TSM's CS:GO return seems less likely after reports surfaced that the project is in danger of collapsing before it even launches, due to alleged verbal breaches from the organization.
Team SoloMid, also known as TSM, is one of the biggest esports organizations. Being founded in 2011, TSM's biggest success was their League of Legends squad, in May this year the NA-based organization announced their departure from the LCS.
Beyond their rich history in League of Legends, TSM also have a good track record on Valve's first-person shooter Counter Strike: Global Offensive. In January 2015, TSM signed the former Team Dignitas roster including names like Finn “karrigan” Andersen, Nikolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmusen and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth, the core that went on to dominate CS:GO from 2017 to 2019 under the Astralis banner.
In 2016 TSM launched a new roster, this time being based in North America, including current Valorant pros Pujan “FNS” Metha and Hunter “sick” Mims as well as FaZe-Rifler Russel “Twistzz” van Dulken. The roster parted ways with the Org and since 2017 TSM hasn't been involved in Counter Strike.
With the upcoming release of CS2, TSM decided to make a return to the prime first-person shooter, stating their intentions in October 2022. The NA-based organization wanted to try another European roster, giving former Vitality and G2 Esports head coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam the permission to find a team to compete upon the release of CS2.
TSM's CS:GO Roster Collapses Before Even It Launched
On July 31 a story by Blix reported that XTQZZZ has pulled out of the project on his own will. The French streamer KRL posted the following tweet with alleged insights into the situation, which was later confirmed by the French journalist neL:
XTQZZ is way too professional to reveal his sudden departure from the team. So I will do it. TSM does not want to pay for the scouting and interviews he did to build this team for a month (they had an oral agreement), and the team was supposed to meet for a boot camp 1/2 https://t.co/AAn0XD6UdP
— KRL (@KRL_stream) July 31, 2023
The TSM CS:GO-team is reported to consist of IGL Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså, former G2 player Audric “JackZ” Jug, support rifler Timofey “interz” Yakushin, upcoming British star Cai “CYPHER” Watson and Mădălin-Andrei “MoDo” Mirea.
The sources suggest that TSM has breached a verbal agreement with XTQZZZ containing payments for scouting, interviewing and building the meant-to-be Tier 1 roster. Just 2 days before the report by Blix was released, dust2.us reported that TSM has pulled out of the CCT 2023 Online Finals 2. This was the tournament TSM had their eyes on to kick their CS:GO campaign off again. The reason given was a prioritization for the IEM Sydney qualifiers, that are starting on August 9.
With the new reports, it seems highly likely that TSM's reasons aren't about more practice ahead of IEM Sydney, but rather about keeping the roster together. The trouble for TSM continues, though. Blix's report also states that TSM not only breached verbal agreements with XTQZZZ, but also with the entire roster concerning bonuses and contract lengths. With the players unhappy, the future for TSM's Counter Strike venture seems uncertain.