Grading TSM’s rebooted roster
By Josh Tyler
League of Legends. Photo Courtesy of Riot Games.
Top
In: Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik
Out: Hauntzer
In terms of shocking departures, Hauntzer leaving definitely sent ripples through the NA LCS this offseason. Hauntzer was TSM’s top laner for the last 3 years, the only surviving member other than Bjergsen from the 2016 and 2017 teams that were so dominant domestically.
For the first two years on TSM, Hauntzer had been showing steady, consistent improvements in his game, and was cementing himself as a top 3 NA top laner. During the 2018 season, however, Hauntzer regressed dramatically. He appeared overly cocky at times, made several gaping misplays (his Aatrox play in the final gauntlet series was truly abysmal), so it makes sense why TSM would consider moving on.
However, it’s hard to say whether 2018 was a bad year for Hauntzer or just a bad year overall, as every member of TSM looked to be playing below their capabilities. The team just didn’t fit together stylistically or in communication like it had previously, so I’d tend to think that last year was more of an aberration.
Having a good, domestic top laner would give TSM a lot more flexibility to import a member into a roster slot that is a more pressing need – jungle or support – rather than needing to import a top laner like they are in 2019. Yes, TSM clearly believes in the talent of BrokenBlade (and from the highlights that are out there, for good reason), but he is an untested rookie. It’s hard to justify kicking a non-import top laner who is still easily a top 5 – if not top 3 – player in his position.
Broken Blade may very well live up to the hype, but we have seen hyped young players like Contractz, Gleeb, Omargod, and Fabbbyyy flame out spectacularly. In the end, this is trading a proven commodity at a position where there really was no need for unproven talent and potentially creating a need.
Grade: C-
Jungle
Out: MikeYeung
In: Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham
It’s unsurprising that MikeYeung won’t be returning to TSM, given his struggles in the spring split, confidence issues, and inability to mesh well stylistically with Bjergsen. MikeYeung will start this season off in the Team Liquid Academy system, where he can hone his skills and potentially supplant Xmithie if he ever falters.
The signing of Akaadian was unexpected, but not surprising. Akaadian showed flashes of success on less-talented teams than TSM, so giving him an academy roster spot where he will possibly compete for a starting role is a low-risk/low-reward gamble.
What is most surprising, however, is that TSM will be returning Grig to the jungle as part of the starting lineup. Grig was easily one of the bottom-tier junglers in the NA LCS. He was constantly out-pathed and reacted too late to other, more aggressive junglers.
In addition, Grig showed himself to be extremely ineffective on those aggressive, carry-style champs. During the summer regular season and playoffs, he played Trundle in 11 out of 30 games and Sejuani in an additional eight. In a split where the most heavily contested junglers were Nocturne and Kindred, Grig only played those champions four times total, winning one.
Yes, his performance on Trundle in summer was exceptional, with a 5-2 record, 9.5 KDA, and 70.4% kill participation. However, Grig finished the summer split with the worst kill participation of any jungler playing more than ten games (tied with Akaadian), and the lowest gold share of any jungler other than Meteos before being traded from 100 Thieves.
Especially in a pool of jungle talent that is fairly weak in the NA region, Grig has not shown himself to be a high-caliber player. He may be marginally better than Akaadian, yes, and he did reach rank one on the NA soloQ ladder. But to say that TSM fans should place their hope in him to improve and become even an above-average jungler is asking a lot.
Grade: D