The Additions
We saw a complete destruction of a starting lineup after Worlds when top lane Dyrus retired, Lustboy stepped down, and Santorin parted ways with TSM. No one really knew what to expect from the team, as even their coach Locodoco would be gone. The only ones left were Bjergsen and Wildturtle.
As most know, Wildturtle was replaced by ex-CLG ad carry Doublelift, in what later became a lot of drama between Doublelift and the CLG organization. With around 2 weeks left until IEM San Jose, Team Solo Mid had no support, jungle, or top.
TSM Hauntzer then joined the squad. Formerly on Gravity, Hauntzer features a wide champion pool, mechanically top 3 in North America, and a desire to win. Hauntzer will have his hands full in IEM, and it will be up to TSM to how much Hauntzer affects the tournament.
TSM then found Svenskeren and KaSing as their jungler and support. Svenskeren was previously a jungler for SK Gaming, playing for them for a few seasons. He also played with Bjergsen back when they both were on Copenhagen Wolves. Svenskeren brings a ton of experience into TSM as well as good mechanical play and just all around solid play. KaSing comes from H2K, where he and Hjarnan helped take H2K to their first worlds appearance.
What To Expect
IEM San Jose will be a very interesting test for Team Solo Mid. If these plays gelled and had already been together a while, they would be the front-runners to win the tournament. Because of the short notice of the additions to the team, a lot of the responsibility for their success will be from Svenskeren. We saw Dyrus play what felt like on an island for a long time while Santorin camped mid, and while Svenskeren definitely has that synergy with Bjergsen, it will be up to him to get Hauntzer and Doublelift involved.
We can expect TSM to play competitively in each game. There's no doubts that the team is mechanically right there with the other teams in the tournament, the hard part for them will be adapting to a game, coming from behind if they get into a deficit, and overall communication with each other.
IEM San Jose will be played on patch 5.21. This means that our preseason for season 6 patch, 5.22, will have to wait to be seen in competitive play. This will make the tournament interesting for TSM because they don't necessarily have to dominate a new patch, they are already familiar with 5.21.
