TSM Will Enter 2022 LCS Lock In With A Full Academy Roster

TSM announced on Thursday, January 6, that it would use its Academy LoL roster for the LCS Lock In tournament. The organization cited issues COVID-19 issues, explaining that the virus prevented its main team from practicing.

TSM’s League of Legends esports roster has found itself in an unenviable position ahead of the season-opening tournament. The North American esports organization stated that its main lineup was unable to come together during the offseason due to COVID-related issues, making it impossible for them to practice and get ready for the new season.

The organization also added that its lineup was dealing with travel restrictions. As a result, TSM’s newest acquisitions in mid laner Zhu “Keaiduo” Xiong and Wei “Shenyi” Zi-Jie were unable to travel to Los Angeles to team up with their new teammates.

“Due to multiple issues related to COVID, out LCS roster has not had the opportunity to come together as a team to practice and prepare for the upcoming Lock In tournament,” read the statement.

“In addition, due to international travel restrictions related to the pandemic, Keaiduo and Shenyi are not likely to arrive in LA in time before the start of the Lock In tournament.”

Despite the unfortunate situation TSM’s LoL roster has found itself in; the organization found a solution. Instead of fielding its main roster, TSM decided to field its entire Academy lineup for the LCS Lock In tournament.

The news comes as a shock to many, especially since TSM decided to field an entire LoL esports academy lineup. While some may argue that combining the academy and LCS players would be a better solution, TSM felt differently.

The North American esports organization explained that its academy lineup had produced impressive results during the bootcamp. So rather than combining the rosters, TSM chose to keep its academy lineup together to ensure the same synergy and results they’ve achieved during the offseason.

“Our Academy team, however, has been bootcamping together overseas and has shown strong scrim results during the offseason,” said TSM.

“Rather than create a combined roster of players that are available and have to change them out mid-tournament, we, in consultation with the LCS, have made the decision to utilize our Academy team to participate in the LCS Lock In tournament.”

As a result, TSM will field its secondary squad, which features recognizable names from the LCS, including:

• Omran “V1per” Shoura – top
• Young-hoon “Hyper” Seo – jungle
• Ji “Takeover” Cha Hyeun-min – mid
• Tony “Instinct” Ng – ADC
• Wang “Yursan” Sheng-Yu – support

Entering the 2022 LCS Lock In tournament with its secondary team, TSM are expected to struggle. The LoL esports betting sites have them priced as one of the outsiders, with odds as high as +2500.

Regardless, TSM are still expected to do better than some of the league’s weakest teams in FlyQuest (+5000), Dignitas (+8000), and CLG (+10000). At the same time, TSM aren’t expected to do nearly as well as LCS’s top teams in Evil Geniuses (+800), Cloud9 (+333), 100 Thieves (+240), and Team Liquid (+137).

But while the expectations are low, TSM should feel hopeful that they can cause some damage. As an academy roster, they have nothing to lose, which should make them a dangerous opponent to face off against.

What’s more, if TSM’s claim that their academy team has been doing well during the bootcamp is true, there’s a good chance that they’ll do relatively well. However, we’ll have to wait and see whether TSM Academy are up to par with LCS’ top teams.

The 2022 LCS Lock in tournament is slated to kick off on Friday, January 14. It will mark the first competitive event of the 2022 LoL esports season for North America, with the 2022 LCS Spring set to begin on February 5.