Team SoloMid are North American League of Legends’ marquee franchise, an organization with a massive fanbase and a history of domestic success, anchored by the best player in the Western hemisphere, Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. Expectations for TSM are always high, and perhaps were never higher than they’d risen in the lead-up to the 2016 World Championships. The weight of those expectations made TSM’s failure to reach the quarterfinals that much more disappointing, especially given the significant effort owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh put into constructing his team.

TSM’s letdown on the international stage forced some of the team’s nagging issues into the light, highlighting weaknesses that North American opponents had been unable to exploit. Now, with star AD carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng stepping away for the 2017 spring split, Reginald and his staff must not only find a way to replace one of their most important members, but also closely examine the rest of Bjergsen’s supporting cast, particularly in the jungle and support positions, in search of new ways to grow.

NA’s Flexible Super Team

Flexibility was a key theme for TSM throughout the year. It might not seem like it when calling to mind Doublelift's use of Lucian in 21 of 41 games during the summer split, with another 12 on Sivir. Svenskeren also struggled in variety, with far better performances on damage dealer than tanks during the spring — a trend he turned around in the summer split by spending two-thirds of his games on Rek’Sai and Gragas. Doublelift and Svenskeren were allowed to be narrow in certain ways and at certain times, though, because of the impressive versatility of other parts of the roster, starting with their cornerstone player.

In much the same way that SK Telecom T1’s identity is built around Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, TSM are defined by their mid laner. Bjergsen found a new level in 2016, expanding his repertoire to add more roaming and side lane influence into his game, both with and without the help of his jungler. With Bjergsen's map-wide influence, TSM became a team that could build their early game around either of their side lanes, while retaining the ability to collapse mid and make Bjergsen himself the center of attention. For his efforts, Bjergsen earned another NA LCS MVP award while driving TSM to a summer title.

Bjergsen’s flexibility was complemented by similar qualities from TSM’s least-heralded pre-spring signing, Keven “Hauntzer” Yarnell. Over the course of 2016, Hauntzer became one of the best performing top laners in North America, competing for the crown with Cloud9’s Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong. Hauntzer led all NA LCS top laners with +7.8 CSD@10 during the summer regular season and amassed an average 476 DPM, second behind only Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon. With numbers like those, Hauntzer’s immense value should secure himself a long-term tenure on TSM. And, since he’s a domestic player who can wear many hats, he adds options for team-building. Hauntzer can play a supporting role and be effective with low resources, wielding champions like Shen or Ekko, but he can also carry with damage when equipped to do so, putting in work on Irelia or Swain.

With Hauntzer and Bjergsen in the lineup, TSM are freed up to configure their roster in many different ways. And since both players are at or near the top of their class for their positions in individual skill, TSM are almost guaranteed to stay competitive domestically, regardless of the other three pieces built around them.

In 2016, those other pieces were more than good enough to carry TSM to the top of the North American scene. Doublelift executed in lane and tea fights, Vincent “Biofrost” Wang came in for the summer split to complete an effective pairing in the bottom lane, and Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen found his groove as TSM learned to work around his strengths and weaknesses over time. Ultimately, though, this group of five fell short of their international aspirations. As a result, they’re forced to confront the need for change.

Doublelift’s Departure

The immediate hole TSM need to fill in the offseason is their AD carry position, since Doublelift will be taking a one-split hiatus to reset mentally while planning a summer comeback. With Doublelift temporarily out of the picture, TSM have lost not only a formidable laner and damage dealer — his +7.1 CSD@10 led all AD carries in the 2016 summer regular season, and his 562 DPM was second behind the Immortals’ Jason “WildTurtle” Tran — but also a key leader and veteran presence. Doublelift’s experience and authoritative voice helped guide TSM’s shot calling and strategic decision-making, relieving some of the burden Bjergsen carried as the team’s primary communicator.

Since TSM can field players as flexible as Bjergsen and Hauntzer, the team has no specific stylistic needs, a luxury that most organizations are unable to boast. As a result, TSM are free to pursue any and all high-quality options available, including lane-dominant players, clean-up team fighters, or aggressive primary carries, trusting in Bjergsen and Hauntzer to make the new relationship work.

TSM could opt for a high-profile, known-quantity player. This approach would make sense if TSM’s primary goal is still to win the spring split. That may not be their mindset, however, and TSM fans should not expect the team to make meaningful overtures to international superstars like Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu, since those players are more likely to prefer a secure year-long place on the team. The more likely scenario is that TSM will look to pick up a rookie like Cody “Massacre” Sun, treating the spring split as an extended try-out and development period. Once summer arrives, TSM could potentially profit on their investment by selling their rookie AD carry to another team.

The main thing TSM should avoid is a disruptive personality who might sow seeds of discord among the rest of the roster, since that could have repercussions that extend beyond spring. That should discourage a relationship with Konstantinos “Forg1ven” Tzortziou, regardless of H2k-Gaming’s ability to play nice during the playoffs and World Championships. Given that TSM would only really be committing for one split, the risk/reward balance for Forg1ven might seem appealing, but that depends on where TSM’s management falls in the spectrum of evaluation Forg1ven’s level of play. Though some rate Forg1ven’s skill very highly and believe he has added more adaptability to his game, this perspective is far from universal.

