Reports: Maple to Join TSM & Jensen to Return to Cloud9

The 2022 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split has concluded and the teams are rejigging their rosters, hoping to have a better and successful run in the upcoming Summer Season. The community has been following Team SoloMid (TSM) closely after its disastrous spring split performance where it finished in ninth place in the league’s standings. Likewise, Cloud9 also left the community buzzing after top-laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami role swapped to the mid-lane for the spring split, and then there was of course the team letting go of its former head coach Nick “LS” De Cesare.

In order to get back to its winning ways and be a dominant team in the LCS, TSM is reportedly signing Taiwanese pro player Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang, according to a report by Upcomer. Meanwhile, blix.gg reported that Cloud9 is signing its former member Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen back as its mid-laner.

TSM makes big roster changes

According to the Upcomer report, Maple will be joining TSM for the Summer Split as its starting mid-laner and will reportedly replace current mid-laner Zhu “Keaiduo” Xiong. Maple parted ways with Chinese squad Anyone’s Legend in April after a disappointing split in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) where the team finished in 13th place. Maple has been a part of the League of Legends pro scene since 2013 and is an important player in the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) [formerly League of Legends Master Series (LMS)].

TSM is also signing former Estral Esports support player Choi “Mia” Sang-in to replace Wei “Shenyi” Zi-Jie. The team, towards the end of 2021, announced that it was roping in two Chinese players – Keaiduo and Shenyi to round out its League of Legends roster, but apparently suffered communication and synergy issues among others. Now, with the signing of Maple and Mia, TSM will look to get back on its feet and hope to make cohesive plays and decisions in the Summer split.

Return of Jensen to Cloud9

Cloud9 had a very strong Spring Split in 2022 but the team failed to perform well in the Playoffs, where it was knocked out of contention by Evil Genuises. Following this, roster changes were expected to happen at the Cloud9 camp. Blix.gg’s Alejandro "anonimotum" Gomis reported that Jensen has reached an agreement to sign with Cloud9 as its mid-laner and this follows a recent report about Fudge going back to the top-lane, as reported by the Upcomer.

Jensen also has been a part of the pro scene for the longest time since he started out in 2012. Notably, he was also banned from competitive play by Riot Games due to his "long history of DDOS activity, abusive behavior and poor sportsmanship across multiple accounts." However, in 2015, he was approved for competitive play after reviews and he joined Cloud9 as its mid-laner following the retirement of Hai “Hai” Du Lam, and stuck with the team till 2018. A veteran of the LCS, Jensen was left without a team heading into the 2022 pro season after he spent three years (2018-2021) with Team Liquid and was replaced by Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. Remarkably, throughout his career, Jensen has never failed to make it to Worlds.

If these reports are confirmed it would mean that the league would host two veteran mid-laners for the 2022 LCS Summer Split.