As the North American League Championship Series heads into the semifinals, the stakes couldn’t be higher. For Chinese transplants LMQ, the tournament is an opportunity to prove that their migration was a good decision. Earlier this year, the team moved across the Pacific, taking the North American Challenger scene by storm and never dipping below fourth place in their run for the tournament’s second seed. With zero roster turnover and consistent performance, previous world finalists Yu “XiaoWeiXiao” Xian and Zhang “Mor” Hong-Wei look to return to the summit, starting now.
For Team Solomid, a trip to the World Championships would effectively silence the doubters and detractors. With considerable changes at the midseason point, TSM struggled in the middle of the pack as they found their chemistry. A controversial last-minute decision to replace support player Nicolas “Gleebglarbu” Haddad with Korean veteran Jang “Lustboy” Ham drew criticism of team manager Andy “Reginald” Dinh. However, the team found their footing under new coach Choi “Locodoco” Yoon and is looking to push past the Chinese power for a hard-fought spot in the main event.
Is TSM’s last-minute run of form enough to supplant the Chinese veterans?
Infographics by LoLStats.gg
