The complete history of TSM and veteran Bjergsen in the LCS

William Davis Published 13/01/2021

TSM is one of the most legendary organizations in professional League of Legends and its origin goes all the way back to the very beginning.

TSM is one of those names that any competitive LoL fan has heard before. It’s the name that was a key part of making the North American scene boom all those years ago and it’s the name that has been chanted at the biggest events in the world without TSM even participating. But what is the history behind TSM and what does it even stand for?

TSM 2012

What does TSM stand for?

TSM stands for Team SoloMid and has been used as the go-to abbreviation since the very start of the organization.

TSM was founded by the two brothers Andy “Reginald” Dinh and Daniel “Dan Dinh” Dinh. Reginald was a professional mid laner and one of the first big North American names to go professional. Not only did Reginald play professionally, but he also managed to build up one of the biggest esports brands seen to this day. Dan Dinh also had a professional career but ended up taking his gameplay to other organizations such as Epik Gamer and CLG.

During the years where Reginald played for his own team, TSM achieved more than any team at that time could have dreamt of. TSM was not only the team that most fans rooted for, but they were also the most successful. With names such as Brian “TheOddOne” Wyllie and Shan “Chaox” Huang on the roster, TSM won several ESL Go4LoL tournaments, MLG 2011, MLG 2021 Spring Championship, and countless other tournaments. TSM even participated at the very first World Championship in 2011, where they placed third.

Is Bjergsen good?

The TSM brand and team started to develop as the NA LCS grew bigger and more serious. The biggest and most successful signing to this day was when mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg joined the team to replace no other than Reginald himself. At the time, this was a big move and a big risk for TSM as an organization. Bjergsen didn’t have much experience to his name but was already hyped up as an enormous talent coming out of Denmark.

Bjergsen

Bjergsen joining TSM was another big breaking point for the organization. TSM was once again building up to be the absolute best organization in North America, even with strong competitors like Cloud9 getting a lot of the attention.

After Bjergsen joined the team, TSM went through a lot of different iterations but the Danish mid laner always remained as the consistent member. TSM won a total of six domestic trophies with Bjergsen in the mid lane, the last one being the 2020 LCS Summer Split. Bjergsen has been the face of TSM pretty much since Reginald took the step back and is now the first player most fans think of when TSM is mentioned.

Big names such as Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen, and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen have played alongside Bjergsen throughout the years and have also been a big part of creating the TSM brand. The brand has grown in such a rapid fashion, that TSM took the spot as the most valuable esports company of 2020 according to Forbes.

TSM is reportedly valued at $410 million, with an estimated revenue of $45 million. This is a result of 10 years in the competitive esports space, starting out with League of Legends in 2011. Since then, TSM has branched out into other esports titles such as Fortnite, Smash Bros, Apex Legends, and a lot more.

What was originally created by two brothers who liked League of Legends has turned into possibly the biggest esports brand in the world, Team SoloMid.

TSM 2020

Who is on TSM League of Legends?

Going into the 2021 season, the TSM LoL roster will look very different compared to recent years. Only one player remains on the roster from the 2020 season, which means that TSM is entering a completely new chapter. With mid laner Bjergsen officially retired, other players will have to take over on Summoner’s Rift.

TSM 2021 LCS roster: