made the voices of the black-and-white fandom heard across… pic.twitter.com/W6nSuvg1ry
— TSM (@TSM) September 20, 2023
Riot games and an incredible amount of fans thanked TSM for the years of memories and the contribution to the North American esports scene. Even though the organization had its ups and down, this chapter of TSM will go down as one of the most legendary runs in the history of esports – and we’re excited to see where the journey of the black-and-white team will go from here!
