TSM announces 2021 Academy roster including Hauntzer, Cody Sun

Team SoloMid has announced its roster for the Academy league in 2021, and it includes a familiar face in top laner Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell and bot laner Liyu “Cody Sun” Sun.

Joining the two LCS veterans is young Taiwanese player Wang “Yursan” Sheng-Yu, who previously played for Alpha Esports in the PCS and is a fairly unknown name.  These three signings complete the TSM academy roster, which already had jungler Leo “Babip” Romer and mid laner Rico “Swordd” Chen signed. 

The academy roster looks to be a good mix of experienced players and fresh talents. The most notable signing is Hauntzer, who is returning to TSM after two years on Golden Guardians. Hauntzer was a part of TSM in its golden era from 2015 to 2018 and has won three LCS trophies with the organization. 

Cody Sun is also a familiar face from the LCS, but this will be the first time he will be playing under the TSM banner. Cody Sun played last season on 100 Thieves but didn’t renew his contract with the team. Since then, the experienced bot laner announced that he didn’t get any LCS offers so it was expected to see him in Academy.  

Yursan has flown under the radar in comparison to the rest of the roster and will likely join the team to gather experience and learn from the best Taiwanese support of all time, Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh. TSM has been known for fostering young talent through its academy team and Yursan might be the next in line. 

Overall, the TSM Academy roster looks scary and will likely be a contender in the new 2021 Academy format. 

What is TSM Academy? 

TSM Academy is the secondary League of Legends team for the organization. The academy team is used to develop new talent and serve as reserves for the LCS roster, should it need substitutes. In previous years, all academy teams have been playing in their own league but 2021 will be different. Riot recently introduced a new system that will include both academy and amateur teams. 

Is KatEvolved on TSM?  

Jackson “Evolved” Dohan, formerly known as KatEvolved, is no longer with TSM. Evolved proved himself as a promising young mid laner in the 2020 season with TSM and could potentially get a starting spot in the LCS at some point. For now, Evolved has announced that he will be doing full-time content creation.  

Who is TSM Sword?

Swordd is the new mid laner for TSM Academy in 2021. The young mid laner has been with TSM for over a year in its amateur program, but will now finally get his chance on stage. Swordd will be replacing Evolved who recently left the team.