It’s been a tumultuous year for TSM. The perennial LCS champions have dropped to a 1-8 record through the first half of the 2022 Spring Split and are now on the verge of finishing as a bottom two team for the first time in the organization’s history.
Before the start of week five, however, the organization has made another League of Legends roster move by inserting rookie support Shenyi back into the starting lineup and shifting mid laner Keaiduo down to the Academy squad. The team also revealed the reasons why they sent Shenyi down after week two, saying that the 19-year-old “has made several improvements in addition to communication.”
In an interview with Upcomer, TSM’s head coach Chawy said that in week two, Shenyi locked in a champion during an on-stage game without communicating with his teammates and coaches. When the staff confronted the player about the situation, the rookie’s actions were considered “negative and disrespectful,” according to Chawy.
Shenyi’s attitude toward the team and their criticisms was the primary reason why he was benched, according to Chawy, but the staff believes that he has improved himself over the past two weeks. In the meantime, TSM will swap Keaiduo out of the main roster with Academy mid laner Ji “Takeover” Cha Hyeun-min.
“This change was made as the team feels that Keaiduo needs more time to train in a less stressful environment,” TSM’s assistant general manager Yang “Glen” Po-Jen said. “We are aware it is not ideal to be making this many roster changes mid-season, but in our current position, it’s critical that Keaiduo be given time to work on several key development areas as we try to end the season on a high note.”
Ultimately, TSM has its sights set on improving for the upcoming 2022 Summer Split. The team’s plan, at the moment, is “to make sure to get everything ready and prepared to find the best team possible for us, the best playstyle—everything by summer split—and then our hope is still to get to playoffs and hopefully Worlds.” The only thing that fans must exercise now is a massive amount of patience while the roster searches for its true identity through the remainder of the spring.
You can watch TSM in action when the LCS returns on Saturday, March 5.
