TSM Announce Maple As Staring Mid Laner

TSM announced former PSG Talon player Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang as their new starting mid laner for the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) 2022 Summer split. The roster change follows TSM’s disappointing ending to the spring split, in which the organization finished second to last.

On Wednesday, May 4, TSM announced Maple as the new starting mid laner of its LCS roster. The 24-year-old will be joining the team featuring top laner Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon, jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu, ADC Edward “Tactical” Ra, and support Wei “Shenyi” Zi-Jie as the final missing piece of TSM’s rebuild process.

“The key to our roster has arrived,” read the announcement.

“We’re incredibly excited for him to take on the starting position as our LCS mid laner. His experience and leadership will be pivotal to the success of our roster.”

Maple joins TSM as a free agent, having been without a team since April 2022, when he led Anyone’s Legend. However, even though he couldn’t achieve much with the Chinese LoL squad, Maple is widely known as one of the most experienced mid laners in the world.

The 24-year-old started his LoL esports career in June 2013 with Gamania Bears before joining Flash Wolves, where he made a name for himself. Maple spent the next five years with the Taiwanese squad and was a force to be reckoned with in the LMS.

Most notably, Flash Wolves won six domestic titles, made semi-finals at IEM Season 9 World Championship and MSI 2016, and reached the quarter-finals of Worlds 2015.

After leaving Flash Wolves, Maple spent an entire season with Suning in the Chinese league, but he failed to achieve much. He eventually left for LNG Esports, where he again struggled to achieve anything noteworthy.

In 2021, Maple joined PSG Talon, with who he won both domestic splits, made semis at MSI 2021, and finished ninth-11th at the 2021 LoL World Championship.

TSM are one of the most well-known names in the North American League of Legends scene. As the most successful LCS team in history, TSM have always been in the mix to win the LCS title, but things changed this season.

For the first time in history, TSM missed the LCS playoffs with an abysmal performance in the LCS 2022 Spring. The prominent organization placed second-to-last in the regular season with a 5-13 record.

Following a humiliating display, TSM announced roster changes, which came this Wednesday with the signing of Maple. The Taiwanese mid laner will replace Ji “Takeover” Cha Hyeun-min, who joined the main lineup in March after spending ten months in the academy division.

But while Maple is an established talent, it remains to be seen whether he will manage to help TSM escape the slump they’re currently in. Although, admittedly, things can hardly get worse for the seven-time champions.

However, a minor improvement upon the LCS 2022 Spring showings won’t cut it. In the spring split, TSM came four wins short of making it into the playoffs and have managed a disappointing 28% win rate.

“Why I want to join TSM – they didn’t perform as expected in the Spring Split, I hope my joining could help bring some changes,” said Maple.

Although some improvement is expected with Maple taking over the mid lane, it remains to be seen whether TSM will actually manage to compete for the title.

The LCS 2022 Summer kicks off on June 18 and will conclude on August 14. The top eight teams will then advance into the LCS Championship to compete for the trophy and ticket for the 2022 LoL World Championship.