League of Legends: Who will succeed TSM Bjergsen?
By Shay Coleman
Ablazeolive
Perhaps the most obvious candidate in the entire list. Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Antonio Abbott is the current mid laner for TSM Academy and has been ever since the Academy league was introduced. In the 2019 League Academy Championship Series, Ablazeolive led TSM Academy to a tense 3-1 win in the final series against Cloud9 Academy. He showed great prowess on Ryze, Cassiopeia, and Lissandra against former LCS mid laner Goldenglue.
It will be brought into question whether or not Ablazeolive will be ready to lead TSM considering he hasn’t played a single LCS game, but with 2 years of working under Bjergsen, perhaps he is the one to send TSM into their third generation of mid lane players. He will have to step up to the plate tremendously to prove to critics that he is the right man for the job.
Only time will tell if Ablazeolive will be the man to spearhead TSM, and whether or not the TSM fans will allow him to be. I have high hopes for the 20-year-old Canadian midlaner. I put him as the most likely candidate to replace Bjergsen if he decides to leave this year.
PowerOfEvil
Could we see PowerOfEvil cross to the other side of the TSM-CLG rivalry? With Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage’s contract expiring around the same time as Bjergsen’s, we could see another EU mid laner don the black and white. PowerOfEvil has had a stand-out Summer Split thus far with CLG, leading them to wins against titans Team Liquid and TSM themselves. It’s fair to say that PowerOfEvil is one of the leading mid laners in North America at this present moment.
European mid laners have a reputation for being generally better quality than what North America has to offer, with TSM opting for an EU mid in Bjergsen for many years, PowerOfEvil would fit the mold. The problem with PoE is he would take an import slot, meaning Zven or Broken Blade would have to be left off the team, which doesn’t seem like a trade TSM would be willing to make.