After a winless start to the 2022 LCS Spring Split, Team SoloMid (TSM) made the decision to bench support Wei “Shenyi” Zi-Jie, citing the need for him to continue to adjust to NA. Now, at the end of the first round robin, the team's win-loss record doesn't fare much better. Their 1-8 record at the halfway point makes them by far the worst team in the LCS this year. It also marks the worst-ever season from TSM in the league; at no other point in the org's history have they performed this poorly. To shake things up again, TSM just announced that Shenyi would be returning to the main lineup, whereas mid laner Zhu “Keaiduo” Xiong would move to the Academy roster starting LCS Week 5.
A disastrous start to Spring
When TSM first announced their off-season roster moves, fans had mixed reactions. Imports hadn't gone well in the past, with last season's SwordArt just the latest example. Still, many were hopeful of the impact that Shenyi and Keaiduo could have, even if they were rookies coming from LDL, the second-tier league in China. Combined with coach Wong “Chawy” Xing, plus off the back of Lu “Spica” Mingyi's MVP split, many analysts still had TSM pegged at around mid-table (we did too, in our early predictions), with the potential to challenge for a higher position as the season went on, though also with the warning that they could falter too.
And falter they did as TSM lost their first four games in frankly horrendous fashion. Needing to change something, the org moved Shenyi to the Academy roster on February 16, while calling up TSM Academy support Wang “Yursan” Sheng-Yu to the main roster. The official statement mentioned that the LDL import needed to adjust to NA at a “more comfortable pace”, which of course was met with more mixed reactions from fans and even neutrals in the community.
Not only was the statement poorly worded (nigh incomprehensible), but it also didn't make sense as to why “adjusting to NA” had to happen in Academy rather than with the LCS teammates he would need to build synergy with anyway. Also, Shenyi was one of the better performers on the squad, not that there were many bright spots to begin with. TSM Vice President of Esports Dominic Kallas tried to elaborate on the decision, citing the need to “smooth out some chemistry issues, taking off some pressure from the current communication structure.”
Reason for Shenyi benching revealed
Meanwhile, the move also sparked controversy that dragged in Spica, with rumors and speculations flying about that the jungler took issue with Shenyi's shotcalling and played a part in the decision to bench him. The 2021 LCS Summer MVP later clarified in a tweet that neither he nor the rest of the players had any say in the roster moves.
“The narrative has gotten out of hand. No one on the team was against Shenyi shotcalling,” Spica wrote. “No player played a part in deciding his benching and it was not anything gameplay related.”
And the real reason was finally revealed this week, with TSM making the announcement of Shenyi's return to the main team through an article and interview with Upcomer. The story goes that Shenyi locked in a champion without consulting with the team or coaches during a game in Week 2. Afterwards, when the coaching staff discussed the issue with the player, his attitude was supposedly “negative and disrespectful.”
“This is the main reason why he was benched, not because of his gameplay,” said Chawy. “It was more of his attitude and respect toward the team and toward the criticism we gave him.”
Shenyi is back but Keaiduo enters the Academy chamber
Chawy revealed that the team has actively been trying to help Shenyi improve as a teammate so that the support player could return to the LCS main squad as soon as possible. Moreover, according to TSM Assistant General Manager Yang “Glen” Po-Jen, the players themselves had requested for Shenyi's return to the LCS main squad.
“Since he’s been in Academy, I think Shenyi has made several improvements in addition to communication. We believe he’s ready to come back to the main roster,” said Chawy.
However, TSM still won't be playing with their preferred starting roster as now it will be Keaiduo who will be temporarily moving to the Academy squad. In his place, TSM Academy mid laner Ji “Takeover” Cha Hyeun-min will be playing with the LCS roster starting this weekend, where they'll be facing off against FlyQuest on Saturday then Golden Guardians on Sunday.
“The team feels that Keaiduo needs more time to train in a less stressful environment,” Glen explained. “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.”
LCS community weighs in on TSM roster moves, communication with fans
Aside from the disappointing showing in the league, fans have also criticized TSM for the lack of communication about the situation. Not to mention, the issue came up alongside Cloud9's sudden release of head coach LS, which similarly riled up fans for not laying everything out on the table for the public to better understand the reasoning for the move.
To that, Chawy highlighted that the org needed to look out for and protect the players despite the desire for transparency.
“I think some things behind the scenes are just very hard for us to put in public because it might destroy some player's future,” Chawy said. “We try to protect our players, to protect our people, and we just hope to do whatever is best for the team.”
While some may agree that some issues are better kept under wraps, the recent article and explanations have appeased fans somewhat. Some have given credit to TSM for communicating with fans through the article, however others are also questioning the timing of the release. After all, if the “destroy some player's future” part is to be believed, there's little reason for the team to disclose Shenyi's “disrespectful” incident when he's already back with the main roster anyway, leaving a sour taste in some fans' mouths rather than hopeful support for the team moving forward.
Former LCS pro and streamer Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera also commented on the matter, saying that the draft phase is more of a collaborative, two-way process and that coaches should value player's input on the matchups. That said, there may be cultural nuances involved that would make the decisions and actions more within the norm for a hierarchical structure in the org.
The road ahead
Looking at the second half of the season ahead of them, the head coach admitted that the TSM org is still figuring out where to take the team in the future and what's best for everyone involved.
“Currently, we’re also just trying to take [things] one step at a time hoping to just win some games,” Chawy shared. “But at the same time, we also look forward to the summer split, because right now I think we are way too behind to try to catch up.”
That's probably a sentiment shared by most of the TSM fanbase as well as analysts. The 1-8 record has really hurt TSM's chances moving forward. A miraculous turnaround might be enough to sneak them into LCS Spring playoffs, but it'll forever be an uphill battle requiring nothing short of a win streak while other teams completely falter as well, as we discussed in our second half predictions here.
Despite the grim outlook, Chawy promised fans that TSM won't be giving up without a fight.
“We are extremely sorry to the fans, because this result is the worst that TSM has gotten,” he expressed. “We promise to be looking forward and not backward. Our plan 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.”
“Hopefully, everyone can still be patient, and we’re sorry that this had happened,” Chawy concluded. “We are still really trying our best. The coaching staff, the players… we’re all really doing our best.”
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