Cover-Credits:
Team SoloMid (TSM) remains one of the most storied and successful organizations in the history of North American League of Legends. After facing ups and downs in the last couple of years, on 20th May, TSM announced it will leave the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in North America.
However, in the announcement, the organization confirmed that it plans to move to another tier-one region, rather than completely bidding goodbye to League of Legends esports.
With the League of Legends esports off-season in full-swing, there has been no news about the future of TSM and fans have been wondering what the organization's next plans are.
"Where Is TSM?" Ask Fans & Followers
Following TSM's decision, on 20th September, Shopify Rebellion announced that it purchased TSM's LCS slot and that it will joining the league in 2024. According to Kellen Browning of New York Times, "TSM sold the slot to Shopify for about $10 Million (USD), per source."
Announcing its departure from the LCS, TSM said on Twitter, "The black-and-white will live on through all of us, through the fans, through our history. It will live on through all our teams that compete with that very same championship mentality and Baylife bravado. Our journey towards more championships doesn't end here. Thank you for the memories, LCS."
On 26th November, a League of Legends esports follower took to Reddit to post, "Where is TSM? No indication from LPL or LCK so far."
This is highly discussed in the community because TSM made it clear that it wishes to compete in another Tier-1 region and with the League of Legends EMEA [Europe, Middle East & Africa] Championship (LEC) out of the picture, the only two other regions are China and Korea.
The Reddit OP [original poster] added, "The general consensus is that Tier 1 regions are either the LCK or LPL. So far, neither the LCK nor LPL has confirmed that TSM will have a slot in their region. The current question is: Did TSM really move to another region, or have they simply disappeared from the professional league scene?"
Interestingly, the LCK franchised teams are already announcing their rosters for 2024 and if TSM were to join the Korean league, it would have made the announcement already.
Likewise, there is no buzz from the Chinese League of Legends community as well.
Another Redditor chimed in and stated, "I believe Travis said in a recent stream that they most likely won’t be in league for 2024. Also Monte/Thorin were saying in their latest vid that the region move was probably a lie."
They also commented how the LCK off-season is pretty much done and while the LPL has a bunch of projected moves, "TSM is nowhere to be seen or heard from."
Given how the different leagues across the League of Legends esports ecosystem are shaping for 2024, it is safe to assume that TSM will not be participating in 2024, at least for Spring.
The news about TSM's intent to sell its LCS spot was reported first last year in July 2022. The organization also eyed Misfits Gaming's slot in the LEC briefly.
TSM is not the first organization to sell its LCS slot in 2023. In April 2023, Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) also bid adieu to the league.
Likewise, on 20th November, Riot Games, in an official statement, revealed that Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses have exited the LCS. In 2024, the LCS will operate with just eight teams, confirmed Riot Games.