Whomever TSM choose as Doublelift’s replacement, the character and personality of the team will change, both on and off the Rift, and TSM should be careful to manage that change, based on their internal goals for the 2017 spring split.

Initiation Issues

Beyond filling an open slot in the roster, TSM have some strategic weaknesses to shore up, as well. Chief among those is the need for more decisive teamfight initiation and big playmaking.

TSM’s run at the World Championships ended on a clumsy initiation attempt from Bjergsen and Svenskeren, using a Ryze ultimate to send Rek’Sai into Royal Never Give Up’s siege formation. The play was modestly creative, but very telegraphed and easily countered. That failed play was a case in point of TSM’s biggest strategic weakness as a team: initiating teamfights in the mid and late game.

Initiation is vital for playing from behind, but TSM were partly so successful in summer because they were always playing from ahead. In that scenario, TSM were able to close games through pressure and map control, which forced the other team to take all the risks and generally allowed TSM to team fight reactively. When TSM were forced to play from behind at Worlds, they showed that they could hold their own and draw the game out, but struggled to find the big plays to secure their comebacks. Their biggest comeback moments came in counter-engages, when Samsung Galaxy or Royal Never Give Up attempted to force the issue themselves.

Hauntzer, Svenskeren, and Biofrost are all capable of contributing as initiators under certain circumstances, but none have shown the consistent ability to step up in the biggest moments and force themselves onto games with clean, decisive playmaking. This is the quality possessed by players like Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong, Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho, and, to a slightly lesser extent, CLG’s Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black.

TSM can’t solve this issue through the AD carry position, and Bjergsen’s options for playing initiation champions like Lissandra are often limited by the meta. TSM will need to either take the conservative route and hope that they can coach their existing top, jungle, and support players to develop in that direction, or be more proactive and look for further roster change.

Given Hauntzer’s immense team-building value, based on his versatility and domestic status, it’s much more reasonable for TSM to take a close look at the jungle and support positions.

Upgrade Options

Since TSM are already hunting for Doublelift’s replacement, they should keep themselves open to the idea of replacing both pieces of their bot lane duo. Biofrost worked well with Doublelift, filling the puppy-dog niche and helping Doublelift throughout the laning phase while roaming by his side. But because of this subservient style, Biofrost’s main value laid in his partnership role rather than his ability to personally influence the game. A different support with a more independent mindset might help beef up TSM’s initiation game and turn the team’s mid-plus-jungle roaming duo into a more dynamic trio.

All of that being said, Biofrost improved consistently and is still growing and gaining experience. His ability to play the style TSM asked of him shows his willingness to learn, and he may be able to further hone his playmaking senses and grow into the player his team needs. Biofrost has certainly secured himself a place in the LCS going forward, and TSM have no immediate need to replace him unless there is a clearly superior candidate available.

There are few North American supports who are clearly better than Biofrost, at least as playmakers. Any changes would likely come via the import market, where it’s still unclear who may turn up as a free agent. There’s always a faint, storybook hope that Lee “Piccaboo” Jong-beom, the prodigal hero of 2015 KT Rolster fame, might return from his year-long disappearance to grace the LoL scene with a comeback. TSM fans shouldn’t cross their fingers too hard, though: the most likely scenario is that TSM will stick with Biofrost due to a lack of opportunities in the open market.

Assuming that TSM don’t find a high-profile upgrade for Biofrost, the second place to look is the jungle. Svenskeren has paired reasonably well with Bjergsen, but Bjergsen was the one truly powering the partnership, enabling Svenskeren’s counterjungling and affecting the map as much as his jungler did. The fact that Bjergsen earned higher kill participation than Svenskeren in both the spring and summer regular seasons, as well as the summer playoffs, tells most of the story. Without Bjergsen, Svenskeren would not have been nearly as successful, but Bjergsen could likely replicate his performance with a different jungler.

A playmaking, team-oriented jungler would be ideal for TSM, to support the solo lanes and provide a teamfighting presence. With the contracts of all of the Immortals’ players having expired at the end of October, TSM owe it to themselves to reach out to Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin, just as most teams in North America and Europe will. Reignover’s team play, communication, and initiation sense made him by far the most effective jungler in North America over the past year. TSM’s value as a brand, their history of success, and their secure financial situation make them an attractive destination for any free agent, but Reignover may wish to continue working with Huni, which would reduce TSM’s interest since their top lane is already secure.

Other Korean imports may also be appealing for TSM. Lee “Spirit” Da-yoon is used to setting a team’s pace and may thrive with stronger laners surrounding him, compared to what he was working with on Fnatic last year. Spirit is an incredibly aggressive counterjungler, which could make him an ideal partner for Bjergsen, but TSM would likely need to bring in a low-resource AD carry to compensate.

Whether TSM seek out Reignover, Spirit, or another import jungler, or whether they re-sign Svenskeren and try to solve their issues another way, they have a solid foundation to build from as they plan for 2017. The rest of the NA LCS will need to seriously improve to challenge TSM’s domestic dominance. But TSM’s real goal, as always, is to grow enough to redeem themselves internationally. To do that, they likely need to keep iterating on the weakest parts of their roster, with or without the summer return of Doublelift.

Tim "Magic" Sevenhuysen runs OraclesElixir.com, the premier source for League of Legends esports statistics. You can find him on Twitter, unless he’s busy giving one of his three sons a shoulder ride.