TSM adds Huni to its starting roster for the 2021 LCS

Team SoloMid has officially welcomed Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon as its starting top laner for the LCS in 2021.

The TSM roster is finally shaping up. The organization has closed a deal with Evil Geniuses and acquired Huni, who will be replacing outgoing top laner Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik.

“I’m super excited just being on the starting roster. It’ll be a really good opportunity for me, the roster seems really good. Bjergsen moving to head coach is really interesting. I almost guarantee that he’s going to be one of the best western coaches,” Huni said in an announcement video.

For the past couple of years, Huni has been bouncing between organizations in the LCS. The player returned to North America in 2017 after ending his tenure with SK Telecom T1. Starting at Echo Fox, Huni was transferred to Clutch Gaming in 2019 and helped the team to attend the World Championship. Later that year, Huni allegedly signed a $2.3 million contract with Dignitas only to leave the team five months later. Huni found some mild success with Evil Geniuses and now seems to be ready to give it his best at TSM.

TSM spends big in the LCS offseason

It’s unclear how much TSM paid for Huni’s contract, but one thing is very clear: the organization is willing to spend big bucks. Earlier this month, TSM closed a $6 million contract with former Suning support Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh. Considering how good Huni is at bargaining and taking SwordArt’s contract as a reference, the top laner could be one of the best-paid players in the LCS now.

TSM also signed mid laner Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage, who’s one of the best in the region and a key piece that more than one team had pursued. TSM may be the organization with the most expensive roster ahead of 2021. However, the team is planning on going cheap with its bot laner.

There’s only one piece missing in the puzzle, and it’s the bot laner who will take over for the recently retired Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng. According to some rumors, the team is likely promoting a rookie. If TSM’s plan sounds familiar, that’s because it is.

A Korean top laner, an American jungler, a European mid laner, an American bot laner, and a world-class support. That’s the Team Liquid strategy. TSM is attempting to replicate the sort of roster combination that earned Team Liquid four consecutive LCS titles. The question remains, will it work for TSM the way it did for TL?