Farewell, TSM! The legendary North American organization has been eliminated from the LCS Championship. With their announcement to leave the LCS at the end of the season, their next League of Legends involvements are yet to be revealed.
Heading into their last ever LCS playoffs, TSM fans were hopeful that their org would go out with a bang. They started off as the underdog in their first series against Evil Geniuses and managed to take the 2022 Spring Split champions to five games. Heading into the series against Dignitas as the favorites, fans expected them to advance.
- LEC Season Finals: Teams, Schedule & Format
- LoL: The Cloud9 Paradox – Too Strong For The LCS, Too Weak For International Tournaments
However, another 2-3 series sees them eliminated from the Championship. This concludes TSM's LCS stint. In the eleven years they competed at the top of North American League of Legends, they claimed seven LCS titles and qualified for the World Championship eight times.
Their best ever result at a World Championship came at the inaugural Riot Season 1 Championship, where they claimed third place. In 2012 and 2014, they managed to reach the quarterfinals. After that, they suffered four group stage eliminations and two failed qualifications from 2015 to 2020. After 2020, they never qualified for a World Championship again.
LCS Exit After Eleven Years: What Is Next For TSM?
Earlier this year, TSM announced that they would no longer participate in the LCS after the 2023 season. Instead, they are looking to make an appearence in the top league of a different major region. However, the organization has not yet revealed any information on which specific region they will join.
#TSM LCS update pic.twitter.com/V4E45qg87s
— TSM #TSM100 (@TSM) May 20, 2023
With the LCS behind them, three other major regions are left for them to explore. However, with the LEC struggling on the international stage in the same way the LCS does, Europe is most likely not interesting enough for TSM.
With the LCK being notoriously difficult to enter for non-Korean organizations and pros, China's LPL is the most likely target for TSM. The LPL is also hosting Swedish organization Ninjas in Pyjamas following their merging with Victory Five's head organization ESV5 in 2021.
An announcement from TSM about their future involvement in professional League of Legends is expected ahead of the 2024 season.